Table of Contents

Part 1 Reason and belief: the scientific miracle; human reason and common sense; thoughts about thought; a rational world; metaphysics - who needs it?; time and eternity - the fundamental paradox of existence. Part 2 Can the universe create itself?: was there a creation event?; creation from nothing; the beginning of time; cyclic world revisited; continuous creation; did God cause the Big Bang?; creation without creation; mother and child universes. Part 3 What are the laws of nature?: the origin of law; the cosmic code; the status of the laws today; what does it mean for something to "exist"?; in the beginning. Part 4 Mathematics and reality: magic numbers; mechanizing mathematics; the uncomputable; why does arithmetic work?; Russian dolls and artificial life. Part 5 Real worlds and virtual worlds: simulating reality; is the universe a computer?; the unattainable; the unknowable; the cosmic programme. Part 6 The mathematical secret: is mathematics already "out there"?; the cosmic computer; why us?; why are the laws of nature mathematical?; how can we know something without knowing everything?. Part 7 Why is the world the way it is?: an intelligible universe; a unique theory of everything?; contingent order; the best of all possible worlds? beauty as a guide to truth; is God necessary?; a dipolar God and wheeler's cloud; does God have to exist?; the options; a God who plays dice. Part 8 Designer universe: the unity of the Universe; life is so difficult; has the universe been design by an intelligent creator?; the ingenuity of nature; a place for everything and everything in its place; is there need for a designer?; multiple realities; cosmological Darwinism. Part 9 The mystery at the end of the universe: turtle power; mystical knowledge; the infinite; what is man?.

About the Author

Paul Davies is an internationally acclaimed physicist, writer and broadcaster, now based in South Australia. He is the author of some twenty award-winning books, including About Time and The Fifth Miracle- The Search for the Origin of Life.

Reviews

Makes us re-examine the great questions of existence
*The New York Times*

The greatest achievement of the book is to provide an insight into the nature of science itself and the uncertainties that lie in the physical realm
*Sunday Times*

For those brought up on a diet of Adam and Eve, The Mind of God will make surprising reading
*Independent*