''The Life of the Cosmos'' is the debut non-fiction book by American
theoretical physicist
Theoretical physics is a branch of physics that employs mathematical models and abstractions of physical objects and systems to rationalize, explain and predict natural phenomena. This is in contrast to experimental physics, which uses experime ...
Lee Smolin
Lee Smolin (; born June 6, 1955) is an American theoretical physicist, a faculty member at the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics, an adjunct professor of physics at the University of Waterloo and a member of the graduate faculty of the ...
. The book was initially published on January 1, 1997 by
Oxford University Press
Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world, and its printing history dates back to the 1480s. Having been officially granted the legal right to print books ...
.
Overview
In the book, Smolin details his
Fecund universes which applies the principle of
natural selection
Natural selection is the differential survival and reproduction of individuals due to differences in phenotype. It is a key mechanism of evolution, the change in the heritable traits characteristic of a population over generations. Cha ...
to the birth of
universes. Smolin posits that the collapse of
black holes could lead to the creation of a new universe. This daughter universe would have fundamental constants and parameters similar to that of the parent universe though with some changes, providing for both inheritance and mutations as required by natural selection. However, while there is no direct analogue to Darwinian selective pressures, it is theorised that a universe with "unsuccessful" parameters will reach
heat death
Heat death may refer to:
*Heat death of the universe, a proposed cosmological event
** Heat death paradox, a philosophical examination of the cosmological event
*Hyperthermia, injury up to and including death, from excessive heat
*Thermal shock
...
before being able to reproduce, meaning that certain universal parameters become more likely than others.
Review
—Review by ''Jupiter Scientific''
See also
*
Quantum mechanics
Quantum mechanics is a fundamental theory in physics that provides a description of the physical properties of nature at the scale of atoms and subatomic particles. It is the foundation of all quantum physics including quantum chemistr ...
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References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Life of the Cosmos
1997 non-fiction books
Books by Lee Smolin
English-language books
Popular physics books