Cosmic Legacy: Space, Time, and the Human Mind

Cosmic Legacy takes the reader on an extraordinary journey through the evolving Universe, defines our place within it, and what the future may hold. The book follows a chronological sequence, opening with the birth of our Universe when matter, energy, and space-time came into existence. After a brief discussion of the history of cosmological science, recent theories are investigated, including the classic Big Bang, Inflationary, Quantum Cosmology, and String Theories. Numerous additional topics and phenomena are discussed, including the Standard Model of Particle Physics, quantum physics, theories of time, dark matter, dark energy, neutron stars, black holes, wormholes, etc. The first chapter proceeds with the evolution of our Universe and the coalescence of matter into the galaxies, stars and planets, leading to the formation of our solar system and Earth.

The second chapter begins with the development of life from the materials provided by the Universe. The principles of biochemistry, biogenesis, and biological evolution are followed to explain this exciting phenomenon. In addition, the possibility of extraterrestrial life (within our own solar system and also the Universe) is examined. After primitive life was established on Earth, its evolutionary path to modern humans is traced, followed by the ancient human migrations across the globe with subsequent development of racial, ethnic, and cultural identities.

The third chapter explores the human mind, the anatomy and physiology of the human brain, and their relevance in theories of how consciousness, intelligence, and behavior are derived. The product (and consequences) of these basic qualities of the human mind are examined: society, philosophy, science, religion, and technology.

The fourth chapter examines some issues of importance to the future of humanity (e.g., future evolution, technology, civilization, overpopulation, disease, pollution, and climate), and various scenarios of human extinction and ways to avoid (or at least delay) undesirable consequences. The chapter ends with theories of the ultimate fate of our Earth, our galaxy, and the Universe.

The fifth chapter is a summary of the highlights of the previous chapters, providing some perspective of humanity’s place within the context of the Universe and examining our concepts of reality.

Cosmic Legacy is a hard cover edition with 390 pages and illustrated with numerous photographs, drawings, graphs, and tables. The book also includes an appendix, glossary, bibliography and extensive index.