| The Life of the Cosmos | |
| Author: | Lee Smolin |
| Country: | United States |
| Language: | English |
| Subjects: | Physics, Fecund universes |
| Publisher: | Oxford University Press |
| Release Date: | January 1, 1997 |
| Media Type: | |
| Pages: | 370 pp. |
| Isbn: | 0195126645 |
| Followed By: | Three Roads to Quantum Gravity (2001) |
The Life of the Cosmos is the debut non-fiction book by American theoretical physicist Lee Smolin. The book was initially published on January 1, 1997 by Oxford University Press.[1] [2]
In the book, Smolin details his fecund universes which applies the principle of natural selection to the birth of universes. Smolin posits that the collapse of black holes could lead to the creation of a new universe. This daughter universe would have fundamental constants and parameters similar to that of the parent universe though with some changes, providing for both inheritance and mutations as required by natural selection. However, while there is no direct analogue to Darwinian selective pressures, it is theorised that a universe with "unsuccessful" parameters will reach heat death before being able to reproduce, meaning that certain universal parameters become more likely than others.
A staff-written review from popular-science publisher Jupiter Scientific said of the book:[3]