In Masks of the Universe, Edward Harrison brings together fundamental scientific, philosophical and religious issues in cosmology and raises thought provoking questions. Philosophical issues dominated cosmology in the ancient world. Theological issues ranked foremost in the Middle Ages; astronomy and the physical sciences have taken over in more recent times. Yet every attempt to grasp the true nature of the universe creates a new "mask," People have always pitied the universes of their ancestors, believing that their generation has at last discovered the "real" universe. Do we now stand at the threshold of knowing everything, or have we created yet another "mask," doomed to fade like those preceding ours?