Science and Culture Today Discovering Design in Nature
Author

Michael Denton

Prometheus-Carrying-Fire
Image: Prometheus Carrying Fire, by Jan Caussiers, via Wikimedia Commons.

Needed for Fire: All the Right Fuel

There is another aspect of the Earth’s environment that is absolutely crucial in allowing the utilization of fire for metal-based technologies. Read More ›
copper penny
Photo: A 100 percent copper penny, by US Mint (coin), National Numismatic Collection (photograph by Jaclyn Nash) / Public domain.

In Praise of Copper, a Gift from Nature

If the conductivity of copper were ten times less, wires would have to be ten times the cross-sectional area to provide the same conductivity. Read More ›
steel
Photo credit: Alfred T. Palmer / Public domain.

For a Technological Civilization, We Must Have Metals

It is very doubtful that any beings in the universe could develop a civilization remotely comparable with our own without the use of metals. Read More ›
Earth 1970
Earth 1970
Photo: Earth from space, April 22, 1970, by NASA.

For Fire, Our Planet Is Just the Right Size

Self-evidently, the gravity on the surface of a planet limits the maximum size of large terrestrial organisms. Read More ›
combustion
Photo credit: Alfred Kenneally, via Unsplash.

Why Do We Not Spontaneously Combust?

James Lovelock has pointed out that atmospheric levels of oxygen much above about 25 percent, let alone 30 percent, would cause raging conflagrations today. Read More ›
space shuttle Atlantis 2
Photo: Space shuttle Atlantis, by NASA.

By Design, Earth Is a Planet Fit for Fire

As we have seen so far in this series, fire was an absolutely crucial component in humanity’s rise to civilization and technology. Read More ›
2006-07-18 - United States - New York - Long Island - North Fork - Thunderstorm - Lightning

The Path to Technology Was Built into Nature

All these elements of fitness in nature for the development of technology, crucial to mankind’s rise to civilization, long preceded man’s arrival on Earth. Read More ›
campfire
campfire
Photo credit: Manuel Meurisse, via Unsplash.

Combustion Is Anything but Ordinary

The combustion of wood or coal may seem so familiar as to be unworthy of any comment. Read More ›
ironwork
Photo: Decorative ironwork, Notre Dame Cathedral, Paris, by Jebulon / CC0, via Wikimedia Commons.

For Mankind, the Leap from Copper to Iron Was a Landmark Advance

The importance of metals, particularly iron, and the importance of the discovery of metallurgy can hardly be exaggerated. Read More ›
smelting
Photo: Smelting, by Allen Drebert / Public domain.

Fire and Metals — Primal Discoveries, by Design

The ability to tame fire led to the invention of the art of cooking, and much more. Read More ›

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