Will there come a point in the development of the universe when the existence of humanity will come to an end? And what about the universe itself - will it ever perish or will it exist forever? A selection of discussions on these topics is presented in the collection “The Universe in the Distant Future,” published under the editorship of George Ellis and consisting of eighteen articles. The various perspectives discussed by the authors of this book are based on scientific discoveries of the past and present, projected into the future. These considerations are stimulating, challenging, and encourage further thought, but keep in mind that our theories may not be tested until the end of time. Will the universe last another hundred billion years? Will our current space undergo a catastrophic transformation, turning into another space with different physical laws? Can we construct a theology of the future universe? In this book, leading theologians, philosophers, and scientists come together to discuss the distant past and distant future of the universe—cosmic epochs on a scale incomparable to the experience of all mankind. Among the authors are famous experts: John Barrow, Paul Davis, Robert Russell, Freeman Dyson and others. The theologian Jürgen Moltmann makes an unexpected but important contribution to the theme, exploring the motivations of Christian eschatology as applied to the future of the universe.

This is truly a landmark book. The ideas about the fate of our universe presented by leading scientists are combined here with the philosophical insights of famous theologians. No one has ever been able to achieve such a synthesis before. The book is distinguished by the novelty of the views presented in it, originality and depth. Gregory Benford, University of California