false 605571 1 For many years, traditional cosmologists and proponents of faith-based "intelligent design" have fought over the origin of the universe. One side maintains that pure chance can explain everything; the other that there must be a God. In <I>Biocosm</I>, James Gardner examines the evidence and finds a third hypothesis, one that has the approval of a number of noted skeptics and scientists. He calls it the "Selfish Biocosm," in a nod to Richard Dawkins, and outlines it in this homage to Charles Darwin. Gardner states his hypothesis:<p> <blockquote>The basic idea is that the anthropic, or life-friendly, qualities that our universe exhibits are logical and predictable consequences of a cosmic reproduction cycle in which a cosmologically extended biosphere, developed and evolved over billions of years to unimaginable levels of sophistication, serves as the device by which our cosmos duplicates itself and propagates one or more "baby universes."</blockquote><p> Like many of the sentences in <I>Biocosm</I>, this one requires multiple readings before its meaning and ramifications sink in. This is not an easygoing, blow-your-mind look at the universe. Gardner is meticulous in outlining his ideas, explaining their falsifiability and scientific rigor, and offering deep chaos theory to support them. Did our universe create intelligent life in order to ensure its own reproduction? Gardner thinks so, though he knows his position will irk many cosmologists exhausted from battling pseudoscientists and creationists. His impressive list of scientific supporters includes Sir Martin Rees (Britain's Astronomer Royal), Michael Shermer (publisher of <I>Skeptic</I> magazine), and John Casti (Santa Fe Institute honcho). <I>Biocosm</I> synthesizes many disciplines and theories in its conclusions, offering much food for cosmological thought. <I>--Therese Littleton</I> 592120 8 2003 Biocosm: The New Scientific Theory of Evolution: Intelligent Life Is the Architect of the Universe total:4|5:3|3:1| 4 18 9 1 3 0 false false Sun Jan 04 11:19:54 -0800 2009 Sun Jan 04 11:20:05 -0800 2009 0 0 false false Sat Jun 27 17:50:07 -0700 2009 Sat Jun 27 17:50:07 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Tue Apr 28 22:32:55 -0700 2009 Tue Apr 28 22:32:55 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Tue Mar 17 18:44:48 -0700 2009 Tue Mar 17 18:44:48 -0700 2009 5 0 false false Wed Dec 10 21:10:38 -0800 2008 Wed Dec 10 21:10:43 -0800 2008 5 0 false false Tue Nov 25 14:18:17 -0800 2008 Tue Nov 25 14:18:17 -0800 2008 0 0 false false Tue Nov 04 13:41:52 -0800 2008 Tue Nov 04 13:41:52 -0800 2008 0 0 false false Fri Jul 25 08:48:24 -0700 2008 Fri Jul 25 08:48:30 -0700 2008 5 0 false false Tue Apr 10 12:27:33 -0700 2007 Fri Apr 20 13:22:57 -0700 2007