Origins in 24 Hours
In the preface to Origins I’ve mapped out a ‘timeline of creation’, from the big bang to the origin of human consciousness, projected to a single day. On this reckoning, the universe ‘begins’ at midnight. Particles with mass appear the merest whisper of a fraction of a second afterwards, and the universe is bathed in light at the moment of recombination two seconds later, as primordial electrons latch themselves to primordial hydrogen and helium nuclei. Stars and galaxies first appear between 12:30 and 1:00 a.m., with complex molecules starting to make their appearance sometime between 3 a.m. and 6:30 a.m., in time for breakfast.
Read full article