Monday, February 29, 2016

God and the Astronomers

by Robert Jastrow

Why You Will Like This Book:
  • Although written by an agnostic, it discusses how the Big Bang Theory (not the show) and other related cosmological theories are surprisingly true to Genesis. It also discusses the scientists involved in these discoveries, and their reluctance to agree to something so seemingly Christian. (The second idea especially is not one discussed frequently, which makes this book cool.)

And Why You Might Not:
  • It's really short and there's not a lot there besides the central idea and some short scientist biographies.
  • It's really not a great book physically, either. The layout is confusing, they typesetting is strange, and there are page errors. 


Thoughts: I find it hard to imagine that there a many Christians who are against the Big Bang Theory. It's pretty much as Christian as it comes. So you can probably guess that not much is new to me in this book, though it was nice to have reinforced how scientists can be influenced by their emotions as much as normal people.

And it's not at ALL a nice book physically. There are insert articles that look almost the same as the main text, so it often seems like it's telling you the same thing twice in a row. Nothing about the way it's set up is particularly attractive, and there are even pages switched at one point near the end.

So basically I'd suggest a good blog instead. You get all the information and more (see below for a suggestion).

And yet... after saying all that, I have to admit that I almost cried at one point reading this. And this from someone who almost never cries at books. Because SPAAAAACE. The book, despite it's faults, is talking about beautiful, awe-inspiring things, and I would still recommend it if you can find a cheap copy.

Grade: 3 stars

If You Like This, You Might Also Like: I really don't have much for this section...
--New Proofs for the Existence of God by Robert J. Spitzer: This is a book I haven't actually read, and I really don't want to do that for this recommendation section. But in this case, I can't really think of anything else, and from what I've heard, this book is likely to be fascinating, albeit difficult to understand.
--The TOF Spot by Michael Flynn: Another departure, as this is a blog. Normally I'd only ever recommend books in this section, because recommending websites goes against the point. But in this case, I don't have anything else, plus I really like some of the articles on this blog. Try this article, or any of the ones in the popular posts. He is really good at explaining how easily science is reconciled with religion, or vice versa. Or why it doesn't even need to be.

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