Beyond Coincidence

Book excerpt: Is our universe some kind of cosmic accident, or is it the result of careful and skillful design? What do scientists mean by "The Anthropic Principle"? When compiling the many physical and mathematical subtleties which make up our universe, scientist have discovered that a slight variation in any of them militates against the existence of life. Even at the atomic and sub-atomic level, the slightest variation in any of the primary constants of physics - some as sensitive as one part in over 1,000,000 - cause life to be impossible. Even secular science refers to these appearances of apparent design as the "anthropic principle," since they yield the impression that the universe was designed specifically for man.