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The Privileged Planet: How Our Place in the Cosmos is Designed for Discovery By Guillermo GonzalezJay Richards ( Regnery Publishing, Inc. )
Release Date: 2004-03
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List Price: $29.95
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Product Description
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.
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 Discovery and existence. ( hgtaylor4 )
An awe inspiring product bearing witness to the uniqueness of planet earth in our large universe. The earth The Privileged Planet is also the best place in the universe for scientific discovery.
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 Intelligent Design book in disguise of a scientific book. ( njyoder )
The author of this book is an Assistant Professor of astrophysics at Iowa State University. He was denied tenure because his research was considering very lacking (little research & grants). Some have stated that another reason for denying him tenure was that he was a strong proponent of the religious field called 'Intelligent Design,' but I have not verified this.
This book promotes a hypothesis centered around I.D. (Intelligent Design), but attempts to mask (hide) this fact by pretending that the book is scientific. The vast majority of scientists, especially those in biology related fields, do not believe that I.D. is a scientific hypothesis.
This is because I.D., which is essentially just a renamed version of Creationism designed so that it could be snuck into public schools. The federal court decision in "Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District" ruled that I.D. was religious and just a poorly disguised form of Creationism. The Judge even stated that that the expert witnesses for the I.D. supporters perjured themselves repeatedly on the stand to get their religious view included in the school system.
While this book has some science in it, it is really just an attempt to discretely support I.D. This is dishonest and unscientific.
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A Better Reference Than A Reader
I really appreciated the work & thought that went into this book. I was already a proponent of intelligent design & actually got boored by the extensive examples of cosmological features that suggest design. Someone new to the subject & open-minded might find it far more interesting. The issue itself has eternal consequences & is therefore inherently interesting.
I was impressed that these fellows are capable philosophers of science & did well in their presentation of their argument as well as responding to criticisms. My main challenge for the intelligent design camp is to focus it's excellent critical examination skills upon the assumptions that undergird mainstream dating methods for the earth & cosmos. This is a weak link for them, which has been pricked by authos such as Kenneth R. Miller in Finding Darwin's God.
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Have they read the book? ( xyzz343 )
I do find it interesting to note, from the one star reviews, just how many of these "reviewers" take on the concepts of the book rather than engaging in personal insults and name calling. Seems like this book, and others, strikes a nerve that the secular humanist has a hard time dealing with?
Overall, this is a fabulous book. Written at an appropriate level of technical detail for general readers but chock full of the references to the hard science underlying the ideas. Like the distance from the earth to the moon, the diameter of the earth and the diameter of the moon. This interesting "coincidence" that these few facts present allow us to enjoy a total solar eclipse. The eclipse, in large part, allows us to understand what the sun is all about. We can then generalize to other stars in the universe. My what an interesting group of coincidences. These facts sounds like "Christian Science" to me?
Just as Michael Behe and Michael Denton and scores of others are rightfully bringing up questions about "just so" stories in biology relative to how we got here Guillermo Gonzalez and Mr Richards are bringing up many questions relative to just exactly where our earth happens to find itself in the universe.
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God in a cheap suit ( neahga )
This is not a book about science, this is a book about a myth, written by people who do not understand science.
Worthwhile to look through to see what an "intelligent design" believer will claim.
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Addiction
