God and the Astronomers

by Robert Jastrow

Book Overview

If every effect in science has a cause, what caused the birth of the universe? In this book, a world-renowned astrophysicist describes the astronomical discoveries of recent years and the theological... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0393011879
• ISBN13: 9780393011876
• Release Date: January 1978
• Publisher: Norton
• Length: 136 Pages
• Weight: 0.78 lbs.

Customer Reviews

Sure to increase the insecurity of atheists everywhere

I enjoyed this book immensely. It's not often that one reads of scientists who, perhaps grudgingly, admit to a Divine creation because their own science runs into a dead end. Whether you're a believer in the Judeo/Christian God, an agnostic or even an atheist, you will come away believing that earth and space were created as a supernatural act. I read an article about this book which prompted me to buy it. Allow me to share it with you (I cannot credit the author since I don't recall who wrote it): "The evidence led astronomer Dr. Robert Jastrow, who until his recent death was the director of the Mount Wilson observatory once led by Edwin Hubble, to author a book called God and the Astronomers. Despite revealing in the first line of chapter 1 that he was personally agnostic about `religious matters," Jastrow reviewed some of the SURGE evidence and concluded, "Now we see how the astronomical evidence leads to a biblical view of the origin of the world. The details differ, but the essential elements in the astronomical and biblical accounts of Genesis are the same: the chain of events leading to man commenced suddenly and sharply at a definite moment in time, in a flash of light and energy." In an interview, Jastrow went even further, admitting that "Astronomers now find they have painted themselves into a corner because they have proven, by their own methods, that the world began abruptly in an act of creation to which you can trace the seeds of every star, every planet, every living thing in this cosmos and on the earth. And they have found that all this happened as a product of forces they cannot hope to discover. . . . That there are what I or anyone would call supernatural forces at work is now, I think, a scientifically proven fact." Jastrow was not alone in evoking the supernatural to explain the beginning. Although he found it personally "repugnant," General Relativity expert Arthur Eddington admitted the same when he said, "The beginning seems to present insuperable difficulties unless we agree to look on it as frankly supernatural." Now why would scientists such as Jastrow and Eddington admit, despite their personal misgivings, that there are "supernatural" forces at work? Why couldn't natural forces have produced the universe? Because there was no nature and there were no natural forces ontologically prior to the Big Bang; nature itself was created at the Big Bang. That means the cause of the universe must be something beyond nature, something we would call supernatural. It also means that the supernatural cause of the universe must at least be: * spaceless because it created space * timeless because it created time * immaterial because it created matter * powerful because it created out of nothing * intelligent because the creation event and the universe was precisely designed * personal because it made a choice to convert a state of nothing into something (impersonal forces don't make choices). Those are the same attributes

The beginning!

Robert Jastrow is an Agnostic and what he does in this classic is look at how Science can become a religion. When the Big Bang Theory first came about, it was met with intense emotional distaste. We have to understand that, at the time, Most in science just assumed that the universe and earth were timeless (evalution needs almsot infinite time to work), in fact you can find quote after quote from scientists, that if you could prove there was a beginning to the universe, you would prove there was a God. So when the Big bang theory came, it was met with huge consternation. It took some 50 years for the theory to be excepted by most of science. It's funny atheists continue to move the goalpost, Darwin said, to paraphrase, if my theory is true, there will be found millions of transitional forms (fossils) and that if they were not found, we should discard his theory; and what happened? not only were not millions of transitional fossils found (missing links), none were found: did science discard his theory? NO, now they are neo Darwinists, whit a theory that cannot be proved or even tested and folk's that is a religion. Jastrow goes on to show how the theologians were right all along. The Big Band proves there is a God.

An informative journey throught the Big Bang

I was tempted to read the new biography written on Einstein. My motive was to learn about all the evidence that changed the majority of scientists from the Steady State view to the Big Bang. I knew Einstein was a pivotal figure and struggled with the philosophical implications of the Big Bang. He was reluctant to accept the view; however, he eventually was won over by the evidence showing the universe had a begining. The problem with the new Einstein biography is its over 500 hundred pages. Also, I am not interested in all of Einstein's history. (I don't care how many women Einstein slept with). In God and the Astronomers, Robert Jastrow has written just what I was looking for. I wanted the segments of scientific history that delt with the Big Bang. I wanted to the know who the major players were. I wanted to see how the different theories arose and how evidence then supported those theories. An example would be, after Hubble discovered the evidence for "red shift", some scientist theorized that if the universe came from a type of explosion, then a faint trace of radiation should exist in the background of the universe. In other words, even though the Big Bang is a supposed one time event in history (science of origin), we can use our knowledge of explosions (operative science) and predict likely evidence. Now, the theorists were not the same people who found the evidence. But, in each case Jastrow takes us step by step between theory and discovery. Also, I like that Jastrow does not speculate beyond the Big Bang. He is honest. He simply states, although it is not science, he finds the question interesting. In the edition of the book I read, Jastrow includes responses by two different theologians. These portions were average. If you are looking for a complete yet concise book on the history of discovery involving the Big Bang, get this book.

The Big Bang for non-physicists

If you are looking for an enjoyable, accessible introduction to the science behind the Big Bang theory, then this book is for you. Non-specialists need not fear being put to sleep by complex mathematical formulae and arcane terminology. Dr. Jastrow lays out the basic evidence for the theory in a non-technical way and explains why it gained acceptance over the competition. Along the way he provides interesting glimpses of the important figures in the history of the theory. On the negative side, there isn't a great deal of discussion of the relation of Big Bang cosmology to theism until the end of the book. Appropriately, it includes afterwords by a Catholic scientist and a Jewish professor of religion presenting their take on the implications of the theory for theology, but they hardly represent the broad spectrum of opinion on the subject. On the positive side, the sparse theological discussion makes this great primer for anyone who wants to know about the Big Bang even if they don't care about theology.

Created Universe

With this excellent book, Robert Jastrow has written a good, easily understood overview of the Argument for Design from the perspective of cosmology. He first presents the reasons why there is a consensus among scientist for the Big Bang theory and an expanding universe (particularly convincing is Penzias/Wilson's radiation from the cosmic fireball). The universe is not only expanding, it is doing so at a controlled rate that allows for intelligent life (a bit faster start would have lead to rapid expansion, slower leading to an early collapse). He then leads the reader to the obvious questions raised by the new cosmology; who did it and why. Why did the Universe begin in an explosion? Did the Universe exist before that moment? Why does the Universe seem designed for life and for man? A nice extra is the final chapter by Steven Katz; Judaism, God and the Astronomers. He argues that Judaism permits freedom of ideas, and that interpretation of Biblical texts is a long tradition. He quotes Maimonides, saying that the writers of Genesis used metaphors, "in order that the uneducated may comprehend it according to the measure of their facilities and the feebleness of their comprehension; while the educated take it in a different (i.e., allegorical or nonliteral) sense." Other nice extras include the many historical photos as well as an index.