The impression given by many popular accounts is that the Big Bang is the beginning of the universe, springing from a singularity of infinite temperature, density, etc. beyond which there was no time, space, or anything. In other words, the Big Bang is the Beginning, before which was nothing, or at least nothing we can hope to understand, and nothing more can or ever will be said.

<i>Battle of the Big Bang</i> is an attempt to challenge that characterization and clarify how we currently understand the Big Bang. The truth is that we do not actually <i>know</i>. that the Big Bang is The Beginning. The hot Big Bang (that the universe was once smaller, hotter, and denser and has evolved into its current form over billions of years) is uncontroversial, but everything else is up for grabs, despite how cosmologists present it. It’s not that we have no idea of what the Big Bang was and what caused it. Indeed, it is quite the opposite: we almost have <i>too many</i> ideas regarding the beginning, or not, of the universe and the Big Bang. What we don’t have is enough evidence to say if any of them are right, or even on the right track.

On the surface, then, <i>Battle of the Big Bang</i> seems little more than a slightly-more-complicated entry in the popular cosmology genre. It, happily, distinguishes itself, though, in a few ways:

Scientists are people too. Afshordi’s personal experience “in the trenches” as a theorist, combined with Halpern’s extensive interviews with cosmologists, provide no doubt that cosmologists can be petty, stubborn, cantankerous, and downright catty. Cosmological models being in contention can lead to cosmological theorists being in contention. It’s not all high-minded, coldly logical argument, though, in the end, the math, experiment, and observation all have the final say. As with any group of people one is far removed from, accounts of this internecine squabbling can be great vicarious fun.

Perhaps the greatest strength of <i>Battle of the Big Bang</i> is that it doesn’t just focus on the big names, either people or theories, you get in most overviews like Hawking, Guth, and Linde, no-boundary proposals and eternal inflation, but scores of other, less well-known ideas and researchers. That also may be its main drawback, if you can classify it as such: there are a <i>lot</i> of names and ideas flying at you all at once. It can be a bit disorienting and confusing, but worth it.

Those completely new to cosmology might have difficult time, but anyone with half an idea will find <i>Battle of the Big Bang</i> a rewarding and educational work.