A Brief History of the End of the Universe and Everything in It
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Pub Date Jan 19 2027 | Archive Date Dec 31 2026
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Description
The weird, wonderful, and surprisingly comforting science of how everything ends—from the smallest cells to the universe itself.
Cells commit suicide and rupture; stars explode in spectacular fashion. From the microscopic to the cosmic, demise is inevitable. In A Brief History of the End of the Universe and Everything in It, award-winning science writer Stephen Ornes leads a kaleidoscopic journey to uncover why and how everything comes undone—and why, maybe, that’s okay.
Moving from biology to forensic science to ecology and cosmology, Ornes shows how death is not an end but a transformation. He takes readers to a roadside attraction where a man decays in real time, onto “body farms,” into the deep ocean with whale carcasses, and into space to contemplate the fate of stars—illustrating how, viewed from the right perspective, processes that look destructive reveal an unexpected grace. Disclosing all the gory details as well and the strange beauty of decomposition, A Brief History of the End of the Universe and Everything in It deepens our appreciation of both life and death.
About the Author:
Stephen Ornes is the author of Math Art and a Writer in Residence at Vanderbilt University. His writing has appeared in Scientific American, Discover, Quanta, and New Scientist, among other outlets, and been featured in The Best American Science and Nature Writing. His work has been recognized with awards from the AAAS/Kavli Foundation. He lives in Nashville, Tennessee.
Advance Praise
"Stephen Ornes captures the weird, wild science of decay in this entertaining explanation of what happens when things fall apart, from the smallest cell to the cosmos itself. This is an absolutely fascinating book." -Jad Abumrad, creator of Radiolab
"Trust Stephen Ornes to find the glory in our collective decay. A Brief History of the End of the Universe and Everything in It is a wise, witty guide to the transformative power of falling apart." -Michelle Nijhuis, author of Beloved Beasts
"Stephen Ornes has produced the kind of popular science writing that I love: feet on the ground and head in the stars. This book manages to fit microbes and supernovas in the same frame, make roadside attractions and exoplanets part of one universe, and convince readers that every death, at every scale, is a transformation. You’ll end up in such a different place than where you started and not worry a bit about how you got there." -Samir Patel, Editor in Chief of Quanta Magazine
"From mummified bodies and whale deaths to supernovas and the fate of the universe, this dazzling book transforms decomposition into a story of creation. Witty, wondrous, and deeply humane, it reveals that falling apart is not merely an ending, but the engine of change and renewal." -Marcia Bartusiak, MIT Professor of the Practice Emeritus and author of The Day We Found the Universe
"We might as well face up to the fact that everything comes to an end. In this wide-ranging book, Stephen Ornes connects the unavoidable physical facts to the life cycles of everything from cells to stars. And we take some comfort in how endings lead to new beginnings." -Sean Carroll, best-selling author of The Biggest Ideas in the Universe series
Available Editions
| EDITION | Hardcover |
| ISBN | 9781324086123 |
| PRICE | $29.99 (USD) |
| PAGES | 272 |