Finished copies in for THE UNIVERSAL HISTORY OF US

It's a great moment when copies of an author's finished book arrives. Published on 13 June by the Michael Joseph imprint of Penguin Random House, Professor Tim Coulson's The Universal History of Us has a long history.

The subtitle is 'A 13.8 billion year tale from the Big Bang to you'. It may have taken nearly 13.8 billion years to make Tim, but it has also taken Tim quite a long time to make this book. He first dreamed it up as a student. This is how he describes its origins:

“Although I didn’t know at the time, the seeds of this book were sown in 1989 when, travelling in Africa, I muddled my water purification tablets with my malaria prophylactics, was bitten by an infected mosquito, and very nearly died. My brush with death made me think about what I wanted to achieve with my life, and I decided to try to understand what science could tell me about why I existed, and in particular whether our existence was inevitable at the birth of the universe, as some physicists argue, or if we are just incredibly lucky to be here.”

It's great that he survived to tell the tale because, alongside his exciting research into predators in the Zoology department of Oxford University, he has found time to research and write this wonderful book which brings together all the sciences to explain what science knows about how circumstances came together to produce human life on earth. Advance praise has been flooding in: 

‘Step aside Star Wars – ours is the most astonishing origin story you’ll ever hear and it is beautifully told by Tim Coulson.’

Professor Ken Norris, Deputy Director of Science at the Natural History Museum

‘A charming, engaging and erudite account by a distinguished biologist of all the things that had to happen for you and me to exist and be as we are.’

David Christian, author of The New York Times Bestseller Origin Story (2018)

‘Exceptional. A highly infectious read. From the first page I found it impossible to put down. An erudite, witty, and highly intelligent romp through the history of life as we know it’

Professor Baroness Kathy Willis, Professor of Biodiversity, University of Oxford

‘With wit, wisdom and humility, Tim Coulson takes us on an incredible journey from the Big Bang to life as we know it on planet Earth. The prose is of a perfect weight, and an absolute joy to read.’

Sunetra Gupta, Professor of Theoretical Epidemiology at the University of Oxford

‘Most scientists know only their own field. Tim Coulson is at home with science as an integrated whole. A pleasure to read, and a lasting accomplishment’

Richard Dawkins

‘An extremely enjoyable read, written in a very engaging way, and sprinkled with often very funn'y anecdotes. Will appeal to a broad variety of readers and inspire new generations of scientists for years to come.'

Quentin Paynter

‘A gangbuster science book. A can't-put-down read. I don't think I have learned more from a single book.’

Douglas W. Smith, Former Senior Wildlife Biologist, Yellowstone National Park

‘What have we learnt about the past 13.8 billion years that resulted in you looking at this book? Tim Coulson, a fun scientist who has no limits to his brain’s boundaries takes us on a free spirited intellectual romp through every aspect of what we know about our universe. A highly readable and super enjoyable book.’

Peter Hudson FRS Willaman, Professor of Biology at Penn State

‘Achieves something almost impossible, lucid explanation without dumbing down. I would defy any scientist not to read this and learn something. For those with no science beyond the stuff at school which you hated, the author hated school too and has you covered. You can read this for fun and accidentally you will know as much general science as any Professor.’

James H Naismith FRS FRSE FMedSci MAE, Head of the Mathematical, Physical and Life Sciences Division at Oxford, Professor of Structural Biology

‘I learnt a lot from this fantastic book on the history of the universe as will anyone who reads it.’

Nils Chr. Stenseth, Director of the Centre for Ecological and Evolutionary Synthesis at the University of Oslo, former President of the Norwegian Academy of Science and a member of the US National Academy of Sciences