Biocosm: The New Scientific Theory of Evolution: Intelligent Life Is the Architect of the Universe

I read Biocosm and the Intelligent Universe. Both are very thought provoking books. I really enjoyed them. Gardner brings up some facinating points that are generally well supported, though he does stretch the boundaries between the metaphysical and hard science. I've always firmly believed in the concept of eternal progression, whether it's via some evolutionary means or extraterrestial. I really connected deeply with his books almost as if I was just being reminded what I really knew to be true.

There have been various attempts to explain the Anthropic Cosmological Principle, from a "weak" version, advocated by those who argue that only those universes with observers are known, and as our universe has observers, the constants have to be those that permit observers. The "strong" version was explored by Frank Tipler, John Wheeler and John Barrow in "The Anthropic Principle", which suggests that rather than making humans being the purpose of the universe, it is to evolve the functional equivalent of the divine. Lee Smolin, in "Life in the Universe" proposes that universes, through black holes can create daughter universes, and that if this is the case the universe that maximises black holes will quickly statistically outnumber the others. This book avoids the weakness of the book by Tipler, that shows "a Big Crunch" will not happen, and puts life firmly at the centre of Cosmos, unlike Smolin. Books like this are rare and precious. Garner is not presenting theology, yet the book lends itself to theological outcomes. Such a book would allow the fusion, after a centuries long divorse, of science and religion, without compromising either. I highly recommend it.

Since the greeks, two contrasting ideas are the main players in the discussion of the Cosmos origin. Today, Inteligent Design postulates an inteligent creator for our Universe (with the hidden agenda that "He" is possibly the Christian or Islamic onipotent God). Another view postulates an infinite Landscape of possible Universes, from those, by pure chance, a tiny fraction enables complexity and life to emerge (and we, of course, inhabit one of these lucky universes). The authors discuss a Third Way, a vision that fuses both ideas: the universes evolve by Darwinian or even Genetic Engineering mechanisms where galactic biospheres play a catalizing role in the creation of baby universes. In contrast to some naive reviews done here, apparently writen by ID supporters, it is indeed an intriging and non-trivial alternative. The idea does not involves an infinite regress because at each generation the universe parameters (akin to genes) are selected as to produce more easily the next inteligent biospheres. This means that the biophylic character of the universes pool is increasing along time, it is not an stationary process. So, what it is need is a proto-evolutionary model for the first biophilic universe. Perhaps the Smolin model of baby universes catalized by black holes is such protoevolutionary mechanism. This means that the Inteligent Designer is not omnipotent or omniscient, but evolves along time by a Darwinian mechanism: a true synthesis between the ID and standard science. This means that any argument or "evidence" for ID is also favourable to the Biocosmo Hypotesis(BH), and BH should be discussed in schools where ID is taught. So, the final question is: the Designer is onipotent? If so, why the Cosmos is full of "problems" and "evil", from the point of view of Life. The Selfish Biocosmo accounts this, Christian or Islamic ID, not.

Biocosm: The New Scientific Theory Of Evolution - Intelligent Life Is The Architect Of The Universe by accomplished science essayist James N. Gardner presents a fascinating hypothesis of how our seemingly "bio-friendly" universe began and what is perceived to be its ultimate destiny. Gardner's "Selfish Biocosm" theory suggests that life and intelligence did not emerge from random Darwinian selection and environmentally deterministic chance, but from a cycle of cosmic creation, evolution, death, and rebirth. Interlinking life itself and universal architecture, fusing biology and cosmology, and more, Biocosm is an absorbing, iconoclastic, and inspirationally presented theory that is recommended as being both thoughtful and thought-provoking.

For centuries science has wrestled with the question of how our amazingly complex, life-filled, universe could have formed without the aid on an outside intelligence. Biocosm proposes the most surprising answer of all, that life itself provided the intelligence that created our bio-friendly universe.The central hypothesis of the book is that at some time in the future, intelligent beings will have the capability of creating universes with the precise characteristics required to spawn life. Whether or not you buy this thesis, Biocosm presents a kaleidoscope of scientific possibilities so advanced that it makes Star Trek look like a buggy ride.Gardner does an admirable job of weaving together relativity, evolution and complexity theory in a way that keeps the reader glued to each page. The result is a scientific roller coaster that stretches the readers concepts of time, space and intelligence beyond the limits of imagination.