The Universe looks as if its volume is finite, and its lifetime is also finite. This means that the question about its emergence is not without meaning: perhaps it was preceded by nothing? No space, no time, no matter, no existence? Is it possible to imagine nothingness? This unexpected question was asked to Amanda Gefter by her father Walter Gefter when she was only fifteen years old. It so happened that this strange question determined her entire future fate. Amanda began to plunge into the abyss of modern physics and understand the intricacies of modern philosophy. It is generally accepted that modern physics is done so far beyond the boundaries of everyday experience that only the rigor and power of the mathematical apparatus it uses can provide a theoretical physicist with a semblance of a guiding thread in his research, and philosophy can only hinder him. Amanda Gefter brilliantly refutes both theses: journalistic spontaneity and philosophical insight help her learn to see the meaning of formulas, almost without paying attention to the formulas themselves, thanks to this she achieves recognition of the best physicists on the planet and talks with them on equal terms.