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19 - The Biological Universe

from Part V - Beyond the Milky Way

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 September 2020

Wallace Arthur
Affiliation:
National University of Ireland, Galway
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Summary

Here, I use a particular type of mental picture to contemplate the possible extent of the biological universe. The idea is that at various levels of spatial scale we can use green to depict entities with life. Such entities could be planets with life, stars that have planetary systems with life, or galaxies that include one or more such planetary systems. Whatever the extent of the biological universe, another question is: what form does it take? A pessimistic answer is that we have no idea because so far we only have a sample size of a single inhabited planet. However, I advocate a more optimistic view by recommending what I call Copernican biology. This is the view that life on Earth is more likely to be ordinary than special. I consider which laws of science should apply to the biological universe and which should not. I then ask to what extent alien life-forms would be expected to resemble terrestrial ones in their construction, at both cellular and morphological levels. I end by outlining a view of the extent and nature of the biological universe that I call the Huge hypothesis.

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The Biological Universe
Life in the Milky Way and Beyond
, pp. 300 - 317
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2020

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  • The Biological Universe
  • Wallace Arthur, National University of Ireland, Galway
  • Book: The Biological Universe
  • Online publication: 24 September 2020
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108873154.025
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  • The Biological Universe
  • Wallace Arthur, National University of Ireland, Galway
  • Book: The Biological Universe
  • Online publication: 24 September 2020
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108873154.025
Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • The Biological Universe
  • Wallace Arthur, National University of Ireland, Galway
  • Book: The Biological Universe
  • Online publication: 24 September 2020
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108873154.025
Available formats
×