How old is the universe? What do the atoms in our bodies, our very existence, tell us about the history of the universe? How do galaxies form? Michael Rowan-Robinson answers these questions and encapsulates all that modern astronomy has discovered about the universe around nine numbers, only one of which is known with real precision, and four not at all. The reader emerges with a genuine feel for what we do really know about the universe — and also what we do not.

The complicated ideas that constitute modern cosmology — the origin of the elements, the General Theory of Relativity, quantum theory, and the standard model of particle physics — are made accessible. Rowan-Robinson predicts that with the advent of the MAP and PLANCK-Surveyor space missions, the Large Hadron Collider, and other planned experiments, all nine numbers will be accurately known by 2015. However, he stresses that many questions and mysteries will remain, and that the origin of the Big Bang could remain a mystery until the year 3000.