The Privileged Planet (20th Anniversary Edition): How Our Place in the Cosmos Is Designed for Discovery

by Guillermo Gonzalez, Jay W. Richards Ph.D.

Overview

The Provocative Classic The Privileged Planet in a Fully Revised, 20th Anniversary Edition!

Are we just an accident of cosmic evolution? Is Earth a “lonely speck in the great enveloping cosmic dark” as the late Carl Sagan put it? Or is there more to the story? In this provocative book, Guillermo Gonzalez and Jay W. Richards marshal a staggering array of scientific evidence to counter the modern dogma that Earth is nothing more than the winner of a blind cosmic lottery.
 
When The Privileged Planet was first published in 2004, it garnered both praise and rage. But its argument has stood the test of time. In this completely revised 20th anniversary edition, Gonzalez and Richards show how thousands of discoveries of extrasolar planets over the last two decades have only strengthened their case.
 
They take readers on a mind-expanding journey through our solar system and beyond. Along the way, they explore the mystery of total solar eclipses, the crucial role of water and carbon, the fine-tuning of physics that makes advanced life possible, and the beginning of cosmic time. From our cozy blue planet to the edge of the known universe, they show how earthlike planets are exquisitely fit not only to sustain life but to provide the best platform to discover the hidden wonders of the cosmos.
 
The Privileged Planet compels us to reconsider our place in the universe. Far from a cosmic fluke, our world is ingeniously designed not just for life but for discovery.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781684517022
Publisher:	Skyhorse Publishing
Publication date:	08/27/2024
Edition description:	New edition
Pages:	472
Sales rank:	247,114
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x (d)

About the Author

Jay W. Richards, Ph.D., is director of the DeVos Center for Life, Religion, and Family at The Heritage Foundation, a senior fellow at the Discovery Institute, and executive editor of The Stream. The author or editor of more than a dozen books, he has appeared on hundreds of radio and television programs.

Table of Contents

Foreword xi

Introduction xvii

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

Notes 347

Acknowledgments 413

Figure Credits 415

Index 417

Editorial Reviews

Praise for The Privileged Planet:
“In a book of magnificent sweep and daring, Guillermo Gonzalez and Jay Richards drive home the argument that the old cliché of no place like home is eerily true of Earth. Not only that, but if the scientific method were to emerge anywhere, Earth is about as suitable as you can get. Gonzalez and Richards have flung down the gauntlet. Let the debate begin; it is a question that involves us all.”
—Simon Conway Morris, author of Life’s Solution: Inevitable Humans in a Lonely Universe

“This thoughtful, delightfully contrarian book will rile up those who believe the ‘Copernican Principle’ is an essential philosophical component of modern science. Is our universe designedly congenial to intelligent, observing life? Passionate advocates of the search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI) will find much to ponder in this carefully documented analysis.”
—Owen Gingerich, Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, author of The Book Nobody Read: Chasing the Revolution of Nicolaus Copernicus

“Not only have Guillermo Gonzalez and Jay Richards written a book with a remarkable thesis, they have constructed their argument on an abundance of evidence and with a cautiousness of statement that make their volume even more remarkable. In my opinion, The Privileged Planet deserves very careful attention.”
—Michael J. Crowe, Cavanaugh Professor Emeritus at the University of Notre Dame and author of The Extraterrestrial Life Debate, 1750–1900

“The Privileged Planet will surely rattle, if not finally dislodge, a pet assumption held by many interpreters of modern science: the so-called Copernican Principle. Gonzalez’s and Richards’s argument is so carefully and moderately presented that any reasonable critique of it must itself address the astonishing evidence. I expect this book to renew the whole scientific and philosophic debate about Earth’s cosmic significance. It is a high-class piece of work that deserves the widest possible audience.”
—Dennis Danielson, Professor of English at the University of British Columbia and editor of The Book of the Cosmos

From the Publisher

A movement known as "intelligent design" has emerged in recent years to counter evolution theories that hold that the design of the universe is random. Critics have dubbed this the "new creationism," since many in the movement correlates the intelligent designer with the Judeo-Christian God. Gonzalez and Richards now take the defense of intelligent design one step further. By assessing the elements that compose our planet, they argue, we can tell that it was designed for multicellular organic life. The presence of carbon, oxygen and water in the right proportions makes it possible for organic life to exist; and this combination of minerals and chemical elements exists only on Earth. Moreover, they argue, we can measure the ways that Earth became habitable. Thus, tree rings, stomata on leaves, skeletons in deep ocean sediments and pollen in lake sediments help us to measure how life on Earth developed by design. In addition, the authors contend, the universe itself is designed for discovery ("Mankind is unusually well-positioned to decipher the cosmos. Were we merely lucky in this regard?" No, the authors respond), and because the Earth is habitable we can use it as a measure of the uninhabitability of other planets. "The myriad conditions that make a region habitable are the best overall places for discovering the universe in its smallest and largest expressions." Overall, the authors (Gonzalez is an assistant research professor of astronomy and physics at Iowa State, Richards has a doctorate from Princeton Theological Seminary) provide a reasoned case for intelligent design, but it's important to note that the vast majority of scientists reject the intelligent design argument, and this book is unlikely to persuade many to change their minds. B&w photos. (Mar. 8) Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.

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