What is the
cosmological principle that theories of the universe are constrained by the
necessity to allow human existence? A:
The Anthropic Principle
Who was wrong about
the cosmos in these two senses: (a) in the sense of believing that the chaotic
distribution of cometary orbits is what you would expect in a primordial system
and (b) in assuming that there was no natural way in which the regularities of
planetary motion could be understood without divine intervention, from which he
deduced the existence of a Creator? A: Sir Isaac Newton (1642-1727)
Since we're in a planetary mood, here's the link to the NASA Science Website.
I love this comment from Sagan concerning Newton's cosmic misstep:
"Well, if Newton could be fooled, this is something worth paying attention to. It suggests that we, of doubtless inferior intellectual accomplishment, might be vulnerable to the same sort of error."
(Someone may want to supply the page numbers to my questions. My digital copy is all 0s and 1s.)
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