Cosmic Jackpot
Cosmic Jackpot

Author: Paul Davies

Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

Published: 2007-04-11

Total Pages: 340

ISBN-13: 9780547415765

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Cosmic Jackpot is Paul Davies’s eagerly awaited return to cosmology, the successor to his critically acclaimed bestseller The Mind of God. Here he tackles all the "big questions," including the biggest of them all: Why does the universe seem so well adapted for life? In his characteristically clear and elegant style, Davies shows how recent scientific discoveries point to a perplexing fact: many different aspects of the cosmos, from the properties of the humble carbon atom to the speed of light, seem tailor-made to produce life. A radical new theory says it’s because our universe is just one of an infinite number of universes, each one slightly different. Our universe is bio-friendly by accident -- we just happened to win the cosmic jackpot. While this "multiverse" theory is compelling, it has bizarre implications, such as the existence of infinite copies of each of us and Matrix-like simulated universes. And it still leaves a lot unexplained. Davies believes there’s a more satisfying solution to the problem of existence: the observations we make today could help shape the nature of reality in the remote past. If this is true, then life -- and, ultimately, consciousness -- aren’t just incidental byproducts of nature, but central players in the evolution of the universe. Whether he’s elucidating dark matter or dark energy, M-theory or the multiverse, Davies brings the leading edge of science into sharp focus, provoking us to think about the cosmos and our place within it in new and thrilling ways.

Cosmic Jackpot
Cosmic Jackpot

Author: P. C. W. Davies

Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

Published: 2007

Total Pages: 315

ISBN-13: 9780618592265

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The physicist-author of The Mind of God looks at cutting-edge scientific discoveries to explore why many of the fundamental features of the physical universe--from the speed of light to the carbon atom--seem tailor-made to produce life, offering a revealing study of the radical multiverse theory and its implications in terms of the nature of reality, time, life, and the cosmos. 35,000 first printing.

Worlds Without End
Worlds Without End

Author: Mary-Jane Rubenstein

Publisher: Columbia University Press

Published: 2014-02-11

Total Pages: 360

ISBN-13: 0231156626

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“Multiverse” cosmologies imagine our universe as just one of a vast number of others. While this idea has captivated philosophy, religion, and literature for millennia, it is now being considered as a scientific hypothesis—with different models emerging from cosmology, quantum mechanics, and string theory. Beginning with ancient Atomist and Stoic philosophies, Mary-Jane Rubenstein links contemporary models of the multiverse to their forerunners and explores their current emergence. One reason is the so-called fine-tuning of the universe: nature’s constants are so delicately calibrated, it seems they have been set just right to allow life to emerge. For some theologians, these “fine-tunings” are proof of God; for others, “God” is an insufficient explanation. One compelling solution: if all possible worlds exist somewhere, then it is no surprise one of them happens to be suitable for life. Yet this hypothesis replaces God with an equally baffling article of faith: the existence of universes beyond, before, or after our own, eternally generated yet forever inaccessible. In sidestepping metaphysics, multiverse scenarios collide with it, producing their own counter-theological narratives. Rubenstein argues, however, that this interdisciplinary collision provides the condition of its scientific viability, reconfiguring the boundaries among physics, philosophy, and religion.

Down to Earth
Down to Earth

Author: Richard Floyd

Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers

Published: 2015-08-18

Total Pages: 141

ISBN-13: 1498220878

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In the face of climate change and ecological diminishment, how can we hope that creation itself--good and beautiful, marked by tragedy and chaos--is taken up rather than left behind? Can a Christian vision, which has at times been drunk on eschatological dreams (or nightmares) that consign this world and most of its creatures to destruction, foster an earthly hope? Jurgen Moltmann and Sallie McFague offer two contemporary possibilities for an ecological eschatology. Floyd critiques both of these theological visions and traces an alternative that is both humble (grounded in the humus, the dirt) and hopeful (grounded in divine creativity), arguing that a "down-to-earth" hope is grounded finally in beauty: the beauty of the other that draws out the self, the beauty of the redeemed self coming out to meet the other, and the beauty of God that lures forth ever-new possibilities and gathers up all the beautiful and broken creatures into the deepest possible harmony.

Godforsaken
Godforsaken

Author: Dinesh D'Souza

Publisher: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.

Published: 2012

Total Pages: 289

ISBN-13: 1414324855

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Examines the issue of human suffering and explores why a good God allows it.

What's So Great about Christianity
What's So Great about Christianity

Author: Dinesh D'Souza

Publisher: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.

Published: 2008

Total Pages: 290

ISBN-13: 1414326017

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Examines the assumptions of Christianity and atheism, and argues, among other issues, that Christianity explains what modern science tells us about the universe and our origins better than atheism.

Essays on Life Sciences, with Related Science Fiction Stories
Essays on Life Sciences, with Related Science Fiction Stories

Author: Pier Luigi Luisi

Publisher: Cambridge Scholars Publishing

Published: 2020-01-02

Total Pages: 251

ISBN-13: 1527544796

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This collection of essays highlights, in a new, critical fashion, some of the classic questions in life science. These include “what is life?”; “what is death?”; “what is consciousness?”; “why is life cellular?”; and “why are enzymes macromolecules?”. It also explores whether evolution is pre-determined, whether science and spirituality can harmonize with each other, whether artificial intelligence is at odds with the human spirit, and whether, and to what extent, we are genetically determined. In this text, some of the main conceptual tools used to tackle life’s many aspects are necessarily reviewed, such as the systems view of life, the notion of contingency, and the concept of autopoiesis. Each of the three chapters of the book contains a number of short science fiction stories which discuss aspects of the present-day development of artificial intelligence.

Carl Sagan
Carl Sagan

Author: Keay Davidson

Publisher: Turner Publishing Company

Published: 2000-09-01

Total Pages: 568

ISBN-13: 1620457938

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A penetrating, mesmerizing biography of a scientific icon "Absolutely fascinating . . . Davidson has done a remarkable job."-Sir Arthur C. Clarke "Engaging . . . accessible, carefully documented . . . sophisticated."-Dr. David Hollinger for The New York Times Book Review "Entertaining . . . Davidson treats [the] nuances of Sagan's complex life with understanding and sympathy."-The Christian Science Monitor "Excellent . . . Davidson acts as a keen critic to Sagan's works and their vast uncertainties."-Scientific American "A fascinating book about an extraordinary man."-Johnny Carson "Davidson, an award-winning science writer, has written an absorbing portrait of this Pied Piper of planetary science. Davidson thoroughly explores Sagan's science, wrestles with his politics, and plumbs his personal passions with a telling instinct for the revealing underside of a life lived so publicly."-Los Angeles Times Carl Sagan was one of the most celebrated scientists of this century—the handsome and alluring visionary who inspired a generation to look to the heavens and beyond. His life was both an intellectual feast and an emotional rollercoaster. Based on interviews with Sagan's family and friends, including his widow, Ann Druyan; his first wife, acclaimed scientist Lynn Margulis; and his three sons, as well as exclusive access to many personal papers, this highly acclaimed life story offers remarkable insight into one of the most influential, provocative, and beloved figures of our time—a complex, contradictory prophet of the Space Age.

Astrobiology, History, and Society
Astrobiology, History, and Society

Author: Douglas A. Vakoch

Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media

Published: 2013-05-23

Total Pages: 387

ISBN-13: 3642359833

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This book addresses important current and historical topics in astrobiology and the search for life beyond Earth, including the search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI). The first section covers the plurality of worlds debate from antiquity through the nineteenth century, while section two covers the extraterrestrial life debate from the twentieth century to the present. The final section examines the societal impact of discovering life beyond Earth, including both cultural and religious dimensions. Throughout the book, authors draw links between their own chapters and those of other contributors, emphasizing the interconnections between the various strands of the history and societal impact of the search for extraterrestrial life. The chapters are all written by internationally recognized experts and are carefully edited by Douglas Vakoch, professor of clinical psychology at the California Institute of Integral Studies and Director of Interstellar Message Composition at the SETI Institute. This interdisciplinary book will benefit everybody trying to understand the meaning of astrobiology and SETI for our human society.