The author starts out in this book with various chapters pertaining to “Things That Don’t Make Sense”. His opening salvo says that “it’s only the things that don’t make sense, that matter”.
Here are some of the chapter headings that include:
1 – The “Missing Universe”. We can only account for about 4% of the cosmos at this time. What is dark energy?
2 – the “Pioneering Anomaly”. Two pioneering spacecraft programs (Pioneer 10 and Pioneer 11) are still drifting further and further towards the edges of our universe. They are slightly drifting off course (only about 8000 miles per year) but nonetheless, they are challenging Einstein’s and Newton’s “universal theories of gravity”. What is causing the slightly off the mark journey of these two spacecraft. No one knows.
3 – “Variable Constants”. The destabilizing our view of the universe. Trying to understand what gravity comes from, and how it works.
4 – “ColdFusion”. Nuclear energy without the drama.
5 – “Life”. Are we more than just a bag of chemicals?
6 – “Viking”. NASA scientists found evidence of life on Mars, then they changed their mind.
7 – The “Wow” Signal. Has ET already been in touch?
8 – A “Giant Virus”. It is a freak that could rewrite the story of life.
9 – “Death”. Evolution’s problem of self-destruction.
10 – “Sex”. There are better ways to reproduce.
11 – “Free Will”. Your decisions are not your own.
12 – The “Placebo Effect”. Who’s being deceived?
13 – “Homeopathy”. It is patently absurd, why won’t it go away?
Conclusion and book summary:
As the author, Michael Brooks, states at the beginning of this book, it is the “things that don’t make sense, that are really the only things that matter”. Here in this book, the author goes over 13 things that are yet to be fully, or mostly, explained, and therefore, remain a great mystery to all of us. If you have “even the least bit of” scientific curiosity, this will be a great book for you.
