Children of Light — and Water — With Dr. Michael Denton
On this episode of ID the Future from the vault, biochemist and medical doctor Michael Denton continues his conversation with host Sarah Chaffee about his book Children of Light: The Astonishing Properties of Sunlight That Make Life Possible, part of his Privileged Species book series that also includes The Miracle of Man, The Miracle of the Cell, The Wonder of Water, and Fire-Maker. Here, Dr. Denton speaks of the properties of both light and water. From photosynthesis to metabolism to circulation, and even from plate tectonics to the hydrologic cycle, both have exactly what it takes — in “amazingly fortuitous” ways — to make complex organic life possible. The sun, Denton points out, has a fantastic range of electromagnetic radiation, from high-energy gamma rays all the way to long wavelength radio waves. “And in this vast range, there’s only one…infinitesimally small band which has the right energy for photosynthesis,” an essential prerequisite for human life. Coincidence? When coupled with bountiful evidence of other examples and types of fine-tuning in the universe, we think not. This is Part 2 of a two-part conversation. Listen to Part 1 here.