Origins of Existence

When we ponder upon our existence, we see that a lot of things had to happen for us to be here. In 'Origins of Existence', Fred Adams follows this process through from the beginning of time. He starts by looking at the laws of physics, and then at the origin of the universe. This is followed by chapters on the formation of galaxies, stars and planets, and this leads on to a look at the origin of life. The final chapter examines how the laws of the universe seem to be fine-tuned to allow for the development of living beings.

The book is essentially a long discussion of the processes leading to life, rather than trying to teach the reader about the subjects concerned. There are a few illustrations, but these are highly stylised - for decoration, rather than helping the reader to understand what the book is saying. Hence I'm not sure that this book would be entirely suitable for those readers with no prior knowledge of the subjects covered, but then again more knowledgable readers may not find much new information. What the book does well is to gather ideas from several different fields to form a consistent thread.