The Wisdom & Wonder of Life

By Cyrus Varan

This book is the fruit of many hours of thinking and reading during a period of twenty years, The Wisdom & Wonder of Life, by author Dr. Cyrus Varan, is as much an exploration of the wisdom, beauty, and wonder of the visible world as it is a rational search for the cause of evolution.
Dr. Varan shares the scientific and biological discoveries of the twentieth century, as well as the astronomical observations of our time, which reveal that the creation of the visible biological and world order is mathematically beyond the theoretical capability of chance events. Contrary to common trends, science is found to be in harmony with theism.
From the viewpoint of a person trained in physical sciences and mathematics, The Wisdom & Wonder of Life shares the views of the great scientific minds which confirm that the formation of the muscles and organs of all of the creatures on earth by chance events would require a period of time far exceeding many trillion times the age of the universe. Written in simple language, it opens the door in a new direction for those seeking purpose and meaning for their existence.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Archway Publishing
• Release date: Oct 31, 2016
• ISBN: 9781480832923

Cyrus Varan

Dr. Varan earned a PhD in applied sciences with minors in mathematics and physics. He is the author of articles in scientific journals and is credited with a number of US and a UK patent for different inventions. Now eighty years old, Dr. Varan is retired and lives in Red Beach, New Zealand.

Book preview

Copyright © 2016 The Wisdom of Life Charitable Trust.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

Archway Publishing

1663 Liberty Drive

Bloomington, IN 47403

www.archwaypublishing.com

1 [phone]

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/STScI

Scripture taken from the King James Version of the Bible.

ISBN: 978-1-4808-3290-9 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4808-3291-6 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-4808-3292-3 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2016946570

Archway Publishing rev. date: 12/16/2016

CONTENTS

About the Author

Acknowledgement

Foreword

First Reality: The Wisdom and Wonder of Life on Earth

Second Reality: The Limitations of Chance Events

Third Reality: Birth and Regeneration

Fourth Reality: The Human Brain

Fifth Reality: Sensors, Command and Control Mechanisms

Sixth Reality: The Visionary Mechanism

Seventh Reality: The Endocrine System

Eighth Reality: The Limitless Order of the Natural World

Ninth Reality: The Limitations of Mutation

Tenth Reality: The Universe

Eleventh Reality: The Cause for Creation

Conclusion

Postlude

References

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Cyrus Varan has a Ph.D. in Applied Sciences with minors in Mathematics and Physics. He is the author of articles in scientific journals and is credited with a number of U.S. patents and a U.K. patent for different inventions. Now 82 years old, Dr. Varan is retired and lives in Red Beach, New Zealand.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I am grateful to my wife, Karen Kennedy, without whose support, assistance, and editing this book would not have come to be. The editing of my son, Professor Duane Varan, is also acknowledged.

100% of the author’s share of the proceeds of the sale of this book will be donated to charitable and non-profit institutes.

FOREWORD

This book is the fruit of many hours of thinking and reading during a period of twenty years. It is as much an exploration of the wisdom, beauty and wonder of the biological world as it is a rational search for the cause of evolution.

In this book the author wishes to share the scientific and biological discoveries of the twentieth century, as well as the astronomical observations of our time, which reveal that the creation of the biological and world order is mathematically beyond the theoretical capability of chance events. Contrary to common trends, science is found to be in harmony with theism.

FIRST REALITY: THE WISDOM AND WONDER OF LIFE ON EARTH

…what is impenetrable to us really exists, manifesting itself as the highest wisdom and the most radiant beauty.

Einstein (1)

T he beauty of the natural world has touched the minds and hearts of humans forever. Beyond the visible, there exists a hidden beauty in the awe-striking wisdom of life on earth. Einstein refers to this creative phenomenon as the most radiant beauty.

The creative ingenuity and logical gifts of humankind have never been more richly demonstrated than in our age, epitomized in the marvels of engineering that have transformed our lives and expectations. But in comparison to the infinitely complex order that operates within the engineering of nature, the achievements of human intelligence pale and fade to nothing. The natural process of creation, in which two cells, a sperm and an egg, are joined together to create man dwarfs all human achievements. The manufacturing of the potent seeds necessary for procreation is no less sophisticated. The blood ceaselessly circulating in the body, twenty-four hours a day, for a hundred years, at the same constant temperature as that of seven billion other people, is yet another example of the astounding engineering work that is operating in nature. The complexity of keeping the temperatures in different rooms of a house the same for an hour shows the wisdom of such a creation. Appreciating the true complexity of the natural world, in comparison to human achievements, invariably leads to a search for the cause of life on earth.

There is always an animating cause behind any transformation in nature. While the presence of evolution in nature is a fact, it is not easy to determine the cause of such transformations and this matter is the subject of disagreement. While some people believe that material properties are the cause of evolutionary transformations, others see random events as the cause. Moreover, others believe in an external causation.

The principal reason for the differences in people’s ideology and beliefs is that the limitation of random causations is not well understood. A full appreciation of the beauty of nature’s order can best be realized by comprehending the limitations of chance events.

The forthcoming chapters in this book are dedicated to exploring the radiant beauty inherent in the order in the natural world. As the present chapter demonstrates, the idea that chance is the cause of the visible order of life is both misguided and invalid.

A valuable measure of the limitations of chance events is provided by the prominent Canadian physicist, George Gamow. Gamow is credited with confirming the mathematical probability of the chance formation of a line of a book (2). For the proper positioning of 50 letters, numbers and punctuation in an average of 65 spaces, Gamow confirmed that the coincidental probability is 1 against 10 to the power of 110 (i.e., one with 110 zeros in front of 1). The age of the universe in seconds of an hour is less than 10 to the power of 18. On this basis, if there were a billion permutations in every second, then the time required to get 50 characters properly ordered in a line of a book by chance events is more than 10 to the power of 80 times the age of the universe. The coincidental selection and the proper disposition of the fifteen letters in the word transformations would require more than the age of the universe for one permutation in every second of an hour. Gamow’s valuation does not include the intellectual choice of the proper words from a dictionary of thousands of words. Nor does it include the communication of a thoughtful vision by the composition of the words such that the line created has literal value. Thus, the chances against the random creation of an ordered line in a piece of written literature are incredibly immense.

On this basis, whenever an intellectual decision is included in the creation of an object, random events without mind, direction or foresight do not have the capacity to serve as the causation. There are four requirements for the creation of any functional, objective device, such as a pliers or a wrench. The first is the intellectual recognition of a certain need, such as the need for tightening a nut. The second is the engineering invention of a device in order to satisfy that need. The third is intellectual compatibility, such that the design of the tool is applicable to the existing conditions. The construction of the device is the fourth and final requirement. The coincidental creation of a pair of pliers is not realistic. In addition to the improbable odds against the coincidental assemblage of the billions of orderly points which shape a pair of pliers, the three principal intellectual prerequisites for the creation of functional devices are missing in mindless events.

DNA is a sub-microscopic device which is the means for the creation of 3.2 billion sophisticated and highly complex and objective functions. Included in this creation is the human brain. The prerequisite for such a creation is the intellectual knowledge and understanding of the necessity of a brain. In addition, the invention must occur prior to the fabrication and must be compatible with the other organs of the body. The inconceivably vast number of identical DNA within the human body is a created phenomenon.

The capacity of chance events is very limited. Two needles created by chance events would be different from each other. For the second needle to look identical to the first needle, the proper prescribed positioning of millions of points would be essential and, as demonstrated above, the ordering of 50 elements cannot be realized by coincidence. In the course of mapping the human genome, it was determined that there are 3.2 billion pairs of letters in each human DNA. Every single organ of every creature on earth is a sophisticated instrument that was invented, engineered, and designed internally compatible, before being constructed to meet a certain need. A person has to be cautious with the notion that intelligent men reaching for remote planets and touching stars can arise from a mindless mixture of mud and minerals.

In his recently published book, Mind and Cosmos (3), Professor Thomas Nagel of New York University (a self acknowledged atheist) states:

But systematic features of the natural world are not coincidences.

These foregoing observations bring to light the following facts:

(1) A billion permutations per second are not achievable. Many times the age of the universe exceeds the scale of time. Consequently, it is not rational to expect the prescribed functional disposition of the order of 50 elements to be the result of coincidental causations.

(2) The ability of coincidental events to create an order is, in reality, far less than what is generally assumed.

(3) There is a common failure to recognize that the time required for the coincidental formation of simple functional, objective orders can only be expressed in terms of a number many times the age of the universe. When looking for the cause of functional, objective orders, coincidental causation is not a credible option.

(4) The human DNA contains the chemical code for the realization of every single cell and organ within the human body. Each of the 3.2 billion pairs