Discovery Institute, WA
05-23-07
Praise from Scientists for The Privileged Planet
At the heart of the attacks on Iowa State University astronomer Guillermo
Gonzalez is the book The Privileged Planet, which he co-authored with Jay
Richards. We now know that Gonzalez's authorship of this book played a role in
his denial of tenure. It also provoked more than 120 of Gonzalez's faculty
colleagues to sign a petition in 2005 denouncing intelligent design and urging all
other faculty members to do the same. Ironically, the book has garnered praise
from an impressive list of scientists, including some prominent supporters of
biological evolution. Consider just a few of The Privileged Planet's endorsements
and ask yourself whether the ideas raised in this book presented any kind of valid
reason for removing Gonzalez from his university:
Is our universe a blind concatenation of atoms, evolution a random walk
across a meaningless landscape, and our sense of purpose a pathetic shield
against a supremely indifferent world? Or does the universe and our place within
it click into place, repeatedly? These starkly different views open up immense
metaphysical and theological questions, and at least part of the answer must
come from science and the unfolding triumphs of cosmology, astronomy, and
evolution.
In a book of magnificent sweep and daring Guillermo Gonzalez and Jay
Richards drive home the arguments that the old cliché of no place like home is
eerily true of Earth. Not only that, but if the scientific method was to emerge
anywhere, the Earth is about as suitable as you can get. Gonzalez and Richards
have flung down the gauntlet. Let the debate begin; it is a question that involves
us all.
Simon Conway Morris
Professor of Evolutionary Paleobiology, University of Cambridge
Author of Life’s Solution: Inevitable Humans in a Lonely Universe
This thoughtful, delightfully contrarian book will rile up those who believe the
‘Copernican principle’ is an essential philosophical component of modern
science. Is our universe designedly congenial to intelligent, observing life?
Passionate advocates of the search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI) will find
much to ponder in this carefully documented analysis.
Owen Gingerich
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
Author of The Book Nobody Read: Chasing the Revolutions of Nicolaus
Copernicus
Not only have Guillermo Gonzalez and Jay Richards written a book with a
remarkable thesis, they have constructed their argument on an abundance of
evidence and with a cautiousness of statement that make their volume even
more remarkable. In my opinion, their Privileged Planet deserves very careful
attention.
Michael J. Crowe
Cavanaugh Professor Emeritus at the University of Notre Dame
Author of The Extraterrestrial Life Debate 1750-1900
Impressively researched and lucidly written, The Privileged Planet will surely
rattle if not finally dislodge a pet assumption held by many interpreters of modern
science: the so-called Copernican Principle (which isn’t actually very
Copernican!). But Gonzalez and Richards’ argument, though controversial, is so
carefully and moderately presented that any reasonable critique of it must itself
address the astonishing evidence which has for so long somehow escaped our
notice. I therefore expect this book to renew—and to raise to a new level—the
whole scientific and philosophic debate about earth’s cosmic significance. It is a
high class piece of work that deserves the widest possible audience.
Dennis Danielson
Professor of English, University of British Columbia
Editor, The Book of the Cosmos: Imagining the Universe from Heraclitus to
Hawking
In this fascinating and highly original book, Guillermo Gonzalez and Jay
Richards advance a persuasive argument, and marshal a wealth of diverse
scientific evidence to justify that argument. In the process, they effectively
challenge several popular assumptions, not only about the nature and history of
science, but also about the nature and origin of the cosmos. The Privileged
Planet will be impossible to ignore. It is likely to change the way we view both the
scientific enterprise and the world around us. I recommend it highly.
Philip Skell
Evan Pugh Professor Emeritus of Physics, Pennsylvania State University
Member, National Academy of Sciences