Guest: Dr. Bob Hazen Mike is joined by his Carnegie Science colleague Dr. Bob Hazen. Together, they have written a new popular science book titled "Time's Second Arrow: Evolution, Order, and a New Law of Nature," which launches on February 10, 2026. This book describes how the marvelously complex constituents of our universe came to be. Evolution, they boldly propose, is a universal phenomenon—not only in biology, but in the entire atomic, chemical, mineral, and physical universe. Showing how a natural process of selection for increasing function has shaped the universe since its inception, they explore how a new law of nature could possibly help us identify life on other planets and—perhaps—even understand the purpose and meaning of life on Earth in a new way. "Time's Second Arrow: Evolution, Order, and a New Law of Nature" by Robert M. Hazen & Michael L. Wong: https://wwnorton.com/books/9781324105480 Bob & Mike's scientific papers that "Time's Second Arrow" is based on: 1. https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2310223120 2. https://academic.oup.com/pnasnexus/advance-article/doi/10.1093/pnasnexus/pgae248/7698354 3. https://royalsocietypublishing.org/rsfs/article/15/6/20250009/366157/Selective-funnelling-and-state-space-expansion-a

Ask this episode

“What did the council decide on item 42?” — answered with the speaker and the moment.

Transcript

Related