Page 52 - A Chain of Miracles

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A A Chain of Miracles
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A MIND-BOGGLING PROBABILITY
When all physical variables are considered together, what is
the likelihood of a universe able to support life like ours to form
by chance? Perhaps one in a billion billion, or one in a trillion
trillion, or even less?
This number was calculated by renowned mathematician
Roger Penrose, a close colleague of Stephen Hawking. He con-
sidered all physical variables, accounted for all their possible se-
quencing combinations, and among all the other possible out-

comes of the Big Bang, he computed the probability of the for-
mation of a life-sustaining environment.
Penrose’s calculations yielded the following result: 10 123
over 10. What this number actually means is difficult to compre-
hend. The number expressed as 10 123 in mathematical terms has
123 zeros following the number 1. (This is already a number
greater than the total of all the atoms in the universe, of which
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there are approximately 10 ). But the number calculated by
Penrose is far greater for it has 10 123 zeros following the number

1.
We can try to make sense of this literally astronomical num-
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ber with a few examples. 10 is another way to express the num-
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ber 1,000. 10 over ten, on the other hand, is a number formed by
1,000 zeros placed to the right of the 1. Nine zeros next to the 1
make a billion. Twelve zeros following the 1 make a trillion, but
a number with 10 123 zeros after the 1 is a number with no name

or definition in mathematics.
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In mathematics, a probability smaller than 1 in 10 is con-
sidered “zero probability,” yet it is a number far greater than a
trillion times trillion times trillion. In short, the statistic that

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