Nothing: Surprising Insights Everywhere from Zero to Oblivion

One of Brain Pickings’ Best Science Books of 2014

Incredible discoveries from the fringes of the universe to the inner workings of our minds—all from nothing!

It turns out that almost nothing is as curious—or as enlightening—as, well, nothing. What is nothingness? Where can it be found? The writers of the world's top-selling science magazine investigate—from the big bang, dark energy, and the void to superconductors, vestigial organs, hypnosis, and the placebo effect—and discover that understanding nothing may be the key to understanding everything:

What came before the big bang, and will our universe end?
How might cooling matter down almost to absolute zero help solve our energy crisis?
How can someone suffer from a false diagnosis as though it were true?
Does nothingness even exist? Recent experiments suggest that squeezing a perfect vacuum somehow creates light.
Why is it unfair to accuse sloths—animals who do nothing—of being lazy? And more!

Contributors Paul Davies, Jo Marchant, and Ian Stewart, along with two former editors of Nature and 16 other leading writers and scientists, marshal up-to-the-minute research to make one of the most perplexing realms in science dazzlingly clear. Prepare to be amazed at how much more there is to nothing than you ever realized.