In the new cosmology, the entire universe is viewed as the product of an evolutionary process. The distinguished physicist Timothy Ferris, in his recent tour de force on the subject, The Whole Shebang (1997), speaks of a universal phylogeny: “If, as many theorists suspect, the constants of nature were decided by random ‘phase transitions’ that took place during the first moment of time, then the laws of nature, too, are evidence of historical events. Evolution is creative: In an evolving universe, all events could not be predicted even if we knew the precise state of the early universe. Cosmology is an ongoing story” [his emphasis]. Ferris notes that the universe may be as much a product of chance as of necessity. However, it is also a product of synergy; the “Epic of Evolution” is quintessentially a story about synergy and history.

The Big Whoosh

Let's begin the story at the Great Beginning. Matter – the basic “stuff” of the universe – would not exist without synergy. Indeed, the synergy started with the “Big Bang” – or what should really be called the “Big Whoosh.” (There are no sound effects in space; it was more akin to an ultra-fast silent movie.