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Fine-tuned universe
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== History == In 1913, [[chemist]] [[Lawrence Joseph Henderson]] wrote ''The Fitness of the Environment,'' one of the first books to explore fine tuning in the universe. Henderson discusses the importance of water and the environment to living things, pointing out that life as it exists on Earth depends entirely on Earth's very specific environmental conditions, especially the prevalence and properties of water.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Henderson |first=Lawrence Joseph |title=The fitness of the environment: an inquiry into the biological significance of the properties of matter |publisher=The Macmillan Company |year=1913 |lccn=13003713 |oclc=1146244 |ol=6554703M}}</ref> In 1961, physicist [[Robert H. Dicke]] argued that certain forces in physics, such as [[gravity]] and [[electromagnetism]], must be perfectly fine-tuned for life to exist in the universe.<ref name=Dicke>{{cite journal | author-link = Robert Dicke |author = R. H. Dicke|s2cid = 4196678| journal = Nature | title = Dirac's Cosmology and Mach's Principle | volume = 192 | pages = 440β41| date = 1961 | doi = 10.1038/192440a0 | bibcode = 1961Natur.192..440D | issue=4801}}</ref><ref>[[John L. Heilbron|Heilbron, J. L.]], ''The Oxford Guide to the History of Physics and Astronomy'', Volume 10 (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005), [https://books.google.com/books?id=WqyudPS7EZEC&pg=PA8&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q&f=false p. 8].</ref> Astronomer [[Fred Hoyle]] argued for a fine-tuned universe: "From 1953 onward, Willy Fowler and I have always been intrigued by the remarkable relation of [...] and your fixing would have to be just where these levels are actually found to be. [...] A common sense interpretation of the facts suggests that a superintellect has monkeyed with physics, as well as with chemistry and biology, and that there are no blind forces worth speaking about in nature."<ref>[[Fred Hoyle|Hoyle, F.]], ''The Universe: Past and Present Reflections'' | Department of Applied Mathematics and Astronomy, University College, 1981).</ref> In his 1983 book ''The Intelligent Universe'',<ref>[[Fred Hoyle|Hoyle, F.]], ''The Intelligent Universe'' ([[London]]: [[Michael Joseph (publisher)|Michael Joseph Ltd]], 1983).</ref> Hoyle wrote, "The list of anthropic properties, apparent accidents of a non-biological nature without which carbon-based and hence human life could not exist, is large and impressive."<ref>[http://www.optcorp.com/edu/articleDetailEDU.aspx?aid=1530 Profile of Fred Hoyle at OPT] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120406200054/http://www.optcorp.com/edu/articleDetailEDU.aspx?aid=1530 |date=2012-04-06 }}. Optcorp.com. Retrieved on 2019-08-02.</ref> Belief in the fine-tuned universe led to the expectation that the [[Large Hadron Collider]] would produce evidence of [[physics beyond the Standard Model]], such as [[supersymmetry]],<ref name=rosaler> {{cite web |title=Fine Tuning Is Just Fine: Why it's not such a problem that the Large Hadron Collider hasn't found new physics. |url=https://nautil.us/fine-tuning-is-just-fine-7681/ |last=Rosaler |first=Joshua |website=Nautil.us |publisher=NautilusThink Inc |date=2018-09-20 |access-date=2020-01-18 }}</ref> but by 2012 it had not produced evidence for supersymmetry at the energy scales it was able to probe.<ref> {{cite magazine |url=https://www.quantamagazine.org/physicists-debate-future-of-supersymmetry-20121120/ |title=As Supersymmetry Fails Tests, Physicists Seek New Ideas |last=Wolchover |first=Natalie |authorlink=Natalie Wolchover |magazine=[[Quanta Magazine]] |date=2012-11-20 |access-date=2020-01-18 }}</ref>
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