Book Reviewed: Probable Impossibilities: Musings on Beginnings and Endings by Alan Lightman.

Reflections on the fundamentals of cosmos What is the Big Bang, which caused the origin of our universe? What came before the Big Bang? What is infinity and nothingness in cosmos? How do we account for everything that is between nothingness and infinity. Is life special? What exists between the cosmos of ever smaller fundamental particles within the atom, and the unending world of ever larger things, like stars, galaxies, the universe, black holes, and multiverse. There seems to be an infinite space and time where everything imaginable is happening. But between these two extremes of nothingness and infinity, atoms and molecules assemble to form life. From ever smaller single celled organisms to large complex living systems like human beings. How does consciousness of living organisms fit in this cosmic creation? Is it as fundamental as spacetime and matter or does it remain an integral part of evolved life? The author muses about the physical reality we experience to find a connection with cosmos. This sounds like an amazing discussion, but the authors’ examination is a bust since none of the concepts of biology or physics relevant to this discussion is presented in any depth. In fact, this is very disappointing, and we learn very little from this book. The title of the book looks interesting, but after reading this book you will emerge empty-handed, not having learnt much from this interlocution.