Privileged Planet (20th Anniversary Edition)
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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.
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.
Guillermo Gonzalez, PhD, is a Senior Fellow at the Discovery Institute in Seattle. He received his PhD in astronomy from the University of Washington and has worked at the University of Texas, Austin; the University of Washington; Iowa State University; Grove City College; and Ball State University. He is co-author of the second edition of the textbook Observational Astronomy and has published over ninety peer-reviewed scientific articles. He is also co-author of the children’s book The Farm at the Center of the Universe.
Jay W. Richards, PhD, is director of the DeVos Center for Life, Religion, and Family and the William E. Simon Senior Research Fellow at The Heritage Foundation, and a Senior Fellow at the Discovery Institute. He is the author or editor of fourteen books, including two New York Times bestsellers, and has appeared on over a thousand radio and television programs.
Jay W. Richards, PhD, is director of the DeVos Center for Life, Religion, and Family and the William E. Simon Senior Research Fellow at The Heritage Foundation, and a Senior Fellow at the Discovery Institute. He is the author or editor of fourteen books, including two New York Times bestsellers, and has appeared on over a thousand radio and television programs.