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Is there any connection between the vastness
of the universe of stars and galaxies and the existence
of life within it on a small planet out in the suburbs of
the Milky Way? This book shows that there is. The Universe
needs to be billions of light years in extent in order to
support just one lonely outpost of life. Furthermore, the
evolution of life has been possible only because of a number
of seeming coincidences in the way the world is fashioned.
Could there be other universes? How large is the range of
conceivable universes that can give rise to living observers?
What is the past history and fate of our own? These are
just some of the questions that this wide-ranging and detailed
book surveys. The history of philosophic thought concerning
the question of Design and Mankind's place in the Universe
is investigated. The modern collection of ideas known as
the Anthropic Cosmological Principle emerges historically
as the latest manifestation of such ideas. A thorough investigation
of its many facets takes the reader on an eclectic study
of many scientific disciplines and presents a revealing
picture of the structure of the physical world solely in
terms of its invariant physical constants. There are also
detailed chapters on the definition and nature of life,
the search for extraterrestrial intelligence and the interpretation
of quantum theory in relation to the existence of observers.
This unique book will be of interest to historians, philosophers,
theologians, mathematicians and scientists of all disciplines.
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