The twentieth century gave us two great theories of physics. The general theory of relativity describes the behaviour of very large things; quantum theory the behaviour of very small things.

In this landmark book, John Gribbin – one of the best-known writers of popular science over the past 30 years – presents his own version of the Holy Grail of physics, the search that has been going on for decades to find a unified ‘Theory of Everything’ that combines these ideas into one mathematical package, a single equation that could be printed on a T-shirt, containing the answer to life, the Universe and everything.

With his inimitable mixture of science, history and biography, Gribbin shows how – despite scepticism among many physicists – these two great theories are indeed very compatible, and point to a deep truth about the nature of our existence. The answer lies, intriguingly, with the age of the Universe: 13.8 billion years.