ABSTRACT
Underlying any quest for a counterfactual chemistry, or any inquiry into the peculiar properties of water in relation to the tness of the environment for life, lurk two usually unspoken questions: “does tness imply ‘design’” and “does ‘design’ imply a designer?” We would probably not choose to express it publicly in these terms, especially in the United States, where the phrase “intelligent design” has overtones and implications we might wish to avoid. In particular, would we wish to avoid the arguments of so-called “creation science” in America and elsewhere that treats the biblical book of Genesis (for example) as a purveyor of scientic truth. Nevertheless, any form of argument from scientic data to matters of divinity falls into what eighteenth century men of science called natural theology, and the quest “from nature up to nature’s God” is far from new.
