The Copernicus complex
Subtitle: our cosmic significance in a universe of planets and probabilities
By: Caleb Scharf
Edition: First edition.
Publisher: Scientific American/Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Published: 2014
Language: eng
Number of pages: 278
ISBN-13: 9780374129217
Subjects: Life; Space and time; Cosmology
Description: A groundbreaking revision of the Copernican Principle which is that the Earth was not the fixed point at the center of the known universe (and therefore we are not unique). Renowned astrophysicist and author Caleb Scharf argues that the principle has never been entirely true and therefore requires that we put aside our Copernican worldview and embrace the possibility that we are in a delicate balance between mediocrity and significance, order and chaos.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (pages [233]-263) and index.
Table of contents: title: From microcosm to cosmos; title: The Copernicus Complex; title: The ten-billion-year spree; title: Neighbors; title: A grand illusion; title: Sugar and spice; title: Hunters of the cosmic plain; title: There's something about here; title: (In)Significance.