"Specialist scientific fields are developing at incredibly swift speeds, but what can they really tell us about how the universe began and how we humans evolved to play such a dominant role on Earth? John Hands's ... ambitious quest is to bring together this scientific knowledge and evaluate without bias or preconception all the theories and evidence about the origin and evolution of matter, life, consciousness, and humankind. This ... book provides [a] comprehensive account ... of current ideas such as cosmic inflation, dark energy, the selfish gene, and neurogenetic determinism"--Dust jacket flap.… (more)