Do space and time truly exist? What is reality made of? Can we understand its deep texture?

Scientist Carlo Rovelli has spent his whole life exploring these questions and pushing the boundaries of what we know. In this mind-expanding book, he shows how our understanding of reality has changed throughout centuries, from Democritus to loop quantum gravity. Taking us on a wondrous journey, he invites us to imagine a whole new world where black holes are waiting to explode, spacetime is made up of grains, and infinity does not exist -- a vast universe still largely undiscovered.

Translated by Simon Carnell and Erica Segre.

A global superstar... Professor Rovelli is making the grammar of the universe accessible to a new generation (Channel 4 News)

The most fun physicist to be with -- as well as the greatest explainer of physics (Bryan Appleyard Sunday Times)

Surely Rovelli deserves the title 'world's most inspiring physics teacher' (Daily Telegraph)

The physicist transforming how we see the universe (Financial Times)

The new Hawking... His writing is luminous. By the time I had finished reading I was in serious awe of the author (David Aaronovitch The Times)

This is a really, really good book about science. It's like a tonic for the mind. Carlo Rovelli is a physicist so of course this book is about physics. But it's much more than that. It's about thinking clearly... He gives beautifully clear explanations of the ideas of the cleverest people in history, from Democritus, via Newton, to Einstein and beyond. (Evening Standard)

Rather brilliant... for fans of cutting-edge physics made accessible (Mark Haddon)

The latest thinking in physics is distilled in this primer... Why do you need yet another popularisation of theoretical physics? Because Rovelli writes with crystalline simplicity. And because he turns quantum physics into a coherent story, shaping it as a quest for a single, underlying "substratum" of reality - from Democritus's finite, indivisible atoms to Einstein (James McConnachie Sunday Times)

A comprehensive guide to the bewitching adventure of physics (Daily Telegraph)

Rovelli writes with elegance, clarity and charm... A joy to read, as well as being an intellectual feast (Michael Brooks New Statesman)

'The physicist transforming how we see the universe' (Financial Times)

'An utter joy' (Adam Rutherford)

'A hugely engaging book... Rovelli is a charming, thought-provoking tour guide' (Manjit Kumar Prospect)

Carlo Rovelli is a theoretical physicist who has made significant contributions to the physics of space and time. He has worked in Italy and the US, and is currently directing the quantum gravity research group of the Centre de physique théorique in Marseille, France. His Seven Brief Lessons on Physics is an international bestseller translated into forty-one languages.