Hawking poses the ultimate of ultimate questions: Why does the universe exist and why does it follow rules and laws? What's the point of the enormous, endless cosmos, and why is it so perfectly tuned to allow life to exist? Finding out leads to the very deepest of secrets, to the one principle that's at the heart of everything in the cosmos -- string theory. He goes from Newton's groundbreaking discovery of gravity, through hidden extra dimensions, to a muti-verse of billions of more universes where anything - and everything - is possible.

Hawking tackles the question: Is there a meaning to life? Is there a purpose to our existence? He explores what the laws of physics reveal about who and what we humans really are. Do we have free will or are we just complex biological machines working to the laws of nature? From Descartes to the latest advances in quantum physics, Hawking explores this fascinating territory with his famous fearless zeal as he questions the very nature of reality itself. You'll never look at yourself the same way again.

Hawking unfolds his personal, compelling vision of the biggest question of all: Is there a god who created and controls the universe in which we live? To answer this controversial and age-old question, Hawking takes us on a journey through humanity's history of appraising our place in the Universe - from Vikings facing down eclipses to the laws of modern cosmology. Using the laws of physics, Hawking argues that the universe can pop into being from absolutely nothing, that there was no time before the creation of the universe and therefore, no room for a Grand Designer.