Judging by the number of TV programmes, magazine and newspaper articles, books, and talks and lectures that are currently available, it is clear that Popular Science as a genre is well-named. Professor Brian Cox's TV programmes have even led to an increase in the sales of telescopes.Even though things do sometimes go wrong, it is surely clear to most people that in general, science works. The remote control turns on the TV, spacecraft arrive at their destinations as planned, photographs appear on the camera screen, antibiotics cure infections, and so on.Having said that, there are still many things that science cannot yet answer. How did the Universe begin, how did Life begin, are there any other Universes, do aliens exist, is time travel possible, does prayer work, is there a Creator, will we ever know everything, etc? Even though many of these questions are currently unanswerable, that doesn't mean that we can't make a Best Guess based on what we do know. It also doesn't mean that we have to invoke supernatural explanations. If we don't know the answer to a question, that just means that we haven't worked it out yet.This book poses 18 questions and, where there is clearly no absolute answer, attempts to give a Best Guess answer. The reader is encouraged to assess the available evidence and to reach a conclusion based on this evidence rather than on wishful thinking. Yes, it would indeed be nice if after death we all passed into some alternative existence with everyone who has ever lived - estimated at about 100 billion people - and where we would be re-united with our family and friends. But where is the evidence for this? It's just a story taken from books that are several thousand years old. Wanting something to be true doesn't make it true. Question 17 however does present a scenario where something like this might be possible. You'll have to read it to learn more.
