bThe man who makes physics sexy . . . the scientist they're calling the next Stephen Hawking. b--biThe Times Magazinei pFrom the iNew York Timesi-bestselling author of iSeven Brief Lessons on Physicsi, iThe Order of Timei, and the forthcoming iHelgolandi, a closer look at the mind-bending nature of the universe.b pWhat are the elementary ingredients of the world Do time and space exist And what exactly is reality In elegant and accessible prose, theoretical physicist Carlo Rovelli leads us on a wondrous journey from Democritus to Einstein, from Michael Faraday to gravitational waves, and from classical physics to his own work in quantum gravity. As he shows us how the idea of reality has evolved over time, Rovelli offers deeper explanations of the theories he introduced so concisely in iSeven Brief Lessons on Physicsi. Rovelli invites us to imagine a marvelous world where space breaks up into tiny grains, time disappears at the smallest scales, and black holes are waiting to explode--a