We have all broken a glass at some point. But can anyone boast that they have seen shards come together to form a glass? Obviously not, because it is impossible. However, this is exactly what the universe has been doing for 13.8 billion years. The key to this paradoxical phenomenon is the pivotal role of light in the history of the universe. If matter has organized itself into galaxies, stars, and planets, it has done so thanks to light, which is both the narrator of the universe's story and its protagonist.

"The universe has no obligation to be beautiful, yet it is," wrote the French academic François Cheng. Could it be that the universe is not beautiful or, at least, not structured into complex, unique forms? And, ultimately, does the universe have any meaning and follow a specific direction, like water on a mountainside, always flowing from high to low? David Elbaz takes us on a highly original, yet completely plausible narrative of the universe's journey, in a tale enriched by literary and philosophical references.

From the first atoms to stars, galaxies, and living organisms, matter always organizes itself into increasingly complex forms, with light as the ever-present catalyst. The universe does not proceed in every case towards maximum disorder...