Introduction: In which I set everything up, so it's probably best not to skip ahead xi
Chapter 1 Antimatter: In which we learn why there is something rather than nothing 1
Chapter 2 Entropy: In which we explore where time comes from or whether it just is 37
Chapter 3 The Cosmological Principle: In which we learn why it is dark at night 69
Chapter 4 Emmy Noether: In which we determine what symmetry really means 105
Chapter 5 Relativity: In which we fail to build an intergalactic ansible 130
Chapter 6 Gravity: In which we learn why black holes don't last forever 158
Chapter 7 Replacement: In which we consider the design specifications for a teleportation device 189
Chapter 8 Spin: In which we investigate why you aren't a sentient cloud of helium and what a spoonful of neutron star would do to you 205
Chapter 9 Higgs: In which we explore the origin of mass and why physics isn't stamp collecting 229
Chapter 10 Hidden Symmetries: In which objects in the mirror are closer than they appear 262
Appendix
Roadside Attraction 1 The Particle Zoo 293
Roadside Attraction 2 A Side of Symmetries 295
Further Reading 299
Bibliography 301
Acknowledgments 317
Index 319