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God in the Equation : How Einstein Transformed Religion
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Item Description...
He wanted to know where our world comes from and where it was going. He wanted to understand how the remote stillness of the heavens relates to the erratic, ever-changing events here on earth. Above all, he wanted to know if the answers to these questions would bring him closer to a higher authority. So Einstein put "God in the Equation" "Everyone who is seriously involved in the pursuit of science," Albert Einstein once said, "becomes convinced that a spirit is manifest in the laws of the universe -- a spirit vastly superior to that of man." This mysterious component, which Einstein called a "cosmological constant," would eventually work its way into his world-shattering theory of relativity. In this way, explains acclaimed science writer Corey S. Powell, Einstein was creating a formula for a new kind of "sci/religion," one in which God was a factor, denoted by the Greek letter Lambda, and one that would pave the way for an entirely new gnostic era in the history of human spirituality. |
Item Specifications...
Pages 288
Dimensions: Length: 8.4" Width: 6.38" Height: 0.72"
Weight: 0.57 lbs.
Binding Softcover
Release Date Aug 1, 2003
Publisher Simon & Schuster
ISBN 0684863499
EAN 9780684863498
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Availability 4 units.
Availability accurate as of May 25, 2012 01:03.
Usually ships within one to two business days from La Vergne, TN.
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Reviews - What do our customers think?
 | What Does the Fat Lady Sing? (Or when?) Aug 30, 2006 |
Corey S Powell has written an excellent popular account of a major scientific discovery.
One that if confirmed promises to open up new vistas of investigation and deepen our theoretical understanding of the universe.
To properly tell his story, Powell first backs up a little, and sketches a brief account of the history of observational astronomy and its interplay with theoretical physics - the celestial mechanics of Newton. He then moves forward to the genesis of a new cosmology.
Some readers may be put off by the title. or, more specifically, take issue with the author for introducing "God" into what should be a scientific discussion.
I admit that at times I found Powell's "sci/rel" trope occasionally cloying; e.g., his description of Cecelia Payne-Goposchkin as a "sort of Mary Magdalene in the shadows of the sci/religious miracles" of two cosmological advances affecting first Arthur Eddington, then, later Harlow Shapley (p119).
Nonetheless, I feel that Powell has endeavored to heal a kind of psycho-linguistic breach in our language - and consciousness.
Cosmology had fractured into (a) scientific cosmo-genesis, and into a religious nullity.
The latter having perhaps mythological or "poetic" significance, but otherwise empty of scientific content.
Even if the premises upon which the book is based - the interpretation of the Mauna Kea data, introduced at the start of the book - are shown to be erroneous, the idea of creation - and, our place in it - re-emerges in Powell's book from the obscurity of a secularism that occasionally over-reaches.
The main burden of the text is to lay out the science behind the work of principally two teams of scientific collaborators studying Type Ia supernovae.
The significance of their work was announced in Science's "Biggest Breakthroughs of 1998"
(18 Dec issue).
Powell's careful preparation gently leads the reader to a heightened understanding of the theoretical issues involved. In so doing, he neither tarries too long, nor plunges heedlessly ahead of the lay reader.
One wishes that the author had provided a "further reading" reference to magnetic monopoles directed to a general audience (something along the lines of Scientifc American Frontiers).
Also Powell misconstrues the force of the weak anthropic principle. The latter serves as a simplifying assumption. In that sense it may serve to guide research. It is a crude heuristic - a tool.
Even in its strong "participatory" form it does not (indeed, cannot) "brush aside the flatness problem, the horizon problem, and [questions about] the origin of structure in the universe," as the author suggests on p.193.
Just before picking up "God In the Equation" I happened to read de Santillanna's Crime of Galileo.
Powell alludes briefly to Pius XII's somewhat embarrassing sally into the sci/religious controversy.
When, November 1951, the Pope burbled about the Big Bang, he trespassed onto the reservation of 1893, which officially validated Galileo's assertion that it would be impious to suppose that God
"may have laid pitfalls for men by establishing contradictory [scientific and religious] truths."
Is Mr. Powell himself likewise guilty of trespassing - in this case, onto the religious reservation -
when he talks about the Church of Einstein?
This begs a question: Is knowing the universe the same as knowing God?
Note that this is distinct from the matter of faith.
We take on faith the veracity of "things unseen."
But it is also faith that sees the creation (as it is; as "given") as at once exemplar and indicative
of divinity.
As sublime.
Powell strays perilously close to religious revisionism.
(A revisionism without apologetics, however.)
The author seems to exhibit a mixed mind.
And it may be that this ought not be condemned.
I found myself moved when he wrote about the "spiritual power of Einstein's equations."
And untroubled.
| | |  | Wow! A real mind-opener. Apr 29, 2004 |
I can't recall ever reading another book quite
like this one. Most of the books about science and
religion I've seen fall into one of two categories.
They either try to make the case that scientists are
secretly religious people, or else they try to argue
that science leaves no room for faith. Powell takes
the discussion in a very different, more subtle
direction, one that reminds me of some of Daniel
Dennett's ideas. In essence, Powell argues that
spirituality is an integral component of the way
humans process information about the world--even if
the people doing the processing are cosmologists who
openly describe themselves as atheists. That
perspective puts a whole new spin on Albert Einstein's often-puzzling use of the word "God" as something interchangeable with the laws of physics. It also explains why, in his later years, Einstein was so committed to the idea of a cosmic religion. Alas, Einstein was an idealist and I'm afraid Powell
may be too. His dream that science can reform religion
of its more destructive impulses looks just like
that--a dream. Religion seems to be doing just fine in
the Middle East, not to mention in Mel Gibson's bank
account. But Powell's analysis of how the scientific
process works is both original and eye-opening. I also
really enjoyed his sweeping history of cosmology, full
of clear explanations and surprising details. The
section on the early history of the big bang, in
particular, covers territory that I've never head
about before. (The father of the big bang was an
obscure Russian meteorologist--who knew?) This book
does an amazing job explaining what we know about the
universe and how we know it. If it also helps advance Einstein's pacifist agenda, so much the better. Truly inspirational. | | |  | A Distorted View of History Sep 12, 2003 |
| With his invention of sci/religion, Powell appears to have abandoned historical reality for a mystical journey of misinterpretation of relativity and the reason Einstein originally thought it necessary to invent the cosmological constant. In my judgement, this book is neither good physics, accurate reporting nor good writing. | | | | a provocative mix of science and philosophy Jan 23, 2003 |
It's hard to get much bigger than the themes in this
book: how did the universe begin, how will it end, and
is there any way to find spiritual satisfaction
through science? Amazingly, this writer pulls it off.
The first part of the book covers historical ideas
about the universe, bringing people like Galileo and
Newton to life as complex, passionate thinkers. The
later chapters get into modern cosmology, covering the
big bang and some of the current far-out ideas about
"dark energy" and other universes. | | | | Reads like a colege student's homework Jan 12, 2003 |
| I hold a degree in physics and am currently in the process to become a priest so I read this book with great interest. I was not impressed with Powell's writing. I was put off by the numerous instances of exaggeration and projecting unknown personal motivations on historical characters. Powell's argument flowed like papers I wrote in high school and college with gross shading of facts and very little honest apprasial of opposing viewpoints. I also had a hard time accepting the cumbersome sci/religion as a real word. I hope it never catches on. There are much better texts on the thrilling topic of science and religion than God in the Equation. | | | Write your own review about God in the Equation : How Einstein Transformed Religion
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