The Widening World View -- When Science Was Born -- Science in Athens -- Planetary Spheres and the Size of the Universe -- Medieval Cosmology -- The Roots of the Copernican Revolution -- The True Laws of Planetary Motion Revealed -- Galileo Galilei and His Successors -- How Far Away Are the Stars? -- The Scale of the Solar System -- Physical Laws of Nature -- Newton -- Celestial Mechanics -- Nature of Light -- Electricity and Magnetism -- Time and Space -- Curved Space and Gravity -- Atoms and Nuclei -- Strange Microworld -- Elementary Particles -- The Universe -- Stars: Cosmic Fusion Reactors -- The Riddle of the Milky Way -- Entering the Galaxy Universe -- Large-scale Structure of the Universe -- Finite or Infinite Universe: Cosmological Models -- When it all Began: Big Bang -- The Dark Side of the Universe -- Active Galaxies: Messages Through Radio Waves -- Origin of Galaxies -- Life in the Universe -- The Nature of Life -- The Origin of Earth and its Moon -- Emergence and Evolution of Life -- Life and our Solar System -- Extrasolar Planetary Systems and Life in other Solar Systems -- Human’s Role in the Universe.

Sir Isaac Newton famously said, regarding his discoveries, "If I have seen further it is by standing upon the shoulders of giants." The Evolving Universe and the Origin of Life describes, complete with fascinating biographical details of the thinkers involved, the ascent to the metaphorical shoulders accomplished by the greatest minds in history. For the first time, a single book can take the reader on a journey through the history of the universe as interpreted by the expanding body of knowledge of humankind. From subatomic particles to the protein chains that form life, and expanding in scale to the entire universe, this book covers the science that explains how we came to be. The Evolving Universe and the Origin of Life contains a great breadth of knowledge, from astronomy to physics, from chemistry to biology. It includes over 350 figures that enhance the comprehension of concepts both basic and advanced, and is a non-technical, easy-to-read text at an introductory college level that is ideal for anyone interested in science as well as its history.