The Science of Discworld IV

221
    mainstream cosmologists propose rivals to 245;
see also
steady-state theory
    and spontaneous space–time existence 241–2
    as theory, origin of 239
    and the torus 225
    see also
universe: origin of
    Blank Slate
,
The
(Pinker) 253
    Blount, Anne 107–8
    Bondi, Hermann 239
    Borman, Frank 95
    Bose, Satyendra Nath 19
    Brahmanda Purana
101
    brain:
    environment’s interactions with 255–6
    generation of beliefs by 268
    human-scale perception by 24
    memory–data combination in 268–9
    and personality 39
    and uncertainty 265–6
    Breaking the Spell
(Dennett) 258, 309
    Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and
Fable
56
    Brief History of Time
,
A
(Hawking) 62, 159
    British Humanist Association 252
    Brodetsky, Selig 50
n
    Brown, Capability 38
    Brüssow, Harald 135, 141, 142
    Buchhave, Lars 297–8
    Burgess Shale 184–5, 203
    Buridan, Jean 80
    Burrows, Edgar Rice 113
    Cairns-Smith, Graham 136
    Caldwell, Robert 246
    Cambrian period 184–5, 203
    Cameron Patterson, Clair 35
    Campbell, John W. 261
    Cantzicnal 53
    see also
gods/goddesses
    Canup, Robin 132
    carbon:
    Hoyle’s problem with 287–9
    uniqueness and necessity of 283–4
    carbon-14 17
    Carlipp, Steven 225
    Carpenter, William 106–7
    Cartesian duality,
see
mind–matter duality
    Casanova, Giacomo 112
    cat flap 50, 194
    Cathars 259–60
    see also
belief; religion
    cathode rays 16, 164
    causality 63–4, 70, 71–2, 76–8, 81–7
    and butterfly effect 76–7
    and chicken-and-egg conundrum 121
    and questions of origins 120–47;
see also
origins
    Cellular Cosmogony 109
    CERN 158–9
    certainty 308–9
    rejection of, by science 155
    in religion 308
    in science 309
    Chaac 53
    see also
gods/goddesses
    Character of Physical Law
,
The
(Feynman) 168–9
    Chatsworth House 38
    chicken-and-egg conundrum 121
    see also
causality: and questions of origins
    Christian Science 126
    Chukwa 56
    Church of England, and female bishops 23, 321
    City of God
(Augustine) 103–4
    Clarke, Arthur C. 201, 311
    Clifton, Edgar 107–8
    climate change 77
    anthropogenic, scepticism concerning 156–7
    Cockroft, John 16
    Collapse of Chaos
,
The
(Cohen, Stewart) 82
n
, 255
    Columbus, Christopher 104
    communication at a distance, beginnings of 202
    see also
evolution: of technology
    Compton Gamma Ray Observatory (CGRO) 126–7
    consciousness 39
    Constraints on Variables in Syntax
(Ross) 62
n
    Conway Morris, Simon 184–5
    Copernicus, Nicholas 278, 279
    cosmic egg 100–1, 239
    cosmological constant 241, 243, 244
    cosmology 278–302
    and Anthropic Principle 282–3, 285–6, 287–8
    Babylonian 98–9
    Buddhist 56
    Copernican 279–81
    and creation and shape of universe,
see under
universe
    Egyptian 96–8
    and fine-tuning 282–95, 299–301
    Greek 99–101
    Hindu 56–7, 59
    Mayan 54
    and Occam’s razor 280
    Ptolemaic 279–80
    standard model of 240
    see also
creation myths
    creation myths 50–62
    biblical 61, 104, 108
    Buddhist 101
    and creator god 124
    Egyptian 52–3, 97
    evolution of 60–1
    Finnish 101
    Iroquoian 52
    Japanese 101
    Mayan 53–5
    similar elements found in 60
    as window to psyche 60
    creationism 23, 36, 61, 108
    see also
intelligent design
    Cuk, Matija 132
    cuneiform 98
    curved spacetime 23, 64, 78, 217
    Cybernetics
(Weiner) 80
    Danckaerts, Jasper 51
    Dark Ages 102
    dark energy 244, 246
    dark matter 243–4, 245
    Darwin, Charles 6–7, 106, 141, 180
    and barnacle species differentiation 190
n
    on
Beagle
6
    and the wizards (fictional) 7
    see also
evolution
    Darwin, George 35, 130
    Darwinism:
    neo- 180, 194
    religious prejudice against 316–17
    social 182
    Darwin’s Black Box
(Behe) 191
    Dauphas, Nicolas 132
n
    Davis, Andrew M. 132
n
    Dawkins, Richard 6, 71, 254
    Declaration of the Rights of Man 257
    Declaration of Independence 257
    Dennett, Daniel 76, 258, 309, 317
    Descartes, René 79, 80, 169, 310
    Descent of Man
,
The
(Darwin) 7
    determinism 78
    deterministic chaos 76
    Devonian period 193, 203
    Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion
(Hume) 63–4
    Dianetics 261
    see also
Scientology
    Discworld, described 1–2
    DNA 23, 135–6, 137–44, 183, 192
    book encoded in 198
    and certainty 309
    junk 143
    and viruses 140–2
    see also
origins: life on Earth
    Doctrine of the Deluge
,
The
(Leveson) 56
    dodecahedral space 219, 220–1
    Doppler effect 237
    Drake, Francis 105
    Dresden Codex
53
    Durrer, Ruth 246
    Dwyer, Joseph 127
    Earth:
    and Copernican cosmology,
see under
cosmology
    deduced age of 35–6
    heavenly bodies’ distances from 30, 315
    life on, origin of 133–47
    origin of