Alan Guth

We don't have a solid theory of how the universe originated, but that doesn't mean we have to invoke a deity. ”

Relativity can, for instance, explain that the universe had once been clumped into a dense fireball. But it can never explain how matter actually behaved. ”

If we assume there is no maximum possible entropy for the universe, then any state can be a state of low entropy. ”

I had considered MIT a place where brilliant people came. ”

Our best theory of describing space at a fundamental level is probably string theory. ”

Now, what space ultimately is - I should confess, I think most physicists believe - we don't yet know. ”

In the context of general relativity, space almost is a substance. It can bend and twist and stretch, and probably the best way to think about space is to just kind of imagine a big piece of rubber that you can pull and twist and bend. ”

Space is certainly something more complicated than the average person would probably realize. Space is not just an empty background in which things happen. ”

It's not a coincidence that the Bible starts with Genesis. Most people really want to know where we came from and where everything around us came from. I like to strongly push the scientific answer. We have evidence. We no longer have to rely on stories we were told when we were young. ”

If one just tried to invent a universe on one's own, it would probably end up being a much less colorful and interesting universe than the one that we live in. ”