Cells commit suicide and rupture; stars explode in spectacular fashion. From the microscopic to the cosmic, demise is inevitable. In A Brief History of the End of the Universe and Everything in It, award-winning science writer Stephen Ornes leads a kaleidoscopic journey to uncover why and how everything comes undone—and why, maybe, that’s okay.Moving from biology to forensic science to ecology and cosmology, Ornes shows how death is not an end but a transformation. He takes readers to a roadside attraction where a man decays in real time, onto “body farms,” into the deep ocean with whale carcasses, and into space to contemplate the fate of stars—illustrating how, viewed from the right perspective, processes that look destructive reveal an unexpected grace. Disclosing all the gory details as well and the strange beauty of decomposition, A Brief History of the End of the Universe and Everything in It deepens our appreciation of both life and death.
