"Grounded in contemporary scientific understanding and inspired by the world's great wisdom traditions, cosmologist Brian Swimme and cultural historian Thomas Berry meld the findings of contemporary science - cosmology, geology, biology, and sociology - with the human search for meaning. The resulting account articulates fifteen billion years of existence with awe, delight, and vision." "Swimme and Berry remind us of the importance of story - "story is the only way of providing, in our times, what the mythic stories of the universe provided for tribal peoples and for the earlier classical civilizations in their times." In a richly detailed narrative of epic sweep, they recount the unfolding of the universe, from the "primordial flaring forth" and the formation of galaxies and supernovas to the "human emergence," classical civilizations, and imminent Ecozoic era." "The Universe Story compellingly explores humanity's place in the evolving cosmos and our ecological imperative. Crippling the Earth's biodiversity, "we are deciding what species will live or perish, we are determining the chemical structure of the soil and the air and the water, we are mapping out the areas of wilderness that will be allowed to function in their own natural modalities." This, Swimme and Berry remind us, "is filled with risk and presumption," for "the story of the Earth is also the story of the human."" "Honoring "the special capacity of the human to enable the universe and the planet Earth to reflect on and to celebrate ... in our music and our art, our dance and our poetry, and in our religious rituals," Swimme and Berry urge that we honor the knowledge gained by centuries of scientific inquiry with reverence, entrancement, and a commitment to renewal. Such joyous commitment is essential, for "there is eventually only one story, the story of the universe. Every form of being is integral with this comprehensive story. Nothing is itself without everything else.""--Jacket.