The Beginning and the End: The Meaning of Life in a Cosmological Perspective (The Frontiers Collection) by Cl?ment Vidal

by Clement Vidal

In this fascinating journey to the edge of science, Vidal takes on big philosophical Does our universe have a beginning and an end or is it cyclic? Are we alone in the universe? What is the role of intelligent life, if any, in cosmic evolution? Grounded in science and committed to philosophical rigor, this book presents an evolutionary worldview where the rise of intelligent life is not an accident, but may well be the key to unlocking the universe's deepest mysteries. Vidal shows how the fine-tuning controversy can be advanced with computer simulations. He also explores whether natural or artificial selection could hold on a cosmic scale. In perhaps his boldest hypothesis, he argues that signs of advanced extraterrestrial civilizations are already present in our astrophysical data. His conclusions invite us to see the meaning of life, evolution and intelligence from a novel cosmological framework that should stir debate for years to come.

Genres: Philosophy, Science, Nonfiction

Hardcover

First published April 3, 2014

About the author

Dr. Clément Vidal is a philosopher with a background in logic and cognitive sciences. He is co-director of the 'Evo Devo Universe' community and founder of the 'High Energy Astrobiology' prize. To satisfy his intellectual curiosity when facing the big questions, he brings together many areas of knowledge such as cosmology, physics, astrobiology, complexity science, evolutionary theory and philosophy of science.

Reviews

[Sead Spuzic · Rating 5 out of 5]

It is clear enough that, thus far, the humanity was chasing the knowledge which was needed to ‘catch-up’ with the events and process the whirling world was throwing in our faces basically at random. We recognised the ”free parameters” in the Universe (called the universal constants, but also physical constants or fundamental physical constants) and the questions are posed such as “how come that these constants are so fine-tuned for life. What will happen if we choose wrong directions for our scientific explorations, if we fail to ask the right questions, and find ourselves lost in a cosmic whim we know nothing about?
The Author, Dr Vidal, has chosen the right questions and offered attractive hypotheses as the possible answers.

[Clement Vidal · Rating 5 out of 5]

As the author, I might be biased, but I hope you'll enjoy the new cosmological perspective offered!