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Book Review: Just Six Numbers: The Deep Forces that

Shape the Universe.By Martin Rees. 173 p., Basic Books,
2000. ISBN 0-465-03672-4, ....

Article  in  General Relativity and Gravitation · November 2002

DOI: 10.1023/A:1020701116538

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General Relativity and Gravitation (GERG) pp637-gerg-453358 October 10, 2002 18:48 Style file version May 27, 2002

General Relativity and Gravitation, Vol. 34, No. 11, November 2002 (°
C 2002)

Book Review

Just Six Numbers: The Deep Forces that Shape the Universe. By Martin Rees.
173 p., Basic Books, 2000. ISBN 0-465-03672-4, USD22.00 (hardcover), ISBN
0-465-03673-2, USD14.00 (paperback).

Four types of interactions determine all cosmic phenomena beginning from a

fraction of the first second after the big bang until the growth of life on Earth and
possibly other planets. According to our present understanding, there are more
than 30 free parameters that must be fixed to specify the basic forces together with
the underlying symmetry groups. Many authors already speculated whether the
values of these constants are a prerequisite of the existence of a world as observed
by mankind, and whether these numbers can be derived from a more fundamental
theory. So it seems worth to think about our present view on such attempts, their
basics and perspectives.
“Just Six Numbers” provides such a review on a high scientific level and
written with a deep insight into the perspectives of present science. Martin Rees
discusses six particularly important dimensionless numbers that are decisive for
the fate of our universe: the ratio of the electric to the gravitational force between
proton and electron, the electric fine structure constant, the mean matter density and
the cosmological constant, both made dimensionless by relating to the expansion
rate of the universe, the value of the mean curvature ripples in the primordial
gravitational potential, and the number of spatial dimensions in our world. In
a fascinating manner he explains the physics lying behind the values of these
constants and the very narrow ranges of their values that allows a world with
galaxies, stars and inhabitable planets.
In its content the book is not completely new, many arguments are familiar
from the discussions on the anthropic principle, and from the fascinating dis-
cussions of George Gamow’s “Mr. Tompkins in Wonderland” [1]. Here they are
presented in the light of the science at the beginning of the 21th century, with the

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C 2002 Plenum Publishing Corporation
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2026 Book Review

establishment of the value of cosmological constant pointing to an ever expanding

universe, the successful astronomical search for extrasolar planets, and the math-
ematically highly sophisticated attempts to construct a unified theory. This theory
must finally form the fundamentals for the future theory of the big bang and struc-
ture formation in the universe, together with the awaited discovery of the sources
of the inflation-driving field and of the nature of dark matter in the universe.
The book is written without any formula, but with a very precise evaluation
of the present scientific knowledge. In the well known style of Martin Rees it
concentrates on the fundamental principles and ideas. It can be read with great
pleasure by the interested outsider and by the expert. It is not easy to understand, but
the intellectual challenges to follow the insights of Martin Rees are very exciting.
I found many deep and inspiring new ideas and concepts.
The book ends with the maybe somewhat speculative ideas of multiverses that
stem from the concept of the inflationary scenario in the early universe. The high
attractiveness of modern astrophysics lies in the great circle from basic physics to
the origin of life.
I strongly recommend the book to a broad readership of professional
astronomers and interested amateurs.

Volker Müller
Astrophysikalisches Institut Potsdam
An der Sternwarte 16
14482 Potsdam, Germany
E-mail: vmueller@aip.de

REFERENCE

[1] Gamow, G. (1993). Mr. Tompkins in Paperback (Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK).

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