I saw this book in Chapters one day, read the inside and back covers and thought it sounded interesting... so I read it... It goes fairly deep into particle physics and quantum mechanics but the author has an interesting premise.
He says that scientists have been trying to find a Grand Unified Theory, which is routed in our religious monotheism. He says scientists are looking for a symmetric universe, because symmetry = beauty = perfection. A perfect God would have made a sensible, perfect universe. The author argues however, that the universe is not symmetric, but rather fundamentally assymetric. That the initial Big Bang, expansion of space happened because of an assymetry... a tiny excess of particles of matter eventually created a universe in which matter and anitmatter did not cancel each other out... but created a universe in which matter is present. The universe is a fluke... Had there been a prefect symmetry, the universe, as we know it, would not exist. The author sees the same thing in the emergence of life... That life is a result of a fluke...
Ultimately he says, life is the result of a serious of accidents and that it is not as cosmically common as we might think. Out of that, he says we need to treat life as precious and unique. We might be all that is present in the universe... and we are headed to heck in a handbasket. We can't depend on a God to save us...
He says we may never discovere a Grand Unified Theory, because there is always something more to discover...
Which sounds to me, very much like an exploration into the divine. There is always something more to discover with God. We are never quite there yet in our discoveries. If that is the case, why should it be any different with creation/nature? Why can't God create out of assymetries? Why does perfection=beauty=God? Is that really the case? What about a God of surprises?
It seems to me that while the author is most definitely a scientist... he is not much of a theologian. I don't think that his science is irreconcilable with God... The question is... what is his view of God... what is his theology?
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