The Privileged Planet: How Our Place in the Cosmos Is Designed for Discovery Pdf

FREE THE PRIVILEGED PLANET: HOW OUR PLACE IN THE COSMOS IS DESIGNED FOR DISCOVERY PDF

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 The Privileged Planet: How Our Place in the Cosmos Is Designed for Discovery 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? View Full Version of PW. Richards, Author. Buy this book. Show other formats. Discover what to read next. PW Picks: Books of the Week. The Big Indie Books of Fall Black-Owned Bookstores to Support Now. Children's Announcements. The Privileged Planet: How Our Place in the Cosmos Is Designed for Discovery by Guillermo González

Richards, The Privileged The Privileged Planet: How Our Place in the Cosmos Is Designed for Discovery presents a new form of design argument which can be applied to the level of the cosmos. Design proponents have long held that the physical constants of nature and properties of our solar system appear finely tuned and specified to allow for advanced life. But Richards and Gonzalez take this argument to a new level by arguing that the same set of circumstances which permit advanced life are also optimized for a range of scientific discoveries. Chapter eight, for instance, centers on research by Gonzalez that was featured in a cover story of Scientific American in This location is also well situated for making a range of scientific discovery. While other locations might allow improved observation of this or that feature, the Galactic Habitable Zone offers an overall better location for a range of important scientific observations. This is but one of many instances of what seems to be a consistent correlation between the requirements for life and the requirements for scientific discovery. But any book coauthored by a philosopher must investigate the philosophical implications. Richards and Gonzalez recounts that a historical myth developed, according to which, when it was discovered that the Earth was neither The Privileged Planet: How Our Place in the Cosmos Is Designed for Discovery center of the Solar System nor the Universe, Earth became insignificant. This mythology was popularized by materialists like Carl Sagan who preferred to portray Earth to the public as just a lucky but insignificant pale blue dot floating through the uncaring depths of space. The Privileged Planet argues that there is a weak historical and theological basis for the claim that Christianity requires Earth to be at the center of the action. Moreover, there is a growing body of scientific evidence from a range of disciplines showing that great care and intelligent design was taken in our cosmic placement. According to the evidence cited in the book, both the design of cosmic laws and the specific architecture of our solar system, including the sizes and relationship of Earth and moon, permit the existence of advanced life with the opportunities to make profound scientific discoveries. Share Facebook Twitter Print arroba Email. The Privileged Planet | How our place in the cosmos is designed for discovery

Both Gonzalez and Richards are associated with the Discovery Instituteidentified with the intelligent design movement ; Gonzalez works as a senior fellow of the Discovery Institute's Center for Science and Culture. Positive reviews: Owen Gingerichastronomer and historian of science, reviews the book explaining "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. Philip Skellphysicist, reviewed the book writing "In this fascinating and highly original book, Guillermo Gonzalez and Jay Richards advance a persuasive argument, and marshal a wealth of diverse scientific evidence to justify that argument. In the process, they effectively challenge several popular assumptions, not only about the nature and history of science, but also about the nature and origin of the cosmos. The Privileged Planet will be impossible to ignore. It is likely to change the way we view both the scientific enterprise and the world around us. I recommend it highly. Negative reviews: William H. Jefferysan astronomer, reviewed the book writing "the little that is new in this book isn't interesting, and what is old is just old-hat creationism in a new, modern-looking astronomical costume. Victor J. Stengera physicist and philosopher, reviewed the book explaining that it not only "ignores" the book Rare Earth written by Gonzalez's Washington colleagues paleontologist Peter Ward and astronomer Donald E. Brownleebut it goes against "the consensus of astrobiologists in adopting the Rare Earth position. The book served as the basis for a movie by the same name. The Smithsonian withdrew its cosponsorship, stating: "We have determined that the content of the film is not consistent with the mission of the Smithsonian Institution's scientific research. Charles G. The film is listed on IMDB. The Institute has alleged that the book is "at the heart of the attacks on Iowa State University astronomer Guillermo Gonzalez" and played a role in his denial of tenure and that it provoked of Gonzalez's faculty colleagues to sign a petition in denouncing intelligent design and urging all other faculty members to do the same. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Dewey Decimal. Archived from the original on Retrieved The Privileged Planet: How Our Place in the Cosmos Is Designed for Discovery National Center for Science Education. July Skeptical Briefs. Archived from the original on December 6, Skeptic U. January 9, CS1 The Privileged Planet: How Our Place in the Cosmos Is Designed for Discovery archived copy as title link. Categories : non- fiction books English-language books Intelligent design books Regnery Publishing books films. Hidden categories: CS1 maint: archived copy as title Articles needing additional references from January All articles needing additional references. The Privileged Planet: How Our Place in the Cosmos Is Designed for Discovery Article Talk. Views Read Edit View history. Help Learn to edit Community portal Recent changes Upload file. Download as PDF Printable version. Guillermo Gonzalez Jay Richards. Print Hardcover and Paperback.