The Privileged Planet: How Our Place in the Cosmos is Designed for Discovery [Hardcover]

Guillermo Gonzalez (Author), Jay Richards (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 2004

Is Earth merely an insignificant speck in a vast and meaningless universe? On the contrary: The Privileged Planet shows that this cherished assumption of materialism is dead wrong. In this provocative book, Guillermo Gonzalez and Jay W. Richards present a staggering array of evidence that exposes the hollowness of this modern dogma. They demonstrate that our planet is exquisitely fit not only to support life, but also to give us the best view of the universe, as if Earth were designed both for life and for scientific discovery. Readers are taken on a scientific odyssey from a history of tectonic plates, to the wonders of water and solar eclipses, to our location in the Milky Way, to the laws that govern the universe, and to the beginning of cosmic time. The Privileged Planet contains astounding findings that should lead any individual to reevaluate and even to reconsider our very purpose on what so many have dismissed as nothing more than an accident of cosmic evolution.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

A movement known as "intelligent design" has emerged in recent years to counter evolution theories that hold that the design of the universe is random. Critics have dubbed this the "new creationism," since many in the movement correlates the intelligent designer with the Judeo-Christian God. Gonzalez and Richards now take the defense of intelligent design one step further. By assessing the elements that compose our planet, they argue, we can tell that it was designed for multicellular organic life. The presence of carbon, oxygen and water in the right proportions makes it possible for organic life to exist; and this combination of minerals and chemical elements exists only on Earth. Moreover, they argue, we can measure the ways that Earth became habitable. Thus, tree rings, stomata on leaves, skeletons in deep ocean sediments and pollen in lake sediments help us to measure how life on Earth developed by design. In addition, the authors contend, the universe itself is designed for discovery ("Mankind is unusually well-positioned to decipher the cosmos. Were we merely lucky in this regard?" No, the authors respond), and because the Earth is habitable we can use it as a measure of the uninhabitability of other planets. "The myriad conditions that make a region habitable are the best overall places for discovering the universe in its smallest and largest expressions." Overall, the authors (Gonzalez is an assistant research professor of astronomy and physics at Iowa State, Richards has a doctorate from Princeton Theological Seminary) provide a reasoned case for intelligent design, but it's important to note that the vast majority of scientists reject the intelligent design argument, and this book is unlikely to persuade many to change their minds. B&w photos.
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From the Inside Flap

Is Earth merely an insignificant speck in a vast and meaningless universe? On the contrary. The Privileged Planet: How Our Place in the Cosmos Is Designed for Discovery shows that this cherished assumption of materialism is dead wrong. Earth is a lot more significant than virtually anyone has realized. Contrary to the scientific orthodoxy, it is not an average planet around an ordinary star in an unremarkable part of the Milky Way.

In this original book, Guillermo Gonzalez and Jay W. Richards present a staggering array of evidence that exposes the hollowness of this modern dogma. They demonstrate that our planet is exquisitely fit not only to support life, but also gives us the best view of the universe, as if Earth-and the universe itself-were designed both for life and for scientific discovery. Readers are taken on a scientific odyssey from a history of tectonic plates, the wonders of water, and solar eclipses, to our location in the Milky Way, the laws that govern the universe, and the beginning of cosmic time.

You will discover:
• How Earth is precisely positioned in the Milky Way-not only for life, but also to allow us to find answers to the greatest mysteries of the universe
• Striking ways in which water doesn't behave like most other liquids-and how each of its quirks makes it perfectly fit for the existence of creatures like us
• The harmony of Earth and the Moon: how they work together to sustain Earthly life as one intricate system-and how that system produces the best solar eclipses just where there are observers to see them
• How Earth's atmosphere helps protect us from harmful radiation, yet has a tiny window open to the radiation crucial for life and scientific knowledge
• How Jupiter and Saturn protect Earth from cataclysmic destruction
• Why the best scientific evidence refutes the misnamed Copernican Principle-the widely held idea that there is nothing special about Earth or its place in the universe
• How the laws and constants that govern the universe must be narrowly fine-tuned for the existence of any complex life
• Copernicus: how the popular idea of his achievement and its significance contains more ideologically skewed myth than historical fact
• Why the sheer number and size of galaxies does not mean that Earth's capacity to sustain life is just the result of blind chance

The Privileged Planet's astounding findings should lead any individual to reevaluate entrenched assumptions about the universe-and even to reconsider our very purpose on what so many have dismissed as nothing more than an accident of cosmic evolution.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 464 pages
• Publisher: Regnery Publishing, Inc. (March 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0895260654
• ISBN-13: 978-0895260659
• Product Dimensions: 6.3 x 1.3 x 9.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (84 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #75,694 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #93 in Books > Professional & Technical > Professional Science > Astronomy & Space Science > Cosmology

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

131 of 156 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic and informative March 2, 2004

By A Customer

Format:Hardcover

I got this book as soon as it became available, so I thought I'd be the first one to write a review. I've followed the debates over design and fine tuning for a while, and had heard this book was in the pipeline. I am thoroughly impressed with the clarity of its argument, the elegance of its prose, and the staggering level of scholarship displayed in its pages. I have no doubt that it will raise the level of debate on the larger issues about the meaning of it all. The book is richly illustrated with both color and black and white pictures.

Gonzalez and Richards' (G and R) argument is something that, so far as I know, has not really been discussed before, namely, that the universe is fine-tuned for scientific discovery itself. This is a completely new angle. But the book is more than an argument for purpose in the universe. In fact, in many ways, it's a sweeping overview of the history of scientific discovery itself.

I would like to say something about the Publishers Weekly review that is posted on Amazon.com. It's baffling. I thought Publishers Weekly reviews were supposed to be more or less descriptive rather than editorial. But this review must have been written by someone who either didn't read The Privileged Planet carefully, or didn't understand the argument. First of all, the description of their treatment of habitability is inaccurate. G and R don't claim that Earth is the only habitable planet. They argue that, given what we already know about what it takes to make a habitable planet, such planets are probably rare. And they definitely don't argue that just because the Earth is well suited for life, therefore it was designed. In fact, they go to great lengths to show why that's not a very good argument.

The reviewer also misunderstood the central point of the book, or what the authors call "the correlation between habitability and measurability." In fact, the review turns the very thesis of the book into an afterthought: "In addition, the authors contend, the universe itself is designed for discovery." Huh? That's the point of the book, and it is developed and reiterated many times, so I don't know how a reviewer could miss it. The argument is fairly straightforward: the (universal) requirements for complex observers like human beings also provide the best (overall) places for making scientific discoveries. In other words, observers (embodied observers, anyway) will find themselves in the best places for making various significant kinds of scientific discoveries. Some of their examples, like eclipses, are, frankly, a little eerie. The rarity of conditions for complex life is one of the premises of their argument for purpose, but it's not the only premise.

Finally, the Publishers Weekly reviewer warns readers "that the vast majority of scientists reject the intelligent design argument." Why would that be in a review? Did the reviewer poll all scientists? And which intelligent design argument is he referring to? There's more than one. In the ancient world there was Plato's, Cicero's and Thomas Aquinas'. In the 19th century, there was William Paley's. In recent years, there have been design arguments from Michael Denton, Michael Behe and William Dembski in biology, to John Barrow, Frank Tipler, John Leslie, and others in physics. The argument in The Privileged Planet is related to these arguments, but it is also different. Even those who are critical of design arguments in biology might like the argument in The Privileged Planet, since it has to do with the design of the universe as a whole, and not with individual items within the universe. It's most related to the fine-tuning arguments in physics, but it deals with a new class of evidence. I don't think their argument would differ if Darwin's theory of evolution were true in all its details. In any case, the book should be judged on its own merits, and not just lumped in with a generic and somewhat dismissive phrase like "the intelligent design argument."

Finally, how can a reviewer make bald assertions about the general reception of an argument which isn't even known yet? (The Publishers Weekly review came out before the book was even available at Amazon.com.) Is he clairvoyant?

I do hope that readers will read the book for themselves. And I also hope that future reviews will be more careful in how they describe this important and inspiring book.

52 of 67 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars The Special, and Intelligently Designed "Pale Blue Dot" June 21, 2006

By Discovery Reviewer

Format:Hardcover

Co-authored by two Discovery Institute Fellows, astronomer Guillermo Gonzalez and philosopher Jay W. Richards, The Privileged Planet presents a new form of design argument which can be applied to the level of the cosmos. Design proponents have long held that the physical constants of nature and properties of our solar system appear finely tuned and specified to allow for advanced life. But Richards and Gonzalez take this argument to a new level by arguing that the same set of circumstances which permit advanced life are also optimized for a range of scientific discoveries.

Chapter eight, for instance, centers on research by Gonzalez that was featured in a cover story of Scientific American in 2001. Like our solar system's habitable zone, our galaxy has a habitable zone as well. This broken ring roughly have way from the galaxy's center is far enough away from the radiation-filled center of the galaxy, between its radiation-filled spiral arms, but not so far out that it lacks the heavy elements needed for terrestrial planets like Earth. This location is also well situated for making a range of scientific discovery. While other locations might allow improved observation of this or that feature, the Galactic Habitable Zone offers an overall better location for a range of important scientific observations. This is but one of many instances of what seems to be a consistent correlation between the requirements for life and the requirements for scientific discovery.

But any book coauthored by a philosopher must investigate the philosophical implications. Richards and Gonzalez recounts that a historical myth developed, according to which, when it was discovered that the Earth was neither the center of the Solar System nor the Universe, Earth became insignificant. This mythology was popularized by materialists like Carl Sagan who preferred to portray Earth to the public as just a lucky but insignificant pale blue dot floating through the uncaring depths of space.

The Privileged Planet argues that there is a weak historical and theological basis for the claim that Christianity requires Earth to be at the center of the action. Moreover, there is a growing body of scientific evidence from a range of disciplines showing that great care and intelligent design was taken in our cosmic placement. According to the evidence cited in the book, both the design of cosmic laws and the specific architecture of our solar system, including the sizes and relationship of Earth and moon, permit the existence of advanced life with the opportunities to make profound scientific discoveries.

184 of 258 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Opening a New Front for ID March 12, 2004

By William A. Dembski

Format:Hardcover

I first heard Guillermo Gonzalez present his ideas about our place in the universe being designed to facilitate scientific discovery at a conference at Yale in the fall of 2000. For me this was the high point of the conference. Jay Richards and Guillermo have since developed this idea, providing numerous lines of evidence to show that without a host of contingent facts being just-so, our scientific understanding would be impossible or severely attenuated.

The idea that the world and features of it are designed to help us understand the world and those features constitutes a remarkable insight. Gonzalez and Richards apply this insight mainly at the level of cosmology and astrophysics. But it promises to apply also in biology. Indeed, some preliminary work in the bioinformatics literature is suggesting that biological systems contain information of no functional use to the organism as such, but information that is useful to the investigator in examining the organism and trying to understand it.

The Privileged Planet breaks new ground. Einstein found it incomprehensible why the world should be comprehensible. Gonzalez and Richards begin to provide an answer to Einstein's perplexity.