HarperCollins 1994. Hardback with dust jacket, 162 pp
Ragnarok. Armageddon. Doomsday. Since the dawn of time, man has wondered
how the world would end. In The Last Three Minutes, Paul Davies
reveals the latest theories. It might end in a whimper, slowly
scattering into the infinite void. Then again, it might be yanked back
by its own gravity and end in a catastrophic "Big Crunch." There are
other, more frightening possibilities. We may be seconds away from doom
at this very moment. Written in clear language that makes the
cutting-edge science of quarks, neutrinos, wormholes, and metaverses
accessible to the layman, The Last Three Minutes treats readers to a
wide range of conjectures about the ultimate fate of the universe. Along
the way, it takes the occasional divergent path to discuss some
slightly less cataclysmic topics such as galactic colonization, what
would happen if the Earth were struck by the comet Swift-Tuttle (a
distinct possibility), the effects of falling in a black hole, and how
to create a "baby universe." Wonderfully morbid to the core, this is one
of the most original science books to come along in years.