Synopses & Reviews
"...engaging…a fascinating mix of opinion and scientific/philosophic discussion...quite readable and enjoyable...a book that should be in ones library."-Perspectives on Science and Christian Faith Did the universe originate from a "big bang" as argued by leading astrophysicists and others? Or does some other theory more accurately describe its beginnings? Are there other forms of life in our universe? What about other universes? Was our universe specially formed to support life? Does our universe have a purpose? What are the conditions under which life begins, evolves, and how does it become extinct?
These questions propel Modern Cosmology & Philosophy as the leading text in this hotly debated area where science and philosophy meet. Edited with an introduction by noted scholar John Leslie, this volume offers superb selections on modern cosmology, relativistic theories of the universe, the Big Bang, the problem of God and creation, cosmology and verifiability, coincidences, origins and evolution, multiple universe theories, infinity, chaos, life forms, the end of time, and the limits of our knowledge.
This volume includes work by H. Bondi, William Lane Craig, Paul Davies, R. H. Dicke, G. F. R. Ellis, Stephen Jay Gould, Adolf Grunbaum, Heinz R. Pagels, Sir Martin Rees, Quentin Smith, Richard Swinburne, and others.
About the Author
John Leslie (Guelph, Ontario) is professor emeritus of philosophy at the University of Guelph, and is a fellow of the Royal Society of Canada.
Table of Contents
Is philosophy relevant to cosmology? /Ernan McMullin --Modern cosmology /George Gamow --Relativistic theories of the universe /W.B. Bonnor --Steady-state theory of the universe /H. Bondi --13,000,000,000 year bang /Martin Rees --Was there a big bang? /Jayant Narlikar --Pseudo-problem of creation in physical cosmology /Adolf Grèunbaum --Cosmology and verifiability /G.F.R. Ellis --Dirac's cosmology and Mach's principle /R.H. Dicke --Large number coincidences and the anthropic principle in cosmology /Brandon Carter --On the origin, evolution and the purpose of the physical universe /B.J. Carr --Argument from the fine-tuning of the universe /Richard Swinburne --Cozy cosmology /Heinz R. Pagels --Mind and supermind /Stephen Jay Gould --Cosmological fecundity : theories of multiple universes /George Gale --Beyond the end of time /John Archibald Wheeler --Is the universe a vacuum fluctuation /Edward P. Tryon --What caused the big bang? /Paul Davies --Universe : inflation out of chaos /Andrei Linde --Possible forms of life in environments very different from the Earth /Robert Shapiro, Gerald Feinberg --Atmospheric evolution, the Drake equation, and DNA : sparse life in an infinite universe /Michael H. Hart --Emerging questions and uncertainties /G.F.R. Ellis --Anthropic principle today /John Leslie --Our place in the universe /Paul Davies --"What place, then, for a creator?" : Hawking on God and creation /William Lane Craig --Toward infinity : the far future /Martin Rees.