Since this book was originally written in 1952, a lot of scientific discovery has taken place. Nevertheless, it remains a solid description of the history of the universe from the "big bang" until what we see today. That is generally due to the excellent expository writing of Gamow, he is able to take the complex nature of astrophysics and distill it down into an understandable form. He does all of this while retaining the fundamental science, which is sometimes very difficult. Gamow also never hesitates to use formulas when there is an obvious need for them. Therefore, even after 50 years this book is still a good primer on the origin and fundamental nature of the universe.