Abstract

We will describe the modern picture of the expanding universe in simple terms and show how its large scale properties are important requirements for the existence of life within it. This enables us to understand why the universe is big and old, dark and cold. We will introduce the theory of the inflationary universe along with the observational evidence that supports it. One of the striking consequences of this theory is the prediction that our visible universe is a small part of complex multiversity.

Biography

John D. Barrow was born in London in 1952. He received his doctorate in Astrophysics from Oxford University in 1977, and held positions at Oxford, Berkeley, and the University of Sussex, where he was Professor of Astronomy. He received the Locker Prize for Astronomy, and the 1999 Kelvin Medal of the Royal Glasgow Philosophical Society. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 2003.

In July 1999, he took up a new appointment as Professor of Mathematical Sciences at Cambridge University and Director of the Millennium Mathematics Project, a new initiative to improve the understanding and appreciation of mathematics and its applications amongst young people and the general public.

He is the author of more than 350 scientific articles and 15 books, translated into 28 languages. These include, The Left Hand of Creation, the Anthropic Cosmological Principle, the Origin of the Universe, and many others, in which he explores the wider historical, philosophical and cultural ramifications in astronomy, physics, and mathematics. His most recent book, The Constants of Nature, from alpha to omega, has just been published by Random House. He has written a play, Infinities, which was performed (in Italian) at the Piccolo Teatro in Milan, in Spring 2002. John Barrow also has the unique distinction of having delivered lectures on cosmology at the Venice Film Festival, 10 Downing Street, Windsor Castle and the Vatican Palace.