“Time and space are modes by which we think and not conditions in which we live.” — Albert Einstein
Close your eyes for a moment.
Now, imagine—if you can—a time before time. A space before space.
The very sentence defies logic, doesn’t it? We speak of “before,” but the notion of “before” needs time. We imagine an emptiness, but emptiness is still something. So then, how can we ask, “What was there before the universe began?” when the very language we use is forged in the fires of space and time themselves?
Yet we ask. And we seek. And in our questions lies the flame of wonder that has illuminated human minds across millennia.
This is a tale of beginnings. A tale not just of galaxies and particles, but of how we came to understand the invisible fabric in which all of existence is stitched: space and time.
The Cosmic Symphony Begins: The Big Bang Theory
Let’s begin with what most modern cosmologists agree upon: The Big Bang.
No, it wasn’t an explosion in space. It was the sudden expansion of space itself. A moment—about 13.8 billion years ago—when all the matter, energy, and even the dimensions of space and time burst forth from a point of infinite density and temperature.
Physicists call this point a singularity. But truthfully, it is a mystery wrapped in mathematics. Our laws of physics break down at this origin. It is a place where gravity and quantum mechanics, our most successful theories, cease to cooperate.
In that singular instant, the universe was not expanding into space. Space itself was being created. And time? That, too, began ticking in that incandescent moment. As Stephen Hawking poetically put it, “Asking what came before the Big Bang is like asking what is north of the North Pole.”
This is the mainstream narrative. But as with all good stories, there are whispers of other possibilities.
Beyond the Bang: Looping Back with Loop Quantum Gravity
Let’s step into the elegant world of loop quantum gravity—a theory that attempts to marry quantum mechanics and general relativity.
According to this model, space is not continuous but made up of tiny, discrete “loops”—infinitesimal building blocks that form a kind of quantum fabric. Time, too, may not flow smoothly but tick in minuscule quanta, like frames in a cosmic film reel.
Now here’s the twist: in this theory, the universe didn’t begin at a singularity. Instead, the Big Bang is reimagined as a Big Bounce. There may have been a contracting universe before ours, one that shrank down until it rebounded—giving birth to our cosmos in the process.
Like a breath, the universe exhales and inhales in eternal cycles. If this is true, time might be far older than we think—eternal, even—its flow punctuated by rhythmic rebirths.
Isn’t that beautiful? That we could be riding the wave of a universal breath?
Strings, Multiverses, and Holograms: The Exotic Possibilities
What if our universe is but a tiny note in a grander cosmic orchestra?
String theory suggests that all fundamental particles are actually tiny vibrating strings, whose oscillations define everything from quarks to electrons. But this theory also demands extra dimensions—10 or 11 in total. Most of them are curled up, imperceptible to us, like secrets tucked into the folds of reality.
According to some versions of string theory, our universe may be a three-dimensional “brane” floating in a higher-dimensional space. And collisions between such branes could cause something like a Big Bang.
Even more mind-bending is the multiverse hypothesis. Our universe, with its precise laws and delicate balances, might just be one of countless others—each with different rules, dimensions, or even kinds of time.
In some versions, time might be circular. In others, branching like a tree. In yet others, non-existent altogether—replaced by a more abstract ordering of events.
And then there’s the holographic principle, suggesting that everything we perceive as three-dimensional might actually be encoded on a two-dimensional surface—much like a hologram.
In this view, time and space might not be fundamental at all. They may emerge from something even deeper—something we cannot yet name.
Quantum Time: When “Before” and “After” Disappear
Step into the quantum world, and even our most basic intuitions start to falter.
Particles can be in multiple places at once. Cause and effect blur. The future can influence the past. According to quantum gravity research, time might be an emergent property—like temperature. Just as temperature arises from countless molecules in motion, time may arise from deeper, timeless laws.
In this view, the flow of time is an illusion—an epiphenomenon. There is no “now” at the fundamental level. The universe doesn’t evolve in time. It simply is.
Carlo Rovelli, a pioneer in this field, invites us to see the universe not as a place in time, but as a network of events, each relating to the others—like a web of experiences. Time, then, is not something we move through. It’s something we construct.
Imagine that: time is a song, and we are the ones singing it.
The Shape of Space: From Flat Planes to Twisted Realms
What about space?
We think of it as a passive backdrop. But Einstein shattered that illusion. His general theory of relativity revealed that space is woven together with time into a single, dynamic entity: spacetime.
Mass bends spacetime. Planets curve it gently. Black holes twist it into whirlpools. Light follows its curves. And gravity? That’s just the shape of space telling matter how to move.
In cosmology, space may be flat, open, or closed. A flat universe, like a sheet of paper, stretches infinitely. A closed one, like a sphere, might loop back on itself. An open one expands forever, like a saddle with no end.
The latest observations suggest our universe is nearly flat—but with a twist. It’s expanding, and the expansion is accelerating due to an invisible force: dark energy.
This expansion raises haunting questions: Will space keep stretching forever? Will galaxies vanish beyond our reach? Will time itself lose meaning in the cold silence of a dark future?
The Human Mirror: Space and Time Within Us
The pursuit of space and time is not just outward. It is inward too.
When we dream of the beginning of the universe, we are also seeking the beginning of ourselves. Our bodies are built from stardust—carbon from ancient stars, oxygen from supernovae. We are not separate from the cosmos. We are its witnesses. Its storytellers.
Our brains contain internal clocks. Our hearts beat to rhythm. Our memories create personal timelines. We live in time. We measure our lives in it. But perhaps we also create it.
Just as a painting creates space on a flat canvas, our minds create space in consciousness. Just as a melody flows in time, our awareness flows through now, after now, after now.
The Poetry of Not Knowing
We do not yet know the final truth. Perhaps we never will. But the act of asking is itself a miracle.
That we, beings made of matter and breath, can even conceive of dimensions beyond our own, that we can write equations about the origin of all things—that is poetry.
The universe may have no edge, no center, and no beginning in the way we understand beginnings. Time may not tick from past to future like a clock. Space may be a ripple on a deeper sea.
And yet here we are, thinking about it, dreaming of it.
In ancient texts, philosophers spoke of time as a river. But perhaps it’s more like a fog. We live inside it. We move with it. But we can never grasp it entirely.
A Final Thought: Echoes in the Infinite
Let us return to that first moment again.
The moment when nothingness became everything. When time awakened, and space unfolded like a lotus from a single, unseen point.
That moment is not over. It is happening still.
Every star, every thought, every question you ask—is an echo of that birth. Space is not just “out there.” Time is not just a number ticking by.
They are the canvas of existence. And they are alive with mystery.
So, next time you look up at the night sky, remember: you are not just seeing stars. You are witnessing the universe remembering itself.
You are space contemplating space. You are time, wondering what it means to be.
Let us keep wondering. For it is in wonder that the greatest truths are born.