Cradle of life

The string-multiverse theory of the origin of our Universe can bring about a revolution in the ideas about our place in this cosmos. With reference to God of all things (December 5), I liked the one-liner, ‘? in a way Susskind has proved Weinberg both right and wrong.’ If future experiments corroborate the arguments, we may understand why life isn’t so miraculous a phenomenon in this Universe. It may be a sheer coincidence and in no way should it be considered divine. Those interested in the fascinating ideas of anthropic principle should explore titles like Just six numbers by Martin Rees, Hyperspace by Michio Kaku and, of course, the basic tome on the subject ? The Anthropic Cosmological Principle by Frank J. Tipler and John D. Barrow.

Shantanu Dhali
Midnapore

Useless statistics

I was shocked by your attempt to frighten people with Hospitals kill more than plane crashes (Checklist, December 5). An American survey recently revealed that loss of lives in hospitals far outnumbers deaths caused by terrorist killings and road accident. So what? I strongly object to such defamation of physicians. We should realise that most doctors work for greater common good. Every wrong experiment is but a stepping stone towards a better treatment. We should wait patiently for the doctors to carry out their work so that they save people from dying. Please do not mislead us with alarming statistics.

Jagannath Chatterjee
Bhubaneswar

Eureka moments

Unless some people are driven by curiosity about the mysteries of the physical world, no new discovery is possible. Even if it appears that physicists are wasting precious time and money on seemingly fruitless search, they should not stray from their goals (Dad, I wannabe a physicist, December 5). They should wait for that much-sought-after ‘Eureka’ moments.

Arjun Chaudhuri
Bhowanipore