Nature's Balancing Act
How Small Quirks of Physics Makes Life Possible
- Publisher's listprice GBP 22.99
-
11 635 Ft (11 081 Ft + 5% VAT)
The price is estimated because at the time of ordering we do not know what conversion rates will apply to HUF / product currency when the book arrives. In case HUF is weaker, the price increases slightly, in case HUF is stronger, the price goes lower slightly.
- Discount 10% (cc. 1 164 Ft off)
- Discounted price 10 472 Ft (9 973 Ft + 5% VAT)
Subcribe now and take benefit of a favourable price.
Subscribe
11 635 Ft
Availability
Not yet published.
Why don't you give exact delivery time?
Delivery time is estimated on our previous experiences. We give estimations only, because we order from outside Hungary, and the delivery time mainly depends on how quickly the publisher supplies the book. Faster or slower deliveries both happen, but we do our best to supply as quickly as possible.
Product details:
- Publisher OUP USA
- Date of Publication 16 July 2025
- ISBN 9780197771440
- Binding Hardback
- No. of pages168 pages
- Size 229x152x22 mm
- Weight 431 g
- Language English 700
Categories
Short description:
Do quirks of physics allow life to exist? The book starts with asking ?How did the universe come from nothing?? and continues by showing how small imbalances in nature are crucial to life's existence. It is intended for a person with some background in science, at the level taught in high school. No equations, except for E=mc?, appear in this book. The author has honed his skill at communicating science to a lay audience as an astronomy columnist for over 15 years.
MoreLong description:
Are the physical laws of our universe finely tuned, such that life can exist? What does this imply about how our universe formed? Questions like these are examined in Nature's Balancing Act, presented for a wide audience. From the Big Bang to present-day research, ranging from gravitational waves to experiments on antimatter, our physical laws are shown to be slightly off balance, allowing life to exist.
In its opening chapters, the following is asked: What would happen if the strong nuclear force, which binds protons and neutrons together, were slightly stronger or weaker? Would life still be possible? We know today that pushing the nuclear force off balance by just a few percent would create a different universe, unlike our own. Also, for life to exist, there must be a slight imbalance in the way matter and antimatter were created in the Big Bang. If matter and antimatter were exactly in balance, then our universe would not exist. These are just two examples of the fine tuning of physical laws that must happen for the cosmological conditions to be right for life to exist. If the universe wasn't ?just so,? you wouldn't be here to read about it!
Even with a favorable universe, how did life on Earth begin? How did it survive all this time without being wiped out by a cosmic event? Can human life continue to exist for millions of years, or will we cause our own extinction? These topics are considered in the latter chapters of the book and provide a fascinating look at our existence on Earth and the possibility of life elsewhere.
Table of Contents:
Preface
Explosive Ideas
Why Matter Doesn?t Collapse
Mirror, Mirror in the Sky
Neutrons Matter
So Much Carbon
The Left Hand of Life
It Came from Outer Space
Life in the Balance
Epilogue
Index
