Just Lucky, I Guess

This article, published by California Wild Magazine, contains a review of The Privileged Planet by Discovery Institute Center for Science & Culture Senior Fellows Guillermo Gonzalez and Jay Richards:

The Privileged Planet: How Our Place in the Cosmos is Designed for Discovery, by Guillermo Gonzalez and Jay W. Richards. Regnery Publishing, Washington, DC, 2004. 444 pp., $27.95 hardcover.

Is there scientific evidence that an intelligent designer created our universe? Scientists and theologians have debated this issue for centuries, but now the arguments are heating up. The battle between evolution and creationism has been joined in schools around the country, and each new discovery in astronomy invites people to consider their place in the cosmos. Now authors Guillermo Gonzalez and Jay Richards have stepped into this breach with a provocative new book claiming that our ability to learn about the universe arises from its careful design.

The Privileged Planet links two concepts that at first seem unrelated: "habitability" and "measurability." Habitability considers whether a place in the universe is suitable for advanced life to develop. Our planet is a cozy place for liquid water, while our large moon prevents Earth from suffering climate-changing swings on its axis. Our sun is a stable star with a life-friendly temperature, and our place in the Milky Way galaxy-like baby bear's porridge-is "just right" for many astrophysical reasons.