New answers to the ultimate questions of life from the world's most famous living scientist. When and how did the universe begin? Why are we here? What is the nature of reality? In THE GRAND DESIGN, the most recent scientific thinking about the mysteries of the universe is presented in language marked by both brilliance and simplicity. It is a book that will inform - and provoke - like no other. STEPHEN HAWKING held the position of Lucasian Professor of Mathematics at the University of Cambridge for thirty years. He is the author of A Brief History of Time which was an international bestseller. His other books for the general reader include A Briefer History of Time, the essay collection Black Holes and Baby Universe and The Universe in a Nutshell. Physicist LEONARD MLODINOW has taught at Cal Tech, written for Star Trek: The Next Generation, and is the author of Euclid's Window, Feynman's Rainbow and Some Time with Feynman.