Out of Nothing

[alobear]

Out of Nothing is a graphic novel by Daniel Locke and David Blandy, which charts the history of the universe from the nothingness before the big bang, through various pivotal events and beyond to its inevitable heat death - all in less than 250 pages! It necessarily jumps vast amounts of time, and some of the selections for points of focus seem arbitrary or unusual, but I think it successfully conveys the increased pace of change over time, as well as the immensity of what it's portraying. There's some science, some art, some culture, and it's all described incredibly poetically through the eyes of an imagined time traveller along for the ride. The art style is simple and the words are brief, but both have power. At once deeply profound and incredibly fleeting, the book combines the sense of the hugeness of the universe, the amazing scope of human creativity, and the fact that we are a mere spec on the lens for the larger forces at work around us. Good stuff.