On the Likely Origin of Species
()
About this ebook
This book is an attempt to do precisely that, and in the process to take lay readers on a voyage all the way from the Big Bang to the human species.
In doing so, it avoids both the simplistic neo-Darwinian idea that everything happens by pure chance and the unscientific notion that if we want to know how our universe came to be, all we have to do is read our bibles.
Suarez presents here a rigorous and also entertaining description of life from the moment (approximately 13.7 billion years ago) when total darkness gave way to blinding light, and from there all the way to the present.
It tackles the mystery of biogenesis - that is to say the moment when chemicals, which did not seem predisposed to arrange themselves into something more complex, somehow overcame the tendency to break apart and instead combined into something as harmonious and perfectly synchronized as a living cell.
In between the singularity that marked the beginning of all matter and the wondrous complexity of the human mind, the author tackles the inflationary moment, Dark Energy, the Second Law, biogenesis and the so-called "missing link," using analogies, stories, and quotes from history's great thinkers.
The book does not solve the four mysteries of natural history, but it provides the reader insights by which to weigh to what extent modern science has solved them and to what extent they remain scientific voids that beg for a metaphysical explanation.
At the very end, a theory is put forth that connects two of science's four great mysteries. If true, the philosophical implications are so startling that it makes reading the book worthwhile just to ponder the possibility that Suarez may be right about that connection.
Xavier L. Suarez
Xavier L. Suarez is both an academic and a politician. He was born in Cuba and came to the United States as a refugee from Castro-communism. Here in the states, he obtained scholarships from high school at the famed St. Anselm’s in Washington, D.C. and subsequently at Villanova University, where he was the only summa cum laude graduate in the entire school of engineering. He then obtained joint degrees in law and public policy from Harvard. In 1985, Suarez was elected Mayor of Miami; he was reelected twice. In 2011, Suarez was elected Miami-Dade County Commissioner, where he served for two-plus terms, until termed out in 2020. He has written books on topics ranging from politics to anthropology and economics. He is married to Rita Elena and live, along with my son Francis (currently serving as Mayor of Miami) and daughters Olga, Annie and Carolina, plus 11 grandkids, in the Miami area.
Read more from Xavier L. Suarez
Fire, Flint and Faith Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Wealth of a Nation Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDemocracy in America 2020: Second in a Series Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsScience and the Theory of God Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Related to On the Likely Origin of Species
Related ebooks
The Field Updated Ed: The Quest for the Secret Force of the Universe Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Planet-Girded Suns: Our Forebears' Firm Belief in Inhabited Exoplanets Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Encyclopedia of Unsolved Mysteries Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5Into the Heart of Our World Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsScience and democracy reviews. Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSecrets of the Moon: Myth and Mysticism, History and Science Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Ascent of Gravity: The Quest to Understand the Force that Explains Everything Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Voice and the Fallen Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsForgotten Civilization: New Discoveries on the Solar-Induced Dark Age Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Meaning in Absurdity: What Bizarre Phenomena Can Tell Us About the Nature of Reality Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Alien Perspective: A New View of Humanity and the Cosmos Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA Brand New World Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsTheosophon 2033: A Visionary Recital About the World Event and Its Aftermath Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Mysterious Universe [New Revised Edition] Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsVortex Cosmology: Awaken Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Cosmic E.G.G.G: AKA The Primeval Germ A Journey of 59 + 21 Zeroes Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsHelliconia Spring Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Secret Influence of the Moon: Alien Origins and Occult Powers Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Dark Side of Isaac Newton: Science's Greatest Fraud? Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDelusions in Science and Spirituality: The Fall of the Standard Model and the Rise of Knowledge from Unseen Worlds Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsHelliconia Summer Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Perfect Theory: A Century of Geniuses and the Battle over General Relativity Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Helliconia Winter Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5And On and On the Ages Roll: Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Dancing Universe: From Creation Myths to the Big Bang Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Evolutionary Cosmos: Outside-In Thinking the Universe Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBlack Holes: The Weird Science of the Most Mysterious Objects in the Universe Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Origins of Everything: Some True Stories for Eli Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBlack Hole: How an Idea Abandoned by Newtonians, Hated by Einstein, and Gambled on by Hawking Became Loved Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Anthropology For You
The Immortality Key: The Secret History of the Religion with No Name Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Hundred Years' War on Palestine: A History of Settler Colonialism and Resistance, 1917–2017 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Slouching Towards Bethlehem: Essays Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Indifferent Stars Above: The Harrowing Saga of the Donner Party Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Bullshit Jobs: A Theory Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Working: People Talk About What They Do All Day and How They Feel About What They Do Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5America Before: The Key to Earth's Lost Civilization Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The White Album: Essays Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Dark Matter of the Mind: The Culturally Articulated Unconscious Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Psychology of Totalitarianism Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Seven Basic Plots: Why We Tell Stories Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Stories of Rootworkers & Hoodoo in the Mid-South Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5How to Survive in Ancient Egypt Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The WEIRDest People in the World: How the West Became Psychologically Peculiar and Particularly Prosperous Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Trouble With Testosterone: And Other Essays On The Biology Of The Human Predi Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Humans: A Brief History of How We F*cked It All Up Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Regarding the Pain of Others Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Beauty Myth: How Images of Beauty Are Used Against Women Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Bright-sided: How Positive Thinking is Undermined America Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Selfie: How We Became So Self-Obsessed and What It's Doing to Us Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Collected Essays: Slouching Towards Bethlehem, The White Album, and After Henry Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Civilized to Death: The Price of Progress Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Bruce Lee Wisdom for the Way Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Rethinking Narcissism: The Bad---and Surprising Good---About Feeling Special Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Folk Medicine in Southern Appalachia Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Witch: A History of Fear, from Ancient Times to the Present Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Serpent and the Rainbow Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Reviews for On the Likely Origin of Species
0 ratings0 reviews