The author tells a gripping story of her research leading to development, with two other physicists, of a theory of the universe's origins based on quantum mechanics and string theory. The story, while fairly technical, is animated by her passion for discovery. It's also at times watered down -- though some will find it interesting -- by side-narratives of her early life in Albania.

Her theory, called Quantum Landscape Multiverse, is an offshoot of Hugh Everett's Many Worlds theory, perhaps the leading current multiverse theory. The main difference is that Everett's theory assumes that all of a quantum waveform's decoherences are equally likely; whereas Mersini-Houghton's theory bases a given universe's likelihood of being created on energy potentials from the "landscape" of all possible string theory solutions that can effectively render string's canonical eleven dimensions into four-dimensional spacetime. It's an ingenious theory, one that raises the question, why bring such a gnarly human construct as string theory into it? Doing so seems inelegant, somewhat off-puttingly anthropocentric for a general theory of universe creation.

Regardless of technical questions or criticisms one might make, this is a spirited, information-packed, entertaining read. ( )

Here we have an informal account, by its well-qualified principal formulator, of a radical and fascinating extension, dubbed the quantum landscape multiverse theory, of the standard model of cosmology. The ingredients include Everett's many-worlds interpretation of quantum mechanics (augmented with decoherence theory), the string-theory landscape of perhaps 10^600 possible vacuum structures, and massive application of the formidable Wheeler-deWitt equation. The result is an explanation, free of reference to fine tuning or the anthropic principle, of why a vast multiverse might exist and how it could have given birth to our universe with ultra-low initial entropy and sufficient energy to power the cosmic-inflation aspect of the Big Bang. Existence of observational evidence for the theory has been claimed.

Before the Big Bang by Laura Mersini-Houghton is one of those science books that offers a nice bit of detail yet is quite accessible to most readers.

I found the early portions where she combines her personal story with the foundational cosmology needed to understand what her research responds to very effective. I think it offered the basics for anyone who hasn't taken any coursework or read very much while keeping the fact that these scientific theories and ideas come from human beings and not dropped from the sky.

There are still some who doubt the multiverse theory (theories) even while the evidence stacks up in its favor. Then there are the lay people who "know" it is wrong because, well, maybe they still hold that the Earth is the center, since that is what being so certain of something in spite of evidence is like. Questioning is good, doubting is good, but dismissing when you aren't even capable of doing anything than repeating quotes from those who searched and questioned, well, what was that Gump quote? Oh well.

I enjoyed the narrative aspect of the book as much as the actual science. I did, however, have to pull out some notebooks and refresh my memory on a few things. If you've never taken a course, don't worry, that was more about me wanting to grasp a couple small things I was unsure of and wasn't about being able to understand what Mersini-Houghton was explaining. I particularly liked her use of different analogies to make ideas more easily understood.

I would recommend this to anyone with even a casual interest in cosmology and quantum physics. If you have a background in the field you will find a lot to enjoy but if you have just an amateur interest from other reading, this will add to your understanding.

Reviewed from a copy made available by the publisher via NetGalley. ( )

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