The Copernicus Complex: Our Cosmic Significance in a Universe of Planets and Probabilities
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | 4.69 (815 Votes) |
| Asin | : | B00NC7JY7S |
| Format Type | : | |
| Number of Pages | : | 343 Pages |
| Publish Date | : | 2013-02-14 |
| Language | : | English |
DESCRIPTION:
A Publishers Weekly Top-10 Science Book of Fall 2014. This perspective has influenced our thinking for centuries. However, recent evidence challenges the Copernican Principle, hinting that we do in fact live in a special place, at a special time, as the product of a chain of unlikely events. Yet life here is built from the most common chemistry in the universe, and we are a snapshot taken from billions of years of biological evolution.. As Scharf explains, we do occupy an unusual time in a 14-billion-year-old universe, in a somewhat unusual type of solar system surrounded by an ocean of unimaginable planetary diversity: hot Jupiters with orbits of less than a day, planet-size rocks spinning around dead stars, and a wealth of alien super-Earths
Worth reading twice KonaTom Relatively plebeian review, not being as scientifically familiar with the known universe as other reviewersI greatly appreciated the historical connections the author makes with the major observations in his bookit provided clarity and perspective. I enjoyed reading his subjective interpretations. We here on earth may be universally significant but it stretches my imagination to accept that. The immensity of the known universe as described in this book makes that difficult. Two thoughts the book leaves me with are (. "Chaos Strikes Again" according to Jamie Jones. The Copernicus Complex opens with a lucid, condensed history of science. After putting the earth in its cosmic place (insignificant), Scharf traces the probable origins of life and then confronts the central problem: is mankind special? A discussion of probability theory leads finally to the sudden appearance of chaos; chaos (and inadequate data) make valid probabilities at least unlikely, if not impossible.At the heart of the book is a pervasive sense of sadness. Since the death of God, scientists have sought an an. Inspiring and brilliantly written. Mark Bloomer Caleb Scharf is an amazing writer. In "The Copernicus Complex" Caleb talks about our place in the universe, beginning with Copernicus' discovery that the earth is not the center of the universe, and then exploring whether the earth with all its life friendly properties is unique or rare in the cosmos. The author makes wonderful use of allegory and describes details in a creative and colorful way that is very inspiring. I enjoyed this book so much that I went on to purchase his previous book "Gravities Engines". Even