At the Heart of the Web: The Inevitable Genesis of Intelligent Life

Astronomer Seielstad reasons that the underlying principles of nature, and the particular environment of Earth, necessarily produced life, and therefore intelligence. Humans now change that environment, and may someday change that nature as well. Some of this is OK, he says, but some is good and some is decidedly bad. A popular work. Annotation copyright Book News, Inc. Portland, Or.

One interpretation of quantum mechanics implies the necessary existence of self-conscious intelligence, e.g., human beings. Radio astronomer Seielstad here offers a sweeping vision of the evolution of the universe from the forging of heavy elements like carbon and iron in supernovae to their incorporation in human brains. He explains how complex living things arose in a universe that tends toward ever-greater levels of disorganization. He wonders why the number of protons is what it is; why gravity is not stronger; and if the universe will continue to expand forever. If some of the constants like the strength of gravity had been only slightly different, life as we know it would have been impossible, he observes. And, provocatively, he argues that humans have a transcendent mission to spread Earth's "lifestream" throughout the universe. This is a delightful and thought-provoking book, albeit slightly marred by jejune observations on sociopolitical issues. Illustrations not seen by PW.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Seielstad, an astronomer, borrows ideas from the natural and physical sciences to demonstrate how, in a universe where the laws of nature operate precisely as they do, the evolution of life was inevitable. If any of the four fundamental forces of nature--the nuclear strong and weak, electromagnetism, and gravity--had varied minutely in their magnitudes, stars might never have formed. The author proposes a "cosmic ecology" which shows how all life forms on Earth--and perhaps, elsewhere--are interdependent. Though Seielstad's tone is sometimes speculative, it is never rarefied; the book's success can be measured in how it promotes science but in no way precludes religion. Good companion readings would be J.E. Lovelock's Gaia: A New Look at Life On Earth (Oxford, 1979) and P.C.W. Davies's The Accidental Universe (Cambridge Univ. Pr., 1982).
- Gregg Sapp, Idaho State Univ., Boise
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.