From the Big Bang to God: The Universe’s Biggest Mysteries

About this episode:

Kelsey Johnson is a professor of astronomy at the University of Virginia, former president of the American Astronomical Society, and founder of the award-winning Dark Skies, Bright Kids program. Her new book is Into the Unknown: The Quest to Understand the Mysteries of the Cosmos.

Shermer and Johnson discuss:

• What is knowledge and truth and how do we know it?

• Why is there something rather than nothing?

• What caused the big bang?

• How old is the universe?

• How big is the universe?

• Are aliens out there somewhere? Have they come here?

• What are Dark Matter and Dark Energy

• What is the nature of time?

• Multiple dimensions

• Multiple universes

• What are the laws of nature

• Is the universe mathematical?

• The block universe, determinism and free will

• Is the universe finely tuned for life and us?

• The origin of life

• What is our place in the universe?

• Is there a place for God in science?