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Popular Cosmology: what to read
I’m back enjoying the Cambridge life for a fortnight, and already have some cricket lined up. Some comments from a previous post got me thinking … Cosmic Variance recently polled its readers on what...
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Internet Finds of the “Week”
A few quick things from around the internet. 1. Our favourite Welsh astrophysicist and supervisor, Geraint Lewis, has been keeping himself busy. He’s appeared on Wikipedia, and even has his own blog:...
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Dear Peter Coles …
I was just re-reading this post over at Cosmic Variance about a paper by Sean Carroll, which he summarises as: Our observed universe is highly non-generic, and in the past it was even more non-generic,...
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Book Review: The Cosmic Landscape by Leonard Susskind (Part 1)
I’m a great fan a popular science books, particularly when the topic is cosmology or fundamental physics. Susskind’s “The Cosmic Landscape” was particularly enjoyable, though I will take issue with a...
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James Jeans and our finite universe(?)
“Leave only three wasps alive in the whole of Europe and the air of Europe will still be more crowded with wasps than space is with stars, at any rate in those parts of the universe with which we are...
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In Defence of The Fine-Tuning of the Universe for Intelligent Life
I recently posted on Arxiv a paper titled “The Fine-Tuning of the Universe for Intelligent Life”. A slightly shortened version has been accepted for publication in Publications of the Astronomical...
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The Traps of WAP and SAP
Let’s begin by quoting from Radford Neal: There is a large literature on the Anthropic Principle, much of it too confused to address. I’ve previously quoted John Leslie: The ways in which ‘anthropic’...
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Got a cosmology question?
I’m thinking of setting my 3rd year cosmology students questions from the general public to see how well they’ve been listening, and to prepare them for unexpected cosmology questions at dinner...
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Why science cannot explain why anything at all exists
I’m going to jump back on one of my favourite high horses. I’ve previously blogged about Lawrence Krauss and his views on the question “why is there something rather than nothing?”. I’ve just finished...
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A universe from nothing? What you should know before you hear the...
The ABC’s opinion pages has posted my introduction to the debate between Lawrence Krauss and William Lane Craig, happening this evening at the Sydney Town Hall. The debate topic is “Why is there...
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Fine-Tuning on the TV: A Review of ABC’s Catalyst
It’s always a nervous moment when, as a scientist, you discover that a documentary has been made on one of your favourite topics. Science journalism is rather hit and miss. So it was when the...
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Sean Carroll vs William Lane Craig: A Preview
On February 21-22 (2014), Sean Carroll and William Lane Craig will debate at the Greer-Heard Forum, at the New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. The topic is “God and Cosmology: The Existence of...
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Some cosmological introductions …
I don’t know who Rob Sheldon is, but he doesn’t know much about cosmology. He recently was quoted in this post at uncommondescent.com regarding the geometry of the universe. If I lecture cosmology this...
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Carroll vs. Craig (4): On Nothing
More on the upcoming Carroll vs. Craig dialogue (previously, one, two, three). I have some leftover business from my previous post on the contingency argument for the existence of God. It concerns the...
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Cosmology Q and A – Australian Physics article
My article “Cosmology Q & A” has been published! It appeared in the magazine Australian Physics, 51 (2014) 42-6 and is reproduced here with permission. After a brief overview of modern cosmology,...
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Have cosmologists lost their minds in the multiverse?
The Conversation has published an article of mine, co-authored with Geraint Lewis, titled “Have cosmologists lost their minds in the multiverse?“. It’s a quick introduction to the multiverse in light...
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Next Friday at the Epping Creative Centre, Sydney: “What Happened at the Big...
I’ve been a bit quiet around here, lately. Travel is my excuse. I’m currently in Cambridge, collaborating with a few colleagues on a project. I’ll be back in Sydney next week, so if you’re near Epping...
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Did the Universe Have a Beginning? – Carroll vs Craig Review (Part 1)
It’s been a while, but I’ve finally gotten around to jotting down a few thoughts about the Sean Carroll vs. William Lane Craig debate. I previewed the debate here (part one, two, three, four). I...
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Carroll’s five replies to the fine-tuning argument: Number 1
Last time, I started a review of the Carroll vs. Craig debate with a (mostly historical) overview of the back-and-forth about the beginning of the universe for the last 90 years of modern cosmology....
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Doing cosmology with a brain
A favourite XKCD: Made out of Meat Here’s a few idle, Friday afternoon thoughts. I study distant galaxies. I use mathematical models of the laws of nature (and a supercomputer) to try to predict the...
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