Hi Bob,

Now you're wandering away from evolution into Cosmology. We could play the game of pushing back the boundaries further and further. We could go into the formation of the solar system, how the planets were formed (which is where the heat comes from), we could go in to the Big Bang and talk about galactic and stellar evolution, how the Sun formed from a cloud of gas and dust etc but I get the idea that's not what you're driving at. If you're asking if science has the ultimate answer as to where the Universe came from then I save us all a lot of time and say no. It doesn't, and what's more in my opinion it can't. The Universe is by definition a closed system (it is everything) so according to Godel's Incompleteness theorem our understanding must be either incomplete or inconsistent.

I have always said that there is a need for both science and religion and that there is no need for a conflict between them because they are seeking different answers to different questions. Ultimately science tells us how the universe works but not why it works. It gives us the mechanics for existence but not the reasons for existence. That's where religion comes in. I have always held that it is foolish to look for scientific truths in religion or religious truths in science.

So in short, I don't know where the universe comes from and neither does anyone else. Sure, people have beliefs but they are purely religious and not scientific.