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Could it be that those six numbers could be very slightly different, and still give rise to a conscious universe? If, as Rees speculates, there may be many universes, spawning other universes, all the time, then maybe those six numbers of his merely reflect the rough conditions necessary for the existence of a world such as ours. If he is right, this has massive implications for the kinds of answers physics can at present offer. Sweating over the precise relations between these difficult numbers in the hope of uncovering a "unified theory" will turn out to be as futile as trying to predict the precise arrangement of a snowflake, a column of tap water, the whirl of a thumbprint.
But this, it seems, is the perennial peril of science. One moment you're attaining an objective vision of underlying processes. The next, you're asking the equivalent of why, of all the bars in all the world, she had to walk into yours... --Simon Ings --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
From Publishers Weekly
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.
"Whilst this planet has been cycling on according to the fixed law of gravity, from so simple a beginning, forms most wonderful ... have been and are being evolved." Read the first page
Concordance
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index
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Most helpful customer reviews
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
3.0 out of 5 stars
A fine starter but nothing more,
By
This review is from: Our Cosmic Habitat (Hardcover)
Martin Rees masterpiece remains for sure "Just Six Numbers". In a few pages, he has been able to track the most intriguing mysteries of physics, by explaining how small changes in "just six numbers" could have prevented us from being...The idea behing this book is to cover quite broadly all the aspects of modern cosmology. The question which permeates the entire book is "is our existence just an accident, or do we exist because we had to (i.e. the laws of physics imply our existence)"? This is currently THE question in cosmology. After having tracked and measured the most significant quantities that set the laws of our universe, we have started to question "why" those numbers have the values that allows for our existence. Of course there is no answer in the book, but what is disappointing is that the book just looks like a collection of short stories and information already seen in other books. Whoever has already read books on cosmology, quantum mechanics and relativity will find just a repetition of short summaries, with a little characterisation by the author. The good point is that this book can surely be a good starter for neophytes.
5.0 out of 5 stars
Exellent Place to Begin,
By A Customer
This review is from: Our Cosmic Habitat (Paperback)
I've only just started this book and am only thirty or so pages in, but I've already decided that it's one of the best books of its kind that I've ever read. I don't know what it is, exactly, about Rees, but his writings are always the most understandable expositions of scientific concepts and evidence out there, at least to me. Sure, there are many other fine writers, but none of them can do quite what Rees does. I do have an initial observation I would like to offer, however:If God created the universe and there is no other intelligent life out there, or any life at all, then he's a wasteful idiot. Just imagine the vastness of space - are you telling me he needed that much room just to make us? If the universe came about due to natural forces and there is no other intelligent life out there, or any life at all, then the universe is a stupid, idiotic place. Just imagine that vastness again - are you telling me that either the universe needed that much space just to produce us, or that in all that vastness it could not come up with anything else? I'm prepared for either event and I don't really care if there is intelligent life "out there" or not, but I know at least one thing - the absence of life/intelligence outside of earth would be solid proof of either God's or the unvierse's inadequacy.
5.0 out of 5 stars
Deep Mysteries of the Cosmos Simply Told,
By
This review is from: Our Cosmic Habitat (Paperback)
Martin Rees, Astronomer Royal of Great Britain, wonderfully tells everything about cosmology in this concise book. The reader is lead to a quick tour from Big Bang to biospheres, from the beginning to the end of the universe, and from the micro-world to the cosmos. Yet the description is not superficial but very deep.Among many of mysteries we learn from this book, let me mention only a few big ones. (1) Dark matter: This prevails over visible matter in constituting the total energy of the universe. It is the No. 1 problem in astronomy today, and ranks high as a physics problem, too. (2) Vacuum energy: This is the origin of the accelerating expansion of the universe. Its nature is a challenge to theorists; it holds important clues to the early universe and the nature of space. (3) Other universes: Our universe may be just one of them. While seeming to be in the province of metaphysics rather than physics, these already lie within the proper purview of science. The author says that the phrases often used in popular books, "final theory" and "theory of everything," are very misleading and that some of nature's complexity may never be explained and understood. These words just made the scales fall from my eyes. I strongly recommend this book to laypersons interested in astronomy, cosmology, problems at the boundary between science and philosophy, and the deep mysteries of nature.
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