1044 3 JUNE 2022 • VOL 376 ISSUE 6597 science.org SCIENCE
PHOTO: AHMED MOSAADThe book stresses that although one of
those threads led to us, the story of mam-
mals is not about any one species. It is only by
zooming out to view the entire tapestry that
we can fully appreciate who we are, where we
come from, and how to ensure that we do not
end up being another thread cut short.
The Rise and Reign of the Mammals: A New
History, from the Shadow of the Dinosaurs to Us,
Steve Brusatte, Mariner Books, 2022, 528 pp.
Existential Physics
Reviewed by Lisa Aziz-Zadeh^3
If all moments in time exist simultaneously,
is there something special about the current
moment? Can the Universe think? Do we
have free will? Are the dead still alive some-
where on the space-time continuum? In her
stimulating new book, Existential Physics,
Sabine Hossenfelder explores these funda-
mental questions of existence.
At the book’s start, Hossenfelder is careful
to lay out the boundaries of her exploration.
She will assess potential answers to life’s big
questions in relation to whether they are:
(i) compatible with and supported by data
from physics; (ii) in conflict with evidence
from physics; or (iii) ascientific—ideas that are
not invalidated by science but that also have
no data to support them. She explores these
ideas both from her own perspective and
through interviews with other physicists.
The ideas that there might be an entire
universe in a particle or that particles are
conscious are explored and deemed to be
in conflict with physics or, at best, ascien-
tific. Although such observations might be
expected, some of the book’s other conclu-
sions are surprising. One might imagine, for
example, that Hossenfelder would place the
biblical view that the Universe was created
~6000 years ago in the second category—in
conflict with science—given that we know
Earth and the Universe to be billions of years
old. Instead, University of Oxford physicist
Tim Palmer proposes that the biblical age
could instead be considered ascientific. A hy-
pothetical universe that existed for billions
of years as a mathematical model might have
been replaced with real matter 6000 years
ago by a creator, he posits.
In another section, Hossenfelder explores
along with her colleague Zeeya Merali whether
an entire universe could be created in a room
in a laboratory. Remarkably, Hossenfelder
concludes that while the technology is cur-
rently unavailable, it is, in principle, possible.
Most ideas Hossenfelder presents she
concludes are ascientific: the notion that
copies of us may exist in a multiverse, for
example, or that consciousness is related to
quantum mechanics. Here, she invites read-
ers to believe what they would like about
ascientific theories, while regularly making
her own views clear. By demarking ascien-
tific answers from scientific ones, she helps
delineate science’s limits in answering life’s
big questions.At times, I wished Existential Physics in-
cluded perspectives from other science dis-
ciplines. As my colleague, physicist Ethan
Nadler, observed, “Just because physics is
‘bottom-up,’ it won’t necessarily provide the
most insight into every existential question.
For example, it’s not useful to describe human
behavior using particle physics.” Nevertheless,
thinking about life’s big questions from a
physics perspective, although perhaps in-
complete, is a large piece of the puzzle, and
Hossenfelder’s book is the perfect place to be-
gin such an endeavor.Existential Physics: A Scientist’s Guide to
Life’s Biggest Questions, Sabine Hossenfelder,
Viking, 2022, 272 pp.Doctors and Distillers
Reviewed by Maddie Bender^4Doctors and Distillers, Camper English’s explo-
ration of the medicinal history of libations, is
jam-packed with factoids about the history of
distilling and medicine and arranged in the-
matic and roughly chronological order. The
writing is lively and accessible, easily enjoyed
by a medical anthropologist, home mixologist,
or seasoned bartender. Interstitials, mean-
while, provide relevant cocktail recipes that
range from the quotidian to the obscure.
Progressing from fermentation and the
early medicinal use of grain and grapes by the
ancient Greeks and Romans, to the pursuit ofA fossil whale skeleton lies exposed in the Egyptian desert at Wadi al-Hitan.
Corrected 3 June 2022. See full text.