Biocosm: The New Scientific Theory of Evolution: Intelligent Life Is the Architect of the Universe [ILLUSTRATED] (Paperback)

~ Seth Shostak (Foreword), (Author) "The search for extraterrestrial intelligence (ET) is easily the most exotic of mainstream scientific pursuits..." (more)
Key Phrases: cosmic replication, cosmological replication, anthropic qualities, New York, Selfish Biocosm, Oxford University Press (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

For many years, traditional cosmologists and proponents of faith-based "intelligent design" have fought over the origin of the universe. One side maintains that pure chance can explain everything; the other that there must be a God. In Biocosm, James Gardner examines the evidence and finds a third hypothesis, one that has the approval of a number of noted skeptics and scientists. He calls it the "Selfish Biocosm," in a nod to Richard Dawkins, and outlines it in this homage to Charles Darwin. Gardner states his hypothesis:

The basic idea is that the anthropic, or life-friendly, qualities that our universe exhibits are logical and predictable consequences of a cosmic reproduction cycle in which a cosmologically extended biosphere, developed and evolved over billions of years to unimaginable levels of sophistication, serves as the device by which our cosmos duplicates itself and propagates one or more "baby universes."

Like many of the sentences in Biocosm, this one requires multiple readings before its meaning and ramifications sink in. This is not an easygoing, blow-your-mind look at the universe. Gardner is meticulous in outlining his ideas, explaining their falsifiability and scientific rigor, and offering deep chaos theory to support them. Did our universe create intelligent life in order to ensure its own reproduction? Gardner thinks so, though he knows his position will irk many cosmologists exhausted from battling pseudoscientists and creationists. His impressive list of scientific supporters includes Sir Martin Rees (Britain's Astronomer Royal), Michael Shermer (publisher of Skeptic magazine), and John Casti (Santa Fe Institute honcho). Biocosm synthesizes many disciplines and theories in its conclusions, offering much food for cosmological thought. --Therese Littleton

From Publishers Weekly

Science has yet to find a way of knowing what, if anything, existed before the Big Bang that created our universe. Further, how can we account for physical laws that are so finely tuned for the creation of carbon-based life? Science writer and amateur cosmologist Gardner proposes a startling theory: that a pre-existing superintelligent race that inhabited a "mother universe" created this one and tweaked the physical laws in its baby universe to ensure the continuity of intelligent life and of the cosmos itself; this universe, then, will foster the growth of a new superintelligence eons from now with complete command over the laws of nature and the ability to create yet more universes with inheritable characteristics. Thus, Gardner argues, our universe is a "Selfish Biocosm" that created intelligent life to ensure its own survival. Gardner marshals cutting-edge thinking in cosmology, string theory and the associated M theory, and complexity theory to support his ideas. Readers may want to jump to chapter 15 for a full statement of his theory, since the pr‚cis in his introduction is vague; still, this is not for casual readers of popular science. If one doesn't favor an explanation for the creation of life that involves a deity of some sort, then Gardner's theory seems a plausible alternative, though some readers may feel that speculating on superintelligences in pre-existing universes may be akin to Darwin's proverbial dog speculating on the mind of Newton. 8-page color insert not seen by PW.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 344 pages
• Publisher: Inner Ocean Publishing; illustrated edition edition (July 17, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1930722222
• ISBN-13: 978-1930722224
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 7.1 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #514,277 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Universal Darwinism?, August 13, 2003

By	Victor S. Johnston "vsj" (Las Cruces, NM USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

If you like to explore provocative ideas, then you will enjoy Biocosm. Gardner begins by arguing that a strong version of the Anthropic Principal is required to account for the goodness of fit between the physical parameters of our current universe, and the parameters required for the evolution of intelligent life. He builds on Lee Smolin?s hypothesis (The Life of the Cosmos) that our current universe is the product of a long evolutionary history that has favored universes that could produce baby universes (in the form of black holes) and these same parameters are also favorable for intelligent life. Gardner points out (correctly) that Smolin's hypothesis does not explain how such baby universes inherit the parameters of their mothers, and then offers a provocative solution. It is our future intelligent progeny that program the physical laws into future universes (as they have in the past). This is Gardner's Selfish Biocosm Hypothesis (SB). Gardner rejects Linde's "eternal chaotic inflation" plus a weak version of the anthropic principal (ECI&WA) but it appears to me that Gardner needs Linde's idea to produce the FIRST universe with intelligent life. After that, SB might work. However, if ECI&WA is needed to get SB off the ground, then SB is no longer useful, since ECI&WA alone can account for the apparent goodness of fit between the parameters of the physical universe and the parameters necessary for intelligent life. Despite my concerns, I believe Gardner's book is worth reading because it addresses some of the critical issues and constraints that confront any acceptable theory of cosmic origins.

21 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Bio-Blah, October 6, 2004

By	YankeeChick "Yankee" (Wisconsin) - See all my reviews

Initially intrigued with this book, I quickly lost interest. It starts out well but then degenerates into a bunch of random points which the author tries to use to argue his hypothesis that the universe was designed to give rise to intelligent life as a final outcome. The blurbs along the margin were major distractions & made it hard to stay focused on the actual material in the book. The book just kind of wanders around the various fields of science trying to find evidence to support the author's premise and then ends with the pronouncement that we're the peak of creation (very Genesis-like). I'd have to pronounce this book mildly interesting if you can wade through the claptrap and the biased agenda.

37 of 56 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Infinite Regress of Intelligent Designers, November 23, 2004

By	Yonatan Fishman (New York, NY USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

The fatal flaw of the 'Biocosm' hypothesis is that of infinite regress: Each designed universe had a designer, which in turn had to have a super-designer, and so on. Ultimately, to avoid such a regress of designers, we must begin with a universe capable of producing designers that was not itself designed. But the possibility of an undesigned universe capable of producing intelligent designers undermines the whole purpose of proposing the Biocosm hypothesis in the first place. So ultimately 'Biocosm' doesn't solve the fundamental problem it sets out to solve, it merely postpones it. Note that the theistic argument from design fails for a similar reason: If organized complexity (e.g., life) requires a designer, then so does an intelligent living God (who must be organized and complex if he is to be intelligent and alive). This God, in turn, would require a super-intelligent designer, ad infinitum. It's time we all bravely faced reality, and let go of our anthropocentric hubris.