Preface1 Science and religion in a changing world2 Genesis3 Did God create the universe?4 Why is there a universe?5 What is life? Holism vs reductionism6 Mind and soul7 The self8 The quantum factor9 Time10 Free will and determinism11 The fundamental structure of matter12 Accident or design?13 Black holes and cosmic chaos14 Miracles15 The end of the universe16 Is the universe a ‘free lunch’?17 The physicist's conception of natureCHAPTER 1 REASON AND BELIEFThe Scientific MiracleHuman Reason and Common SenseThoughts About ThoughtA Rational WorldMetaphysics: Who Needs It?Time and Eternity: The Fundamental Paradox of ExistenceCHAPTER 2 CAN THE UNIVERSE CREATE ITSELF?Was There a Creation Event? Creation from Nothing TheBeginning of Time Cyclic World Revisited Continuous CreationDid God Cause the Big Bang? Creation without Creation Motherand Child Universes13 1939Contents\PTER 3 WHAT ARE THE LAWS OF NATURE? 73The Origin of LawThe Cosmic CodeThe Status of the Laws TodayWhat Does It Mean for Something to "Exist"?In the Beginning\PTER 4 MATHEMATICS AND REALITY 93Magic Numbers Mechanizing Mathematics TheUncomputable Why Does Arithmetic Work? Russian Dollsand Artificial LifeUPTER 5 REAL WORLDS AND VIRTUAL WORLDS 117Simulating RealityIs the Universe a Computer?The UnattainableThe UnknowableThe Cosmic Program.PTER 6 THE MATHEMATICAL SECRET 140Is Mathematics Already "Out There"?The Cosmic ComputerWhy Us?Why Are the Laws of Nature Mathematical?How Can We Know Something without Knowing Everything?LPTER 7 WHY IS THE WORLD THE WAY IT IS? 161An Intelligible UniverseA Unique Theory of Everything?Contingent OrderThe Best of All Possible Worlds?ContentsBeauty as a Guide to TruthIs God Necessary?A Dipolar God and Wheeler s CloudDoes God Have to Exist?The OptionsA God Who Plays DiceCHAPTER 8 DESIGNER UNIVERSE 194The Unity of the UniverseLife Is So DifficultHas the Universe Been Designed by an Intelligent Creator?The Ingenuity of NatureA Place for Everything and Everything in Its PlaceIs There Need for a Designer?Multiple RealitiesCosmological DarwinismCHAPTER 9 THE MYSTERY AT THE END OF THE UNIVERSE 223Turtle PowerMystical KnowledgeThe InfiniteWhat Is Man?