''Cosmic Jackpot'', also published under the title ''The Goldilocks Enigma: Why is the Universe Just Right for Life?'', is a 2007 non-fiction book by physicist and cosmologist

Paul Davies Paul Charles William Davies (born 22 April 1946) is an English physicist, writer and broadcaster, a professor in Arizona State University and director of BEYOND: Center for Fundamental Concepts in Science. He is affiliated with the Institute ...

, describing the idea of a

fine-tuned universe The fine-tuned universe is the hypothesis that, because "life as we know it" could not exist if the fundamental physical constants, constants of nature – such as the electron charge, the gravitational constant and others – had been even ...

The Enigma

In ''Cosmic Jackpot'', Davies argues that certain universal

fundamental physical constants Fundamental may refer to: * Foundation of reality * Fundamental frequency, as in music or phonetics, often referred to as simply a "fundamental" * Fundamentalism, the belief in, and usually the strict adherence to, the simple or "fundamental" idea ...

are precisely adjusted to make life in the Universe possible: that we have, in a sense, won a "cosmic jackpot," and that conditions are "just right" for life, as in The Story of the Three Bears. As Davies writes elsewhere, "There is now broad agreement among physicists and cosmologists that the universe is in several respects 'fine-tuned' for life."

, "How bio-friendly is the universe?" ''International Journal of Astrobiology'', vol. 2, no. 2 (2003): 115. After explaining this enigma, Davies discusses possible solutions, such as the

anthropic principle In cosmology, the anthropic principle, also known as the observation selection effect, is the proposition that the range of possible observations that could be made about the universe is limited by the fact that observations are only possible in ...

, the idea of a

multiverse The multiverse is the hypothetical set of all universes. Together, these universes are presumed to comprise everything that exists: the entirety of space, time, matter, energy, information, and the physical laws and constants that describ ...

which contains many different universes (including our "just right" one), and the idea of

intelligent design Intelligent design (ID) is a pseudoscientific argument for the existence of God, presented by its proponents as "an evidence-based scientific theory about life's origins".#Numbers 2006, Numbers 2006, p. 373; " Dcaptured headlines for it ...

The Multiverse

Davies also discusses a number of other ideas connected with the "

." Much like a pencil falling to the ground from its tip in a trade off of symmetry for stability, Davies writes that the Big Bang could have established a complex but stable universe (or multiverse) from

symmetry breaking In physics, symmetry breaking is a phenomenon where a disordered but Symmetry in quantum mechanics, symmetric state collapses into an ordered, but less symmetric state. This collapse is often one of many possible Bifurcation theory, bifurcatio ...

as the heat radiation in "space" lowered abruptly past the

Curie Point In physics and materials science, the Curie temperature (''T''C), or Curie point, is the temperature above which certain materials lose their magnet, permanent magnetic properties, which can (in most cases) be replaced by magnetization, induced ...

References

External links

Interview
with Paul Davies about his book ''Cosmic Jackpot'' (starts at 40 min)

Paul Davies ''New York Times'' Opinion-Editorial

(

Salon.com ''Salon'' is an American politically progressive and liberal news and opinion website created in 1995. It publishes articles on U.S. politics, culture, and current events. Content and coverage ''Salon'' covers a variety of topics, includ ...

) * {{cite web , url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/newsnight/6035233.stm , title=The Goldilocks Enigma: 3 extracts , publisher=

BBC News BBC News is an operational business division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs in the UK and around the world. The department is the world's largest broad ...

, work=

Newsnight ''Newsnight'' is the BBC's news and current affairs programme, providing in-depth investigation and analysis of the stories behind the day's headlines. It is broadcast weeknights at 10:30 on BBC Two and the BBC News channel; it is also avail ...

, date=October 9, 2006 , accessdate=August 20, 2019 2007 non-fiction books Anthropic principle English-language non-fiction books Intelligent design books Science books

The Enigma

The Multiverse

See also

References

External links