A half century ago, a shocking Washington Post headline claimed that the wo r ld began in five cataclysmic minutes rather than having existed fo r all time, a skeptical scientist dubbed the maverick theo r y the Big Bang. In this amazingly comprehensible histo r y of the universe, Simon Singh decodes the mystery behind the Big Bang theo r y, lading us through the development of one of the most extrao r dinary, impo r tant, a nd awe-inspiring theo r ies in science.