Like a garden hose creating a jet of water or a fine mist, if the universe had expanded a little faster, the matter would have sprayed out into space like fine mist, so fast that a gazillion particles of dust would speed into infinity and never even form a single star. And if the universe had expanded just a little slower, the material would have dribbled out like big drops of water, then collapsed back where it came from by the force of gravity. The surprising thing is just how narrow the difference is. To strike the perfect balance between too fast and too slow, scientists calculate the force had to be accurate to a figure of one in ten followed by a hundred and twenty zeros – an unimaginable figure.
That’s why some people believe in God with a capital G, and some believe in Chance with a Capital C.