Clearing up many misconceptions about the idea of multiverse in general and its relationship with the concept of a creator (benevolent or not), this book covers some of the territory Stenger has crossed in his previous work, but updated with the current advances in cosmology and physics. The author describes the emergence of the modern conception of the multiverse and its motivation and discusses the significance of this concept for our hypotheses of the origins of the Universe. Major stepping stones in philosophy and science are covered, from the initial conceptions of the origins in religious traditions and the birth of physical cosmology in Ancient Greece, through the growth of physics and the scientific revolution catalyzed by Newton, Leibnitz and Descartes to modern conceptions of chaotic inflation, pre-Big Bang cosmologies, and the multiverse itself. Throughout, Stenger's central thesis is, as usual, the naturalistic explanation of the origins. He demonstrates that indeed, given certain premises, the idea of God as a creator is completely unnecessary. He is at his best when discussing the interrelationship between particle physics (his specific area of expertise) and philosophy; his discussions of more specific details of physical cosmology are on occasion a bit rushed. Annotation ©2014 Ringgold, Inc., Portland, OR (protoview.com) Read Less