Life and the Universe : What if …?
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Scientists observe nature and try to make sense of what they see. Complex phenomena are reduced to manifestations of simpler truths until they arrive at a fundamental understanding of how things work, move and interact. And then what? Can these simpler truths be simplified further? Where did these truths come from? What if they were a little different: Would we still be here to ponder them? Pondering these imponderables has led to the realization that there must be more to the universe than meets the eye: God(s) or more than just our universe. Anything else would not make sense, and sense is what human beings would like to see in the word around them, a reason or explanation for our universe. This book is a journey through the world of physics and cosmology, and an exploration of our role in this universe. We will address questions such as: What if the force of gravity were a little stronger? What if there were more of fewer atoms in our universe? What if Newton and not Einstein had been right? Would we still be here? Can the universe exist without us to observe it? Can chance explain the world around us, as well as us? The purpose of this book is to phrase these questions and pursue the consequences of potential answers through rigorous scientific reasoning; in the process we will learn how the very small and the very large are interconnected, and even how we can affect events that happened six billion years ago. -- Preface.