The privileged planet : how our place in the cosmos is designed for discovery / Guillermo Gonzalez and Jay W. Richards.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Gonzalez, Guillermo, 1963-

Contributor:

Richards, Jay W. (Jay Wesley), 1967-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Solar system.

Earth (Planet).

Planets.

Planets--Aeronautics.

Planets--Age.

Planets--Core.

Planets--Density.

Planets--Mantles.

Planets--Mass.

Planets--Radiation.

Planets--Rotation.

Planets--Seasons.

Planets--Transits.

Planets--Wind erosion.

Planets--Winds.

Cosmology.

Discoveries in science.

Physical Description:

xv, 444 pages : illustrations ; 23 cm

Place of Publication:

Washington, DC : Regnery Pub, [2004]

Summary:

A convincing case that the rare, finely tuned conditions that allow for intelligent life on Earth are no coincidence, and that Earth was practically designed for discovery.

Contents:

Section 1. Our Local Environment

Chapter 1 Wonderful Eclipses 1

Chapter 2 At Home on a Data Recorder 21

Chapter 3 Peering Down 45

Chapter 4 Peering Up 65

Chapter 5 The Pale Blue Dot in Relief 81

Chapter 6 Our Helpful Neighbors 103

Section 2. The Broader Universe

Chapter 7 Star Probes 119

Chapter 8 Our Galactic Habitat 143

Chapter 9 Our Place in Cosmic Time 169

Chapter 10 A Universe Fine-Tuned for Life and Discovery 195

Section 3. Implications

Chapter 11 The Revisionist History of the Copernican Revolution 221

Chapter 12 The Copernican Principle 247

Chapter 13 The Anthropic Disclaimer 259

Chapter 14 SETI and the Unraveling of the Copernican Principle 275

Chapter 15 A Universe Designed for Discovery 293

Chapter 16 The Skeptical Rejoinder 313

Conclusion: Reading the Book of Nature 331

Appendix A The Revised Drake Equation 337

Appendix B What about Panspermia? 343.

ISBN:

0895260654

OCLC:

54046478