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Available in eBook now, and in hardback very soon.

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Review of “The Big Picture” by Sean Carroll

I had in mind to write down a few thoughts about Sean Carroll’s latest book “The Big Picture: On the Origins of Life, Meaning, and the Universe Itself”. Following their excellent article by Alexander Vilenkin on the beginning of the universe, and other good articles by Gregory Chaitin and Jean-Pierre Luminet, I sent my review off to “Inference: International Review of Science”.

So, here it is. Not my original title, by the way.

I should make clear here just how much I enjoyed and was impressed by Sean’s book. (My final paragraph along these lines was cut by the editor, unfortunately.) It is a vast improvement on the average cosmologist’s foray into philosophy and beyond (especially in recent popular books), and I highly recommend it to anyone trying to think deeply about naturalism.

In future posts, I’ll make a few more comments on some things that I cut from the article for length. So stay tuned.

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Speaking in Sydney on Friday

On Friday, 16th September I’ll be speaking at the University of Sydney about fine-tuning. The event is open to the public: all welcome! There will be a lecture followed by an extended Q&A session.

Title: Life in a Finely Tuned Universe

Date: 16th September, 6:30-8:45pm

Location: University of Sydney, New Law Seminar Room 100

Organiser: HIKMA Research Students Association

Facebook event link.

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Interview for Diffusion Science Radio

After my Harley Wood Lecture (online), I was interviewed by Ian Woolf of Diffusion Science Radio about the fine-tuning of the universe for life. Listen here. Skip ahead for my interview, or just listen from the beginning to hear about robot stingrays.

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“A Fortunate Universe” Reviews

It’s only a few weeks until “A Fortunate Universe: Life in a Finely Tuned Cosmos” is released – you can now pre-order the Kindle version. Our publisher, Cambridge University Press, has posted reviews from some people who read an advance copy and had nice things to say.

From the Foreword: Brian Schmidt, Australian National University, and Nobel Laureate in Physics (2011)

‘My colleagues, Geraint and Luke, in A Fortunate Universe, take you on a tour of the Cosmos in all of its glory, and all of its mystery. You will see that humanity appears to be part of a remarkable set of circumstances involving a special time around a special planet, which orbits a special star, all within a specially constructed Universe. It is these sets of conditions that have allowed humans to ponder our place in space and time. I have no idea why we are here, but I do know the Universe is beautiful. A Fortunate Universe captures the mysterious beauty of the Cosmos in a way that all can share.’

Advance praise: Tim Maudlin, New York University

 ‘Geraint Lewis and Luke Barnes provide a breathtaking tour of contemporary physics from the subatomic to the cosmological scale. Everywhere they find the Universe to be fine-tuned for complex structure. If the quark masses, or the basic forces, or the cosmological constant had been much different, the Universe would have been a sterile wasteland. It seems that the only reactions are either to embrace a multiverse or a designer. The authors have constructed a powerful case for the specialness of our Universe.’

Advance praise: George Ellis, University of Cape Town

‘The Universe could have been of such a nature that no life at all could exist. The anthropic question asks why the constants of nature that enter various physical laws are such as to permit life to come into being. This engaging book is a well-written and detailed explanation of all the many ways these physical constants affect the possibility of life, considering atomic, nuclear and particle physics, astrophysics and cosmology. It then discusses in an open-minded way the variety of explanations one might give for this strange fine-tuning, possible solutions ranging from pure chance, existence of multiverses, or theistic explanations. The book is the most comprehensive current discussion of this intriguing range of issues. Highly recommended.’

Advance praise: Robin Collins, Messiah College, Pennsylvania

‘Lewis and Barnes’ book is the most up-to-date, accurate, and comprehensive explication of the evidence that the Universe is fine-tuned for life. It is also among the two most philosophically sophisticated treatments, all the while being accessible to a non-academic audience. I strongly recommend this book.’

I’m quite pleased to have recommendations from two philosophers (Maudlin and Collins), and in particular, two philosophers who lined up on opposite sides of the 2014 Greer Heard Forum on “God and Cosmology”.

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