The Life of the Cosmos
by Lee Smolin
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The Life of the Cosmos offers a theory of the universe that is radically different from anything proposed before. It departs from contemporary physicists to explore the idea that the laws of nature may be the partial result of a process of natural selection that occurred before the Big Bang.Tags
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Member Reviews
(posted on my blog: davenichols.net)
Having read and loved both of physicist Lee Smolin's more recent books, Three Roads to Quantum Gravity and The Trouble With Physics, I picked up a copy of Life of the Cosmos, his first book. Life centers around Smolin's theory of cosmological natural selection, a proposal which directly counters the weak anthropic cosmological arguments. While Smolin is a brilliant scientist, this first book left a lot to be desired, especially when compared to the two books he has since released. I expected this to be much more a work of philosophy of science, which it was, but the awkward structure and presentation make it a mixed bag for the reader.
Published in the late 1990s, this book was Smolin's first attempt show more to bring physics to a popular science audience. However, from the first few chapters, it is clear that the book's organization and argument style are cloudy at best. Smolin gives the reader a muddled set of preliminary background, a great deal of which has little to do with explaining his cosmological natural selection theory.
The meat of the book should be Part 2: An Ecology of Space and Time and Part 3: The Organization of the Cosmos. Unfortunately, the book is light on details and often drifts off-subject. I was personally left with only a basic outline of the theory Smolin offered, and would have love to see the implications of cosmological natural selection fleshed out a lot more.
Later parts of the book drift off to mostly philosophical and historical subjects and greatly abandon the arguments for the book's thesis. By the time I finished the book, it had easily been a hundred pages since any lengthy discussion of cosmological natural selection had taken place. Much of this latter history should have been included in the earlier parts of the book or left out entirely.
One area of argument that irked me a bit was Smolin's reliance on the Gaia hypothesis to provide backbone for his discussion of feedback systems. While I respect Lovelock's theory (and the work of other supporters such as Lynn Margulis), Smolin's use of Gaia in support of his own theory does nothing to improve his argument. It is entirely possible to describe the ecological relationships found on this planet without relying on Gaia to explain the processes. Not only is Gaia widely criticised by scientists of myriad disciplines, the modern versions of it are somewhat at odds with some of the aspects Smolin cites (Lovelock himself conceded early on that his initial hypothesis had serious problems, as pointed out by critics, and has backed off many of his original assertions). To be fair, I don't know what Gaia hypothesis actually proposed in the late 1990s at the time Smolin wrote this book, so I suppose this criticism may be a touch harsh.
Overall, Smolin is still a brilliant guy and despite the numerous problems with structure and content, Life is worth reading if you really dig philosophy of science and/or physics/cosmology books. If this one doesn't grab you, don't give up on Smolin as an author. His writing and presentation styles improved tremendously with Three Roads and have become outstanding with Trouble. As for this book, three stars. show less
Having read and loved both of physicist Lee Smolin's more recent books, Three Roads to Quantum Gravity and The Trouble With Physics, I picked up a copy of Life of the Cosmos, his first book. Life centers around Smolin's theory of cosmological natural selection, a proposal which directly counters the weak anthropic cosmological arguments. While Smolin is a brilliant scientist, this first book left a lot to be desired, especially when compared to the two books he has since released. I expected this to be much more a work of philosophy of science, which it was, but the awkward structure and presentation make it a mixed bag for the reader.
Published in the late 1990s, this book was Smolin's first attempt show more to bring physics to a popular science audience. However, from the first few chapters, it is clear that the book's organization and argument style are cloudy at best. Smolin gives the reader a muddled set of preliminary background, a great deal of which has little to do with explaining his cosmological natural selection theory.
The meat of the book should be Part 2: An Ecology of Space and Time and Part 3: The Organization of the Cosmos. Unfortunately, the book is light on details and often drifts off-subject. I was personally left with only a basic outline of the theory Smolin offered, and would have love to see the implications of cosmological natural selection fleshed out a lot more.
Later parts of the book drift off to mostly philosophical and historical subjects and greatly abandon the arguments for the book's thesis. By the time I finished the book, it had easily been a hundred pages since any lengthy discussion of cosmological natural selection had taken place. Much of this latter history should have been included in the earlier parts of the book or left out entirely.
One area of argument that irked me a bit was Smolin's reliance on the Gaia hypothesis to provide backbone for his discussion of feedback systems. While I respect Lovelock's theory (and the work of other supporters such as Lynn Margulis), Smolin's use of Gaia in support of his own theory does nothing to improve his argument. It is entirely possible to describe the ecological relationships found on this planet without relying on Gaia to explain the processes. Not only is Gaia widely criticised by scientists of myriad disciplines, the modern versions of it are somewhat at odds with some of the aspects Smolin cites (Lovelock himself conceded early on that his initial hypothesis had serious problems, as pointed out by critics, and has backed off many of his original assertions). To be fair, I don't know what Gaia hypothesis actually proposed in the late 1990s at the time Smolin wrote this book, so I suppose this criticism may be a touch harsh.
Overall, Smolin is still a brilliant guy and despite the numerous problems with structure and content, Life is worth reading if you really dig philosophy of science and/or physics/cosmology books. If this one doesn't grab you, don't give up on Smolin as an author. His writing and presentation styles improved tremendously with Three Roads and have become outstanding with Trouble. As for this book, three stars. show less
Title and author: The Life of the Cosmos - Lee Smolin reviewed 5-14-26.
Why I picked this book up: I am interested in many of the sciences and Smolin is a theoretical physicist who has been involved for many years “in the attempt to construct a theory that unifies quantum theory
and relativity.” His grasp of various known scientific realities and the more modern view drew me right in.
Thoughts: The ultimate task of physics is to provide that picture then, without it, despite all of the experimental successes of relativity and the quantum theory, we do not have, in the deepest sense, any physical theory at all.
This man has a lot of questions and devoted himself to see if he could answer these 3:
1. What is the universe?
2. Within the show more context of the answer to the first question, what is a living
thing? What is life?
3. Within the context of the answers to the first two questions, what is a
human being? Who are we?
He tried to put in this book what he has learned about the first two of
these questions, in the time since then. He is smart and provocative making me what to learn more.
Why I finished this read: This book is divided into five parts. Each of these is organized around a simple question which any complete theory of the universe must be able to answer. In the order in which we will encounter them, these questions are:
1. Why is the universe hospitable to life? Why is it full of stars?
2. Is there a unique fundamental theory that determines the properties of the elementary particles? Or might the laws of nature themselves have evolved?
3. Is it accidental or necessary that the universe have such a large variety of structure? Why is the universe so interesting?
4. What are space and time?
5. How can we, who live in the world, construct a complete and objective description of the universe as a whole? I was enthralled at where this ride would take us and that’s the reason for completing.
Stars: “Even more, the idea that a human
being had discovered the absolute and final laws of nature was both a
puzzle and a challenge to philosophers.” This was my interest in this book. It was a great read and created more questions. It was long and even though I found it worthwhile I rate this 4 of 5 stars and will read more of his books. I highly recommend reading this great book. show less
Why I picked this book up: I am interested in many of the sciences and Smolin is a theoretical physicist who has been involved for many years “in the attempt to construct a theory that unifies quantum theory
and relativity.” His grasp of various known scientific realities and the more modern view drew me right in.
Thoughts: The ultimate task of physics is to provide that picture then, without it, despite all of the experimental successes of relativity and the quantum theory, we do not have, in the deepest sense, any physical theory at all.
This man has a lot of questions and devoted himself to see if he could answer these 3:
1. What is the universe?
2. Within the show more context of the answer to the first question, what is a living
thing? What is life?
3. Within the context of the answers to the first two questions, what is a
human being? Who are we?
He tried to put in this book what he has learned about the first two of
these questions, in the time since then. He is smart and provocative making me what to learn more.
Why I finished this read: This book is divided into five parts. Each of these is organized around a simple question which any complete theory of the universe must be able to answer. In the order in which we will encounter them, these questions are:
1. Why is the universe hospitable to life? Why is it full of stars?
2. Is there a unique fundamental theory that determines the properties of the elementary particles? Or might the laws of nature themselves have evolved?
3. Is it accidental or necessary that the universe have such a large variety of structure? Why is the universe so interesting?
4. What are space and time?
5. How can we, who live in the world, construct a complete and objective description of the universe as a whole? I was enthralled at where this ride would take us and that’s the reason for completing.
Stars: “Even more, the idea that a human
being had discovered the absolute and final laws of nature was both a
puzzle and a challenge to philosophers.” This was my interest in this book. It was a great read and created more questions. It was long and even though I found it worthwhile I rate this 4 of 5 stars and will read more of his books. I highly recommend reading this great book. show less
As usual I didn't manage to follow all of it - and as usual it didn't matter to my satisfaction with the book. I learned a lot here and there and although I'm not a convert yet, I love the ideas of self-organization and natural selection. My biggest failing is maybe not understanding the guage principle but there were a lot of other brilliant ideas I did grasp a bit. Rotation forces (or the lack of them) in an otherwise empty universe, inertia and energy flows. And I've fallen in love with galaxies.... got to find out more.
As usual I didn't manage to follow all of it - and as usual it didn't matter to my satisfaction with the book. I learned a lot here and there and although I'm not a convert yet, I love the ideas of self-organization and natural selection. My biggest failing is maybe not understanding the guage principle but there were a lot of other brilliant ideas I did grasp a bit. Rotation forces (or the lack of them) in an otherwise empty universe, inertia and energy flows. And I've fallen in love with galaxies.... got to find out more.
I first read this soon after it was released, and though I would not consider myself an expert by any means on the topics of astrophysics, I did feel comfortable to dive into Smolin's book. For those who are leary of 'science' books, I feel comfortable to say that the science curve is not daunting at all, and there are several symbolic examples, which seem to revolve around cats- so for feline fans, maybe add half a star. Nevertheless the book drifts more to the philosophical rather than the physical, and I for one enjoyed this transition, as concepts such as string theory and nitty-gritty astrophysical ruminations require a thought pattern somewhat 'alien' to what we normally encounter in everyday life. Given as well that much of these show more concepts are in fact theory, and the trend toward the philosophical is more understandable. But what I found perhaps more interesting was the feel one gets for the way in which men such as Smolin construct their thoughts, and it gives a more humanist perspective on the theories rather than just numbers and equations. And yes, given the time that has passed since its first printing, I'm sure there are more scientific critiques that could be formulated for 'Life of the Cosmos', but it is still a very educational read, and quite enjoyable. show less
Though it lacks a coherent structure, this is an enjoyable account of modern cosmology and particle physics theory. There are splendid passages on star formation, and Smolin presents his speculative theory of cosmological natural selection, which purports to explain how our universe came to be so finely tuned for biological life.
This book tries to establish the cosmological natural selection as a theory that should help the understanding of the universe and adds to cosmology and other areas of physics. I have to say that this is a book for physicists. The first 1/3 of it is interesting and seems focused on the task at hand. But after that it becomes harder and harder to read because not only the physics gets deeper but also because there seems to be no point or goal in the argumentation, it “lacks coherent structure” like someone said in a previous review. Nevertheless, the subject is very interesting and the reading worthwhile.
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11+ Works 3,672 Members
Lee Smolin is a theoretical physicist who is a founding and senior faculty member at the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics. He is the author of five books, including The Trouble with Physics and Time Reborn.
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Biblioteca [Einaudi] (43)
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Common Knowledge
- Canonical title
- The Life of the Cosmos
- Original publication date
- 1997
- Epigraph
- This interconnection (or accomodation) of all created things to each other, brings it about that each simple substance has relations that express all the others, and consequently, that each simple substance is a perpetual, li... (show all)ving mirror of the universe. Just as the same city viewed from different directions appears entirely different and, as it were, multiplied perspectively, in just the same way it happens that, because of the infinite multitude of simple substances, there are, as it were, just as many different universes, which are, nevertheless, only perspectives on a single one,... And this is the way of obtaining as much variety as possible, but with the greatest order possible, that is, it is the way of obtaining as much perfection as possible.
--G.W. Leibniz, The Monadology, 56-58, 1714 - Dedication
- Dedicated to Laura Kuckes 1961-1990
Physician, playwright, friend, who inspired me to write this book. - First words
- As the story is told, Nicolaus Copernicus received the first copy of his first and only book as he lay dying in the tower of the castle in northeastern Germany where he had lived and served as Deacon for the last half of his ... (show all)life.
- Last words
- (Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)Pray let it be enough.
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