The Mother of Invention
We recently began perusing The God Particle by Leon Lederman. The author is a Nobel winning particle physicist with a gift for whimsical prose. The intent of the author is to provide the lay person with a rough general knowledge of arcane particle physics. The book consists of a journey through the history of physics in general and particle physics in particular.
Lederman is a materialist. All that exists is atomic particles and space. So far, so good. Below is his description for the layman of how it all began.