Scientists have discovered six fundamental numbers that are so precisely tuned that any variation in them would have created a universe where no life could exist at best, and at worst, would result in a universe spinning radically out of control with no galaxies forming or a universe with only black holes forming. These numbers refer to the six fundamental forces that govern the operation of the universe. These forces are: the strong nuclear force and the weak nuclear force; the amount of matter needed to sustain the size of the universe and its expansion; cosmic antigravity and the number representing cosmic antigravity that controls the expansion of the universe at large distances.
These six numbers constitute a recipe for the universe. If any one of them were to be untuned, there would be no stars and no life. These numbers are either so miniscule or so immense that they are represented by letters.
Thisinformation is taken from the book, "Just Six Numbers," by Martin Reese, an astrophysicist and agnostic.
The universe is so vast because of this one crucially important huge number represented by the letter N. N measures the strength of the electrical forces that hold atoms together divided by the force of gravity between them. Itis equal to 1 with 36 zeros behind it. If it had a few less zeros only a short-lived miniature universe could exist and no creatures could grow larger than insects. The expansion force of our universe is precisely balanced by the needed gravitational force: enough gravity so that matter could collect to form galaxies and enough expansion force so that the universe doesn't come crashing back in on itself early in the expansion process.
Physicist Richard Morris says, "If our universe had been expanding at a rate that was slower by a factor of one part in a million, then the expansion would have stopped when the universe was only 30 thousand years old when the temperature was still 10,000 degrees."
Astronomers John Barrow and Joseph Silk give the other side. "Worlds expanding much faster than the critical rate could almost certainly be devoid of stars and galaxies and hence the building blocks of which living things are made. Calculations show that mmatter would have been moving outward too rapidly to allow any of it to gravitate together into clumps."
Astronomers and physicists are baffled as to how the universe could have started out as a big bang with so nearly a perfect critical rate of expansion that allowed for it to continue on for millions of years and is still expanding at that same critical rate.
Steven Hawking, physicist
"If the rate of expansion one second after the big bang had been smaller by even one part in a hundred thousand million million the universe would have collapsed before it ever reached its present state."
The number represented by the letter E is another fundamental force in the universe that was precisely calibrated to allow our universe to exist and humanity to flourish. The value for E is 0.007. This number defines how firmly atomic nuclei bind together and how all the atoms on earth were made. Its value reflects not only the power from the sun but also how it transmutes hydrogen into all the atoms of the periodic table. If the nuclear weak force were 0.008, the hydrogen atoms would be burned up, leaving only helium, and the universe and life could not exist. If E were 0.006 the fusion processes within the sun would not take place and the solar system could not exist.
The number represented by the word Omega measures the amount of material in our universe such as galaxies, diffuse gas and dark matter. It tells us the relative importance of gravity and expansion energy in the universe. If this ratio were too high (too strong gravity - too weak expansion), the universe would have collapsed long ago. Had it been too low (too weak gravity - too strong expansion), no galaxies or stars would have formed. "The initial expansion speed at creation was precisely finely tuned," writes astrophysicist, Martin Reese, in his book "Just Six Numbers," of the precision of balance that had to be present in the initial burst of creation to create the star systems and yet maintain the stable expansion of the universe.
"The minutest deviation either side of an Omega of one consigns our potential universe to oblivion."
The number represented by the word Lambda measures an unsuspected force known as cosmic anti-gravity. This force, the biggest scientific news of 1998, controls the expansion of our universe even though it has no discernable effect on scales less than a billion light years. Fortunately for us (and very surprisingly to theorists), Lambda is very small; otherwise its effect would have stopped galaxies and stars from forming and cosmic development would have been stifled before it could even begin.
The seeds for all cosmic structures - stars, galaxies, and clusters of galaxies were all imprinted at the moment of creation. The fabric of our universe depends upon the number Q. Q represents the ratio of a surprisingly weak universal gravity force and an even weaker background ripple effect throughout the entire universe. This ratio number carries the value of 1/100,000. If Q were even smaller the universe would be inert and without structure. If Q were much larger it would create a violent universe in which no stars or solar systems could survive and vast black holes would dominate.
D has been known for centuries although it is now viewed in a new perspective. It is the number of spatial dimensions in our world, and it equals 3. Life couldn't exist if D equalled 2 or 4. The number D is equal to three becuase we live in a 3-dimensional universe and there are certain laws that are operative only becuase we live in a 3-dimensional universe. Thus the number D has to do with the basic structure of the universe and how it is constructed. __________________________________________________________________________
The first two numbers related to the basic forces that govern the universe. The next two numbers fix the size and overall texture of the universe and determine how long it will continue. The last two numbers fix the properties of space itself.
These numbers are precisely honed. If any of them were different, life as we know it would at best be radically altered and more likely could not exist at all. In fact, the universe itself could not exist in any way that would carry any potential for life.
It is the precision of these six basic numbers that govern the univers, plus many other very finely tuned laws and arrangements that are leading scientists, mathematicians, and astronomers in record numbers to recognize that an intelligent Designer has crafted this place.