The Copernicus Complex: Quest for Our Cosmic (In)Significance

Scharf, Caleb

ISBN 10: 1846147123 / ISBN 13: 9781846147128

Published by Allen Lane, UK, 2014

About this Item

An excellent copy, clean and unmarked throughout with no notable creases or signs of wear beyond some mild bumps around outer edges from ordinary handling and shelving. Very lightly rubbedalong spine but overall well-presented. Why on Amazon do most sellers not describe their actual book? Buy with confidence and support a genuine Independent Bricks & Mortar Real Bookshop. We are Maynard & Bradley CAMBO & PBFA(now lapsed) members here in Leicester City Centre. Size: 170 x 250 mm. 278 pages. Item Type: Book. Quantity Available: 1. Shipped Weight: Under 1 kilogram. Category: History; Britain/UK; Modern; ISBN: 1846147123. ISBN/EAN: 9781846147128. Pictures of this item not already displayed here available upon request. Inventory No: 30395.

Seller Inventory # 30395

Bibliographic Details

• Title: The Copernicus Complex: Quest for Our Cosmic (In)Significance
• Publisher: Allen Lane, UK
• Publication Date: 2014
• ISBN 10: 1846147123
• ISBN 13: 9781846147128
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition: 2014.
• Condition: As New
• Dust Jacket Condition: Very Good
• Seller catalogs:
  • History

About this title

Synopsis

In The Copernicus Complex, the renowned astrophysicist and author Caleb Scharf takes us on a cosmic adventure like no other, from tiny microbes within the Earth to distant exoplanets and beyond, asserting the age-old Copernican principle is in need of updating.

When Copernicus proposed that the Earth was not the fixed point at the centre of the known universe, he upended Western science. The notion that we on earth are not particularly unique has become a central tenet of our study of the cosmos ever since. Cosmology hints that our universe may be just one of a multitude of others -- a single slice of an infinity of parallel realities. But the Copernican principle, Scharf argues, has never been entirely true -- we do live at a particular time, in a particular location, under particular circumstances. To solve this conundrum we must put aside our Copernican worldview and embrace the possibility that many aspects of our cosmic home are genuinely special.

Weaving together cutting-edge science and classic storytelling, historical accounts and speculations on what the future holds, The Copernicus Complex presents a compelling argument for what our true cosmic status is, and proposes a way forward for the ultimate quest: to determine whether we are truly alone in the universe.

About the Author

Caleb Scharf is the director of Columbia University's Astrobiology Center and the author of Gravity's Engines. He has written for New Scientist, Science and Nature, and appeared on BBC's Horizon. He received his PhD from Cambridge University, and now lives in New York City.