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Cosmic Quest

Cosmic Quest: Episode 25: Design or Accident - Why Me?

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Episode 25

Episode 25: Design or Accident - Why Me?

Design or Accident - Why Me?

BBC Radio 4 Extra - Cosmic Quest, Design or Accident - Why Me?

Heather Couper looks at arguments over the laws of physics and the universe's creation.

Astronomer Heather Couper looks at the arguments that rage about the creation of life and the universe. From June 2008.

Heather Couper presents a narrative history of astronomy.

Given all that we now know about the formation of stars and planets and the evolution of life on Earth, it might seem as if the mystery is being taken out of the universe. However, every solution seems to throw up a deeper mystery. Within our understanding of physics, there are no known fundamental reasons for much of the astronomical phenomena that we observe. Of course, we can only observe a universe that supports life. This is known as the anthropic principle and has far-reaching implications. Some argue that it makes the universe very special, as if we were meant to be, while others suggest that we inhabit one of the few bio-friendly corners in an almost infinite multiverse of possibilities.

Readers are Timothy West, Robin Sebastian, Julian Rhind-Tutt and John Palmer.

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Heather Couper presents a narrative history of astronomy

Astronomer Heather Couper charts the history of our growing understanding of the universe and progress of astronomy.

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