Book excerpt: “A clarion call for seeing the world as a whole,” this philosophical bestseller takes readers through history, from the Big Bang through the 21st century—now featuring an afterword with the writer-director of the Matrix franchise (San Francisco Chronicle) Join one of the greatest contemporary philosophers on a breathtaking tour of time and the Cosmos—from the Big Bang right up to the eve of the twenty-first century. This accessible and entertaining summary of Ken Wilber’s great ideas has been expanding minds now for two decades, providing a unified field theory of the universe. Along the way, Wilber talks on a host of issues related to that universe, from gender roles, to multiculturalism, environmentalism, and even the meaning of the Internet. This special anniversary edition contains an afterword, a dialogue between the author and Lana Wachowski—the award-winning writer-director of the Matrix film trilogy—in which we’re offered an intimate glimpse into the evolution of Ken’s thinking and where he stands today. A Brief History of Everything may well be the best introduction to the thought of this man who has been called the “Einstein of Consciousness” (John White).