You Are Here: A Portable History of the Universe

Christopher Potter

shk 2009 · Harper Collins

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“A personal, brilliant, and often amusing account” of the universe and our place in it, and “an idiosyncratic, encyclopedic blitzkrieg of a book” (The Boston Globe).

Here is the life of the universe, from quarks to galaxy superclusters and from slime to Homo sapiens. The universe was once a moment of perfect symmetry and is now 13.7 billion years of history. Clouds of gas were woven into whatever complexity we find in the universe today: the hierarchies of stars or the brains of mammals. Christopher Potter writes entertainingly about the history and philosophy of science, and he shows that science advances by continually removing humankind from a position of primacy in the universe, but the universe responds by placing us back there again. You Are Here is a dazzling exploration of the universe and our relationship to it, as seen through the lens of today’s most cutting-edge scientific thinking.

“As close to poetry or music as science is ever likely to get. Christopher Potter’s narrative is as imaginative, ingenious, and elegantly concise as it is user-friendly.” —Sylvia Nasar, #1 New York Times–bestselling author of A Beautiful Mind

“[A] clear and smoothly written look at the mind-boggling history of everything.” —Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“Consistently readable . . . he makes his subject clear without dumbing it down. This is one of the best short surveys of science and its history in recent years.” —Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

“A wonderful, miraculous book: the whole universe bottled for your delight.” —Stephen Fry, author of Mythos

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Christopher Potter is the former publisher and managing director of 4th Estate. He lives in London and New York City.