Customer Reviews

In the Beginning: The Birth of the Living Universe (In the Beginning (Bay Back Books))

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One could learn a lot by reading this book; of this I do not dispute. There are better cosmological & astronomy books out there, but this one is quite good. What I have a problem with is Gribbin's metaphysical reaches that he utilizes to "solve" the Anthropic principle. Gribbin wants us to believe the Gaia principle, which claims that the universe is a living organism. Not only that, but it reproduces via black holes. According to Gribbin it just SO HAPPENS that the AP coincides with the suitable conditions that are conducive to supporting life (as we know it). The REAL "purpose" of the laws of physics being "just so" is that they are appropriate to the formations of big, beautiful, bouncing baby black holes (which form the impetus of new universes). According to Gribbin, there is a vast number of universes (perhaps an infinite number) beyond ours'. Now, I have no problem w/conjecture such as this, even though Gribbin is asserting a bad hypothesis (i.e.: one that cannot be proven or disproven). What I take issue with is that he wants us to believe that his theory is a logical inevitablility. He uses phrases such as "our universe must be seen this way." That word must is a strong term for a theory that does not have SO MUCH AS ONE SHRED of proof. Gribbin also speculates that this universe may well have been "created" by a bunch of alien engineers in some other universe. This is a rather curious statement to come from a devout atheist - to concede that the universe shows signs of design, only the designer was little green men instead of God. Moreover, who is "pushing the question back" now? Gribbin hopes to validate his theory of multiple universes by dressing it in scientific jargon, but in the end it is nothing more than atheistic gerrymandering. Gribbin would have us to believe that there are an infinite number of universes in order to justify the laws of this one being "just so perfect" to support life. An interesting thought, but a thought that is bereft of evidence.

This was my first Gribbin book from his long list of authored titles. Beginning with the apparent proof (from the Cobe project) that the universe is closed but nearly flat, meaning that it will ultimately collapse on itself but "nearly won't", he then leads to speculations as to why this is so. On the way, he explores startling concepts, some his, some decades old, that were new to me. These include: life precursor organic chemicals that formed in interstellar space and gave planetary life a head-start (explaining why beings on a distant star will have to have certain similarities to us); the Gaia hypothesis extended to galaxies and universes; the Goldilocks paradox - why are the constants of atomic and intergalactic matter "just right"?; and finally, the union of natural selection and the survival of the "fittest" of a multitude of universes. His conclusion that "our" universe survived against uncounted less successful universes boggles my mind, but has a certain incipient logical obviousness beside the certainty of biologic evolution after 100+ years of hindsight. I will be reading more of Gribbin's well-told journeys into cosmology.

This book is a conjecture about 'births' and 'histories' of living universes and about what we could call 'Darwinian cosmology'.
Gribbin speculates that the collapse of a black hole can lead to a bounce which creates a new universe and every time a universe is created the laws of physics that it is born with are slightly different from those of its parent universe: universes mutate! Our universe is just one among a multitude of universes, and in some sense the many universes are competing with one another for the right to exist.
The birth of a universe might simply be a fluctuation of the vacuum, a creation out of nothing, for if we consider that the gravitational enegy is negative, the energy required to make a universe is zero.
For Gribbin, we are living in a black hole (a closed universe). He sides with S.J. Gould that the universe is not set up to create organic life-forms - we are only a side-effect; but he believes that carbon-based complex forms are a common feature in the Universe. He favours also the 'Big Crunch' scenario.
He is most severe with mankind regarding ecology. I quote : 'Gaia will look after herself. And the best way for her to do that might well be to get rid of us.'
Although this book is a complete conjecture, it should be read by everyone interested in cosmology. It is easily understandable even for a layman. I agree that some points are very questionable, like the Big Crunch scenario or his theory about the missing dark matter. But it is as passionate as a thriller.

In addition to providing an excellent review of modern cosmological thinking, including interpretation of the COBE satellite data, this book also explores in detail the development of life on the Earth.