In the constellation of Eridanus lurks a cosmic mystery. It appears as if something has taken a huge bite out of the universe, leaving a super-void. What is the culprit? A super massive black hole? Another, bigger universe? Or an expanding vacuum bubble, destined to envelop and annihilate everything in existence? Today, scientists understand the history of our universe better than we understand the history of our own planet. But this understanding has uncovered some startling riddles - the hole in the universe being just one. In this electrifying book, award-winning astrophysicist and best selling author Paul Davies lucidly explains what we now know about how the cosmos works, and explores the tantalizing - and sometimes terrifying - possibilities that lie before us. What happened before the Big Bang? Are we alone in the universe? And can black holes remember what they ate? Walking us through the audacious research that has offered mind-bending solutions to these and other mysteries, Davies boldly tackles the greatest outstanding enigmas of all: why does the universe exist in the first place? Why are the laws of nature what they are? And, how did a system of mindless, purposeless particles managed to bring forth conscious, thinking beings? This is a dazzling tour of the puzzles and paradoxes currently keeping cosmologists busy, set to entertain, enchant and inspire us all.