[ Essay Critique ] The Mysterious Universe

The vast universe is full of unknowns and mysteries. Human beings have never stopped thinking about and exploring it. As a physicist and essayist, Alan Lightman took us back to the beginning of everything in his essay “What Came Before the Big Bang?” He presents us the contemplation of the origin of time and universe in an easily understandable way andlets you fall into meditation of life.

He uses vivid explanation to build up a profound cosmological world. “Two-headed time theory”, “t=0”, “Quantum gravity” … These theories, formulas and terminologies sound like mumbo-jumbo which makes you overwhelmed. However, Lightman helps you to rid the dense fog with examples in life. He describes “conditions of disorder” as “a deck of cards, once shuffled, is more likely to be jumbled up than precisely arranged by number and suit.” Things from our daily life are more specific than vague concepts. He presents a vivid picture of the process of the Big Bang, “It’s like a Slinky that falls to the floor, reaches maximum compression on impact, and then bounces back to larger dimensions.” His simple words give you a clear understanding of every puzzle. 

Lightman is not only a physicist, but also a good essayist. He adds many juicy details in this “serious” scientific essay. When he introduces the opinions of different scholars, his rich depictions bring these people right in front of you. Lightman reached Sean Carroll, a physics professor, on Skype. He depicts Carroll as “He is forty-nine years old and barrel-chested, with puffy cheeks, jowls, a full head of reddish hair and a mischievous schoolboy glint in his eye.” His writing made us feel as if we met the professor in person. Lightman also shared thoughts with Alexander Vilenkin in his office on a hot day in July. “Boxes of unpacked books littered the floor; on his bookshelf was an Einstein doll given to him by his daughter.” These colorful details make these people fresh and alive and enable us to know what physicists are really like. They are just ordinary people as we are.

Lightman’s essay is thought-provoking. He raises many questions to readers which trigger far-reaching thinking about our life and world. Beginning with the title of the prose, he asks the first question to us. With further illustration of what happened at the starting point of the Big Bang and the existence of time, he keeps asking “Does space go on forever, to infinity?”, “Where did we come from?”, “How did it all begin?” … He leads us to ask big questions that we rarely think about. He shows us the importance to try to understand ourselves and the world we live in. People should have the insight to look at things beyond us and use imagination to explore the unknown things. 

Lightman takes us on a journey from “nothing” to “everything.” He uncovers the mysterious veil of the universe for us and tells us never stop asking questions to this world.