So who created the universe? Is it the work of a supreme being, or merely the inevitable, mindless outcome of physical law?
In answering this question, members of the clergy usually vote for God. Scientists -- who prefer explanations subject to laboratory tests -- figure that everything we see today was as inevitable as wrinkles, once the Big Bang established physics. Stars and planets were cooked up as huge clouds of matter collapsed and coalesced. Life -- amazing as it seems -- was just an epiphenomenon, a sticky bit of chemistry that tufted the occasional cosmic niche. The universe wasn't constructed for our benefit in this scenario: We're just here for the grins.
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