The universe began as an extremely small dot that underwent a “big bang” and expanded across 14 billion years into the cosmos of today. During the first moment of that explosion, the laws of physics simply didn’t apply, but a trillionth of a second later, the four forces of physics appeared, “with the weak force controlling radioactive decay, the strong force binding the atomic nucleus, the electromagnetic force binding molecules, and gravity binding bulk matter” (20).
At first, the densely packed matter and energy freely changed back and forth into each other in accordance with Einstein’s famous equation E=MC^2. Energy is made up of submicroscopic particles called bosons, and matter includes equally tiny particles that include quarks. Quarks make up protons, neutrons, and leptons, which include electrons and neutrinos. When all this was a millionth of a second old, it was already as large as our current solar system. As quoted by Neil himself, “We are stardust brought to life, then empowered by the universe to figure itself out—and we have only just begun.” What he is saying is that every atoms and molecules within our body can be traced back to the beginning of space and time, meaning that we're actually older than we think.
YOU ARE READING
Astrophysics for People in a Hurry by Neil deGrasse Tyson
Non-FictionAstrophysics for People in a Hurry reveals just what you need to be fluent and ready for the next cosmic headlines: from the Big Bang to black holes, from quarks to quantum mechanics and from the search for planets to the search for life in the univ...
