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jsimpson's review against another edition
4.0
i love this guy! y'all do yrself a favor to check him out. Wonderful mixture of science, cosmology, and an underlying faith.
ciannait76's review against another edition
3.0
Not my cup of tea, it started out so well then disintegrated into stupid. Still it was a good concept to begin with the problem was in the delivery.
editor_b's review
5.0
A unique and remarkable book. As the title indicates, it's nothing less than an attempt to relay the story of the universe, and thus to locate ourselves in the cosmic scope of things. The prologue alone is worth the price of admission, as it does all that in just a few pages.
The book that follows simply recapitulates the prologue in greater detail. The first chapter covers the Big Bang. The second chapter is on the emergence of galaxies. The third chapter is on supernovae. The fourth chapter is on our star, the sun. The fifth chapter is about Earth and the emergence of bacterial life here. The sixth chapter covers the evolution of eukaryotes — you know, cellular life with a well-organized nucleus. The seventh chapter talks about plants and animals.
We get to human beings in the eighth chapter, and after this it's all about us, with chapters on the neolithic village, classical civilizations, the rise of nations, the revelations of modern science, and a speculative chapter about what comes next.
The scale is epic, though as you might discern, each chapter covers an increasingly briefer time period than the one before. This creates the effect of a long, slow "zoom" to the present. In each chapter, the authors do their best not merely to explain what happened, but to understand what it all means. For example, what is the meaning of the emergence of hydrogen? Thus I found the first three chapters especially abstract and dense and difficult. The closer we "zoomed in" to the present, the more it clicked with me.
It's worth noting that, despite the fact that one of the authors was a Catholic priest of some renown, this is not a Christian book per se. In fact, I was led to this book by the decidedly Pagan writings of [a:Glenys D. Livingstone|1277129|Glenys D. Livingstone|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1293485714p2/1277129.jpg]. The perspective offered here is best described as "meta-religious," to use the authors' own terms. Personally, I find this "biggest picture" perspective a refreshing, rare, and much-needed dose of good medicine. Highly recommended to seekers of all stripes.
The book that follows simply recapitulates the prologue in greater detail. The first chapter covers the Big Bang. The second chapter is on the emergence of galaxies. The third chapter is on supernovae. The fourth chapter is on our star, the sun. The fifth chapter is about Earth and the emergence of bacterial life here. The sixth chapter covers the evolution of eukaryotes — you know, cellular life with a well-organized nucleus. The seventh chapter talks about plants and animals.
We get to human beings in the eighth chapter, and after this it's all about us, with chapters on the neolithic village, classical civilizations, the rise of nations, the revelations of modern science, and a speculative chapter about what comes next.
The scale is epic, though as you might discern, each chapter covers an increasingly briefer time period than the one before. This creates the effect of a long, slow "zoom" to the present. In each chapter, the authors do their best not merely to explain what happened, but to understand what it all means. For example, what is the meaning of the emergence of hydrogen? Thus I found the first three chapters especially abstract and dense and difficult. The closer we "zoomed in" to the present, the more it clicked with me.
It's worth noting that, despite the fact that one of the authors was a Catholic priest of some renown, this is not a Christian book per se. In fact, I was led to this book by the decidedly Pagan writings of [a:Glenys D. Livingstone|1277129|Glenys D. Livingstone|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1293485714p2/1277129.jpg]. The perspective offered here is best described as "meta-religious," to use the authors' own terms. Personally, I find this "biggest picture" perspective a refreshing, rare, and much-needed dose of good medicine. Highly recommended to seekers of all stripes.
gnome_friend's review
5.0
The first half of this book, devoted to the story of the universe creating itself, is awe-inspiring; almost magical. It is the synthesis of narratives from physics, astronomy, biogeochemistry, and natural history imbued with a tone of religious reverence. By establishing the processes at work in the world as not mere local events but as activities of the universe itself, the authors provide an understanding of science which does not dismiss the experienced, aesthetic, and sacred elements of existence but enhances them instead, something which is desperately needed to restore the wonder and curiosity of science to itself. The Cosmogenetic Principle and its components, named in Berry's [b:The Dream of the Earth|209222|The Dream of the Earth|Thomas Berry|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1388267770s/209222.jpg|202496], are now related to their presence and action in history and to our present existence.
Unfortunately the second half of the book isn't held together very well. It summarizes human history but fails to tie it back to the cosmic perspective established previously. In spite of this, the insights of the first half are more than enough to make this a masterpiece of cosmology.
Unfortunately the second half of the book isn't held together very well. It summarizes human history but fails to tie it back to the cosmic perspective established previously. In spite of this, the insights of the first half are more than enough to make this a masterpiece of cosmology.
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