CONTENTS

       List of Illustrations

       Preface

       Acknowledgements

  1   The cosmos and the microworld

  2   Our cosmic habitat I: planets, stars and life

  3   The large number N: gravity in the cosmos

  4   Stars, the periodic table, and ε

  5   Our cosmic habitat II: beyond our galaxy

  6   The fine-tuned expansion: dark matter and Ω

  7   The number λ: is cosmic expansion slowing or speeding?

  8   Primordial ‘ripples’: the number Q

  9   Our cosmic habitat III: what lies beyond our horizon?

10   Three dimensions (and more)

11   Coincidence, providence – or multiverse?

       Notes

       Index