Chapters 4 and 5 tackled the relativistic and quantum aspects of the universe, in accordance with the two major theories of the age, general relativity and quantum theory. Even though these have enjoyed much success in explaining numerous experiments, as well as observational data, they both have shortcomings and need a more complete synthesis. Supersymmetry, supergravity and even Grand Unification are promising ways to approach this goal but they lack experimental support, being only at the stage of preliminary outlines. However, the cosmologist Dennis Sciama has made this encouraging remark: ‘It is hard to imagine that everything is wrong or illusory. We are witnessing the beginning of a new and imaginative scenario for understanding the universe’.

In Chapter 4 we played the game of trying to understand the universe, and took some risks. It is fun to launch out on a promising track, avoiding the pitfalls for the unwary and sidestepping the dead ends, in order to see if the chosen route will open up new horizons or lead to an impasse. In any case, to accompany a scientific mind voyaging a slightly dangerous but rational course is an interesting pursuit.

Weighing up the Big Bang

The Big Bang scenario, which has already been discussed in this book, has plenty of positive features.