{"product_id":"copernicus-complex-9780374535575","title":"The Copernicus Complex: Our Cosmic Significance in a Universe of Planets and Probabilities","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eLonglisted for the 2015 PEN\/E.O. Wilson Literary Science Writing Award\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003eShort-listed\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003e for \u003c\/b\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003ePhysics World\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cb\u003e's \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003eBook of the Year\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Sunday Times (UK) Best Science Book of 2014\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003eA \u003ci\u003ePublishers Weekly\u003c\/i\u003e Top 10 Science Book of Fall 2014\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAn NBC News Top Science and Tech Book of 2014\u003cbr\u003eA Politics \u0026amp; Prose 2014 Staff Pick\u003c\/b\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eIn the sixteenth century, Nicolaus Copernicus dared to go against the establishment by proposing that Earth rotates around the Sun. Having demoted Earth from its unique position in the cosmos to one of mediocrity, Copernicus set in motion a revolution in scientific thought. This perspective has influenced our thinking for centuries. However, recent evidence challenges the Copernican Principle, hinting that we do in fact live in a special place, at a special time, as the product of a chain of unlikely events. But can we be significant if the Sun is still just one of a billion trillion stars in the observable universe? And what if our universe is just one of a multitude of others-a single slice of an infinity of parallel realities? \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eIn \u003ci\u003eThe Copernicus Complex\u003c\/i\u003e, the renowned astrophysicist Caleb Scharf takes us on a scientific adventure, from tiny microbes within the Earth to distant exoplanets, probability theory, and beyond, arguing that there is a solution to this contradiction, a third way of viewing our place in the cosmos, if we weigh the evidence properly. As Scharf explains, we do occupy an unusual time in a 14-billion-year-old universe, in a somewhat unusual type of solar system surrounded by an ocean of unimaginable planetary diversity: hot Jupiters with orbits of less than a day, planet-size rocks spinning around dead stars, and a wealth of alien super-Earths. Yet life here is built from the most common chemistry in the universe, and we are a snapshot taken from billions of years of biological evolution. Bringing us to the cutting edge of scientific discovery, Scharf shows how the answers to fundamental questions of existence will come from embracing the peculiarity of our circumstance without denying the Copernican vision. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eWith characteristic verve, Scharf uses the latest scientific findings to reconsider where we stand in the balance between cosmic significance and mediocrity, order and chaos. Presenting a compelling and bold view of our true status, \u003ci\u003eThe Copernicus Complex\u003c\/i\u003e proposes a way forward in the ultimate quest: determining life's abundance, not just across this universe but across all realities.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eCaleb Scharf\u003c\/b\u003e is the director of the Columbia Astrobiology Center. He writes for \u003ci\u003eThe New Yorker\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eNew Scientist\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eScience\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eScientific American\u003c\/i\u003e, and\u003ci\u003e Nature\u003c\/i\u003e, among other publications, and has served as a consultant for the Discovery Channel, the Science Channel, and \u003ci\u003eThe New York Times\u003c\/i\u003e. Scharf has been a keynote speaker for the American Museum of Natural History and the Rubin Museum of Art, and is the author of \u003ci\u003eGravity's Engines\u003c\/i\u003e. He lives in New York City with his wife and two daughters.\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Farrar, Strauss \u0026 Giroux-3pl","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50323831488786,"sku":"9780374535575","price":15.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_aae14329-84df-4f53-8cf4-22ae9dde0667.jpg?v=1727661604","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/copernicus-complex-9780374535575","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}