Drawing on myth and religion, science and art, the bestselling author of The Elegant Universe joins How To Academy to explore humankind’s search for purpose in the vastness of the cosmos.

“In both time and space, the cosmos is astoundingly vast, and yet is governed by simple, elegant, universal mathematical laws. On this cosmic timeline, our human era is spectacular but fleeting. Someday, we know, we will all die. And, we know, so too will the universe itself.” – Brian Greene

World-renowned for his ground-breaking discoveries in string theory, Brian Greene is also one of our most eloquent and original storytellers in science, able to transport us across the vast reaches of time and space, bringing to life breakthroughs and trials, great discoveries and profound philosophical meditations.

He joins us for his most ambitious and poignant story yet: the quest to understand how life and mind emerged from the initial chaos of the big bang, and how our minds, in coming to understand their own impermanence, seek in different ways to give meaning to experience: in story, myth, religion, science, creative expression, the quest for truth, and our longing for the timeless and eternal.

At the heart of the tale lies the paradox between the transience of our experience and the human quest to search for deeper purpose. From the Pyramids to the Ninth Symphony to quantum mechanics, the greatest monuments of human creative expression reflect our yearning for permeance. But science tells us that our era – the era of life itself – is spectacularly unique. What sages through the centuries have taught us – the surprising but subtle truth that life is in the here and now – is made rich and deep and clear when we understand the full expanse of time.

Don’t miss this chance to hear the story of mind, matter and the quest for meaning in an evolving universe from one the most gifted physicists alive today.

Praise for Brian Greene:

“Brian Greene has a gift for elucidating big ideas . . . Captures and engages the imagination . . . It’s exciting and rewarding to read him.” —The New York Times

“Like [Stephen] Hawking and [Roger] Penrose before him, [Greene] is an author who writes with the confidence and authority of one who . . . has seen the promised land of cosmic truth.” –Bookforum