The Anthropic Principle: The Conditions for the Existence of Mankind in the Universe

Front Cover
F. Bertola, U. Curi
Cambridge University Press, Jul 30, 1993 - Mathematics - 181 pages
The questions that were purely in the realms of philosophy are now beginning to be answered by science. The second Venice Conference on Cosmology and Philosophy explores the anthropic principle which states that the Universe has the conditions we observe because we are here. Out of all possible universes we can only experience the restricted class that permits observers. This realization has profound implications for cosmology, philosophy and theology; all of which are explored in this book by thirteen contributors who gathered to discuss and share their theories within the context of science. The result is a unique collection of papers of great value to professional astronomers and philosophers interested in the role of observers in the Universe.
 

Contents

Anthropic principle and ancient science
17
laws and environments
27
The anthropic selection principle and the ultraDarwinian synthesis
33
The growth of complexity in an expanding Universe
67
From the anthropic principle to the subject principle
91
a critical view
101
The anthropic principle and the nonuniqueness of the Universe
107
The entropic versus the anthropic principle on the selforganization
117
Anthropic biology
129
Metaphysical outlooks in physics and the anthropic principle
143
Galaxy creation implication for the development of life
151
Some theological reflections on the anthropic principle
161
Anthropic arguments are they really explanations?
171
Copyright

Common terms and phrases

Bibliographic information