Children of Light (Privileged Species Series)

Book reviewChildren of lightThis is a remarkable book. I have read few books that really change the way to see the world. This is one of the best. An example of a bright enquiring mind probing evidence from all the sciences to reach his conclusion.I liked the fact that Denton looks at the raw facts first, versus rhetoric first, facts second. Denton shows his anthropocentric view of Nature is not contrived but clear and logical. Facts are facts and Denton’s view is built on steely factual foundations. Denton is building on the familiar fine tuning argument in physics known from books like the “The Privileged Planet” by Gonzalez or “Cosmic Coincidences” by Martin Rees that show similar mind bending odds against benevolent conditions for energy and matter to exist. But in this book, Denton moves closer to us, as humankind and explores how light is also surprisingly fine-tuned to enable us, sentient beings to exist. Examples of his evidence are accessible to most with a high school science background.1. The wavelength of emitted by our sun is a very thin slither across a huge possible range. This happens to be perfect for carbon chemistries to use it for example for our vision.2. This light is also just right for photosynthesis, again very specifically tailored for plant photochemistry. Without this, Denton convincingly argues, we could not breathe or think, because we are “light eaters” as Denton puts it.Denton argues that our vision is near optimal, the constraints of cell structure and the precise wavelength of visible light form a synergy that he says is reminiscent of Nobel Laureate Freeman Dysons thought that the universe “knew we were coming”.Denton admits his viewpoint is a rare voice against a chorus that began with the Copernican revolution. But scientific findings have moved on, and Denton believes more and more research will reinforce his view that mankind is eerily central to creation’s purpose.This book, I believe. should be mandatory reading to every high schooler or anyone interested into the possibility of plan and purpose in the universe.

“This expectation is borne out by the fact that every major advance in science since the beginning of the nineteenth century has revealed further elements of unique fitness in nature for life on Earth.’’This - scientific - focus carries on throughout this book. In fact, seems addressed to an educated, erudite reader. Nevertheless, even though I skipped some of the more detailed, analytical pages, still many clear, vivid explanations that provide confirmation of Denton’s conclusions.For example . . .“In other words, light in the visual region of the EM spectrum is just right for photochemistry. Within this Goldilocks region, the light is not so energetic as to cause chemical disruption of organic matter, but it is energetic enough to gently activate organic molecules for chemical reaction. In other words “just right.”Very persuasive reasoning. Why?“This crucial visual band that has the right energy levels for photo-chemistry occupies only a very small part of the EM spectrum. Light comprises only a narrow band in the spectrum of radiant energy that pervades the universe. From gamma rays, which may be only one ten billionth of a centimeter long… to radio waves, which may be miles in length. The portion of this spectrum that is visible to man is mainly contained between the wavelengths 380 to 760 millimicrons.’’Worth taking time to grasp this point. How?“But such a relatively bland description, while true, fails to highlight just how extraordinarily tiny is the fraction of the total EM spectrum occupied by the visual region. Just how narrow is the Goldilocks band of the “right” light? But such depictions are quite misleading.’’Misleading. Really?“But even the thinnest of lines drawn on a diagram cannot capture the exceedingly tiny region represented by the visual band. To use the analogies from earlier in this chapter, the “right light” would be only a few seconds in a time-span one hundred million times longer than the age of the Earth, or a few playing cards in a stack stretching beyond the galaxy of Andromeda—a fraction so small as to be beyond ordinary human comprehension.’’Now this nails it! That little amount of radiation from the sun is that important! Yes!But not only light for vision . . .“The radiation that is useful in promoting orderly chemical reactions comprises the great bulk of that of our sun. The commonly stated limit of human vision—400 to 700 millimicrons already includes 41 percent of the sun’s radiant energy, and about 83 percent of that reaching the earth… The entire photo biological range—300 to 1,100 millimicrons—includes 75 percent of the sun’s radiant energy.’’Man, that’s just incredible!What about quantum physics?“The weird behavior of matter at the quantum level might also turn out to be uniquely fit in different ways for life on Earth. That this expectation is turning out to be correct is supported by the growing number of recent studies which suggest that quantum phenomena are indeed playing a role in many biological processes.’’This recent connection of quantum physics to biology is just fascinating.“And this implies something more. The astonishing compaction of the radiation emitted by our Sun (and most stars in the universe) in the tiny visual and infrared bands, and the coincidence that this exceedingly narrow portion of the electromagnetic spectrum should be precisely the radiation required for photosynthesis (to excite molecules for chemical reaction; not too energetic, not too weak, just right for providing the necessary heat to warm the atmosphere, for preserving water as a liquid on the Earth’s surface, and for animating molecules for chemical reactions, is a fitness specifically for us “light eaters”—the advanced carbon-based life forms that inhabit the surface of the Earth. It is for us that this coincidence is of such crucial importance. The fact that the tiny band of visual light and the tiny band of heat we need for life on Earth coincide with the tiny band emitted by our Sun is surely a fact of supreme importance and lends credibility to the idea that the universe is particularly friendly for life like us.’’Yes it does.Another dramatic observation . . .“The mechanism represents a unique and stunningly brilliant solution to the problem of raising water to the top of large trees. Significantly, no conceivable alternative could work.’’Water at top of trees! Where’s the pump?“The pumping system has no moving parts, costs the plant no metabolic energy, moves more water than all the circulatory systems of animals combined, does so against far higher resistance, and depends on a mechanism with no close analog in human technology.”Amazing!“Trees can be rightly called the masters of microfluidics. In the stem of a large tree, the number of interconnected water transport conduits can exceed hundreds of millions, and their total length can be greater than several hundred kilometers. Furthermore, on a sunny day, a tree can transport hundreds of gallons of water from the soil to its leaves, and apparently do it effortlessly, without making a sound and without using any moving parts… The physics that underlies water transport through plants is not exotic; rather, the application of that physics in the microfluidic wood matrix results in transport regimes operating far outside our day-to-day experience.’’Science needs to catch up!“Moreover, there must surely be many more elements of fitness for our biology which await discovery. This expectation is borne out by the fact that every major advance in science since the beginning of the nineteenth century has revealed further elements of unique fitness in nature for life on Earth. The founding of modern chemistry led in the early nineteenth century to the discovery of the uniqueness of the carbon atom. In the late nineteenth century and beginning of the twentieth century, further advances led to the discovery of the unique fitness of carbon biochemicals in a water medium for the assembly and functioning of complex chemical systems.’’Great list.Physics was first, now biology.“During the twentieth century, advances in astrophysics and cosmology led to the discovery of the fine-tuning of the basic constants of physics for a universe capable of sustaining life. The elucidation in the mid-twentieth century of the mechanism of nuclear fusion in stellar interiors revealed that the synthesis of carbon and the higher atoms of life depended on a special fitness to that end in the nuclear energy levels of the key atoms involved.’’What else?“Then there was the discovery of plate tectonics, again in the mid-twentieth century, which revealed the underlying mechanism by which the chemical constancy of the Earth’s hydrosphere is maintained, another vital element of fitness for the habitability of rocky planets like the Earth. Advances in the next few decades are sure to reveal additional unique elements of fitness, perhaps involving the strange quantum behavior of matter at the subatomic level.”This not commonly understood.“But whatever future discoveries might bring, I rest my case. The evidence is already compelling: Whatever the cause and whatever the ultimate explanation, nature appears to be fine-tuned to an astonishing degree for beings of our biology. The ground of being, it seems, was fabricated for our existence from the moment of creation.”Is Denton the only one?“The universe, in the words of Freeman Dyson, must have known “we were coming,” not just generic carbon-based life forms, but beings of our physiological and anatomical design! On any consideration of the evidence, science has revealed a universe that echoes closely the anthropocentric world view of the medieval scholars, who saw the universe as an intelligently created natural unity in which man was no epiphenomenal, contingent product of deep time and chance, as he is widely considered today, but rather its very end and purpose.”Not a difficult read, but, includes enough depth to satisfy reader look for detailed, scientific evidence. Enough repetition to aid understanding without irritation.1. THE MIRACLE OF SUNLIGHT2. THE LIGHT OF LIFE3. LETTING THE LIGHT IN4. THE GIFT OF THE LEAF5. FITNESS FOR VISION6. THE ANTHROPOCENTRIC THESISAPPENDIX A. DOING WITHOUT SUNLIGHTAPPENDIX B. FERMENTATION AND CELLULAR RESPIRATIONENDNOTESFIGURE CREDITSINDEXTwo hundred eighty endnotes linked to references.Great research tool!Twenty nine illustrations. Most linked to source.Wonderful!Detailed index (linked)Recommended!

Denton in this book documents the fact that, not only light, but the Sun, the Earth’s atmosphere, plants and the environment was designed for life. Much of the book is on physics plus chemistry, biology, anatomy and botany and how all of these realities are tied together to produce a world for humans. We were not an afterthought, as claimed by evolutionists, nor an accident, as claimed by Richard Dawkins, but a forethought and live in a world designed for us as the pinnacle of creation. This book was a fun, but also an enlightening, read. Highly recommended. A very positive, feel-good book

Excellent. Everything you did not know about light but should. The author is a brilliant scientist who can take a technical subject like light and make it understandable for the layman. More importantly, he shows how important light is to mankind and all of life and how carefully fine tuned nature seems to be for life.

One of the three basic books by Michael Denton, the other two being The Wonder of Water and Fire Maker. These three books taken together comprise a good basic knowledge of basic science over several disciplines.

Very thought provoking. Science based foundation. Loved it

Very thought provoking. Hope more people will consider the existence of mind (other than mere human mind) in the universe and beyond.

Very good book about all the positive benefits to sunlight. A great read for those squiring knowledge about the benefits the sun provide to mankind.