anthropic principle

anthropic principle

(an-throp -ik) A principle that was put forward in the 1960s by R. Dicke and maintains that the presence of life in the Universe places constraints on the ways in which the very early Universe evolved: the possible initial conditions are limited to those that give rise to an inhabited Universe, i.e. what we observe must be restricted by the conditions necessary for our presence as observers.

Collins Dictionary of Astronomy © Market House Books Ltd, 2006

anthropic principle

[an′thräp·ik ′prin·sə·pəl]

(astronomy)

The assertion that the presence of intelligent life on earth places limits on the many ways the universe could have developed and could have caused the conditions of temperature that prevail today.

McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific & Technical Terms, 6E, Copyright © 2003 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.