Page 154 - The Creation Of The Universe

152 THE CREATION OF THE UNIVERSE

p to this point we have been examining how all the physical
balances of the universe in which we live have been specially
U created so that we can live. We have seen how the general
structure of this universe, the location of Earth in it, and factors such as air,
light, and water have been precisely created to have exactly the attributes
we require. In addition to all this however, we also need to take a look at
the elements that make up our bodies. These chemical elements, the build-
ing-blocks from which our hands, eyes, hair, and organs as well as all the
living things–plants and animals–that are our sources of food have been
specially created to serve the exact purposes that they do.
The most important of these building-blocks is carbon.

The Signs of Creation in Carbon

In previous chapters we described the extraordinary process by which
carbon, the element that occupies the sixth position in the periodic table,
was produced in the hearts of the huge stars called "red giants". We also
saw how, having discovered this wonderful process, Fred Hoyle was
moved to say that "the laws of nuclear physics have been deliberately de-
signed with regard to the consequences they produce inside the stars." 85
When we examine carbon more closely, we can see that not just the
physical formation of this element but also its chemical properties were
arranged to be what they are.
Pure carbon occurs naturally in two forms: graphite and diamonds.
Carbon however also enters into compounds with many other elements
and the result is many different kinds of substances. In particular, the in-
credibly varied range of organic materials of life–the membrane of a cell
and the bark of a tree, the lens of an eye and the horn of a deer, the white
of an egg and the poison of a snake–are all made up of carbon-based com-
pounds. Carbon, combined with hydrogen, oxygen, and nitrogen in many
different quantities and geometric arrangements, results in a vast assortment
of materials with vastly different properties.