We know that the universe started somewhere. With the Big Bang, it went from a state of unimaginable density to the form of a cosmic fireball, scattering the first seeds for everything, from black holes to a rocky planet where life happened to develop as we know it. But what will happen at the end of this story? And what does it mean for us now?

In this brilliant description of eschatological cosmology, Katie Mack, with inexhaustible humor, takes us through the five possible versions of the end of the universe: the Big Crunch, the Heat Death, the Big Rip, Vacuum Decay (which could happen at any moment!), and the Bounce. Using her gift for making the most difficult concepts easily understandable, the rising star of astrophysics helps us understand the universe as a whole, to know its constituents, its evolution, and the fundamental laws that govern it.

We may still not know whether the end of the universe will involve ice, fire, or something else extraterrestrial. But what we do know is that it is a vast, beautiful, and truly amazing place, which is worth every effort to explore - as long as we can.
Excerpt from the book

In an era when humanity is plagued by a minuscule but deadly virus, when human intervention in the natural environment mathematically leads the planet to an immediately catastrophic climate change, is our preoccupation with the possible destruction expected in billions upon billions of years from now a little absurd? And yet, this description of the future awaiting the universe provides the reader with the tools for a fleeting glimpse, perhaps, into possible answers to the fundamental questions of mankind regarding its origin and its future existence.
(From the foreword by Dionysis P. Simopoulos)