The Planet and the Body

Scientist John Haldane once proposed to the English priest Ronald Knox that, given the vast number of planets in the universe, the emergence of life by sheer chance was inevitable. Knox responded with sharp wit: “Sir, if Scotland Yard discovered a body in your Saratoga trunk, would you simply argue, ‘There are millions of trunks in the world—surely one of them must contain a body’? I believe they would still insist on knowing who put it there.” His reply…