Barrow J.D. The Constants of Nature: From Alpha to Omega - The Numbers That Encode the Deepest Secrets of the Universe

New York: Pantheon Books, 2003. — 368 p. — ISBN10: 0375422218; ISBN13: 978-0375422218.In this lively volume, Cambridge physicist Barrow (The Book of Nothing) considers the natural constants - the handful of seemingly eternal numerical values, such as the speed of light, the weight of the proton, Planck's constant or the four dimensions of space and time - that constitute the "bedrock" of physical reality. These constants quantify some of the simplest statements that science makes about the world, but as this fascinating work of popular science demonstrates, they have profound implications for the fate of the universe and our place within it. And, Barrow hints, they might not be truly constant. He traces scientists' evolving understanding of the natural constants as they grew to assume a central role in modern relativity theory and quantum mechanics, and outlines ongoing attempts to determine whether they are just inexplicable facts of nature or the logical consequence of some fundamental Theory of Everything. He also raises important philosophical and even religious questions. The natural constants are delicately balanced to make the universe safe for living organisms: altering them more than a hair would make stars burn out, atoms fly apart, and the world as we know it impossible. Is this a happy accident? Proof of Intelligent Design? Or is it a coincidence of our inhabiting one of an infinity of universes that just happens to have living observers? Barrow explores these issues in erudite but lucid prose that draws on an array of thinkers from Einstein to Freud, and, because he withholds his answer to the changing constants question until the end, his book has surprising narrative pull. His account makes some of the most challenging frontiers of science accessible, even enthralling, to laypeople.Before the BeginningSamelinessJourney Towards Ultimate RealityMission to Mars
Measure for measure - parochial standards
Maintaining universal standards
A brilliant ideal
Max Planck's natural units
Planck gets real
About timeSuperhuman StandardsEinstein on constants
The deeper significance of Stoney-Planck units the new Mappa Mundi
Otherworldliness
The super-Copernican PrincipleFurther, Deeper, Fewer: The Quest for a Theory of EverythingNumbers you can count on
Cosmic Cubism
New constants involve new labour
NumerologyEddington's Unfinished SymphonyCounting to 15.747.724.136.275.002.577.605.653.961.181,555,468.044,717.914.527.116,709.366.231.425.076.185.631.031,296
Fundamentalism
Theatrical physicsThe Mystery of the Very Large NumbersSpooky numbers
A bold hypothesis
Of things to come at large
Big and old. dark and cold
The biggest number of allBiology and the StarsIs the universe old?
The chance of a lifetime
Other types of life
Prepare to meet thy doom
From coincidence to consequence
Life in an Edwardian universeThe Anthropic PrincipleAnthropic arguments
A delicate balance
Brandon Carter's principles
Aclose-run thing?
Some other anthropic principlesAltering Constants and Rewriting HistoryRigid worlds versus flexi worlds
Inflationary universes
Virtual history - a little digressionNew DimenslOnsLiving in a hundred dimensions
Walking with planisaurs
Polygons and polygamy
Why is life so easy for physicists?
The sad case of Paul Ehrenfest
The special case of Gerald Whitrow
The strange case of Theodor Kaluza and Oskar Klein
Varying constants on the braneVariations on a Constant ThemeA prehistoric nuclear reactor
Alexander Shlyakhter's insight
The Clock of Ages
Underground speculationsReach for the SkyPlenty of time
Inconstancy among the constants?
What do we make of that?
Our place in historyOther Worlds and Big QuestionsMultiverses
The Great Universal Catalogue
Worlds without end
Journey's endNotes