The Dancing Universe: From Creation Myths to the Big Bang

by Marcelo Gleiser

Book Overview

Marcelo Gleiser refutes the notion that science and spirituality are irreconcilable. In The Dancing Universe, he traces mystical, philosophical, and scientific ideas about the cosmos through the past... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0525941126
• ISBN13: 9780525941125
• Release Date: November 1997
• Publisher: Dutton Books
• Length: 338 Pages
• Weight: 1.36 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.3" x 6.3" x 9.3"

Customer Reviews

An Amazing Read!

I am lucky enough to have Marcelo Gleiser as a professor this quarter at Dartmouth College. In a class that closely parallels his book, we have explored everything he has written. He is a fascinating person, and his personality and enthusiasm for the subject spreads throughout his book. This is an interesting view of the universe around us and how that view has changed over time. The book is full of information, yet is still very readable. I would recommend it to anyone who is interested in the subject, as well as anyone seeking to learn more about the Universe we inhabit.

universe's romance

Would you like to know more about the thoughts of Humankind on the origins of the Universe? So that's the book. You don't need to have a major on Physics or Philosophy to follow mr. Gleiser's recount. On the contrary, this book aims to make itself knowledgeable by anyone. All it requires is your curiosity and sense of marvel. Must read! Mr. Gleiser is a "story teller" in the sense that he knows how to make himself understandable and most of all how to bring back the notion that Physics is basically a study of nature, where we belong and not a black board full of equations.

Cosmology: The Next Generation

I had the good fortune to meet Dr. Gleiser when he recently interviewed my father, Dr. Ralph A. Alpher--the last of his generation involved in the development of the Big Bang Theory--which today most Astrophysicists and Cosmologists accept as an empirically founded version of Genesis--at least the Genesis of 15 or so million years ago. My father's dissertation advisor was a great popularizer of science and physics, the late George Gamow. As I was a youngster when Gamow was alive, I should have demanded to meet him!!! Ah, but what do children of great men really know? Well, in the tradition of Gamow, and with great affection for his writings and admiration for Dr. Ralph A. Alpher's work, I find that Dr. Gleiser has taken up the torch of science popularizing in a major way. This book will live up to the non-technical reader's hopes!!! Gleiser has mastered his subject and presents it in a both serious and entertaining way. And today, there is so much bunk to separate from what is reasonable to believe!!! From the earliest creation ideas to the greatest mysteries of today, you will enjoy Dr. Gleiser's work. There are other writers regarding modern cosmology for the masses (Dr. Steven Weinberg's "The First Three Minutes" and Rober Jastrow's "God and the Astronomers" come immediately to mind. However, Dr. Gleiser's scope is so much broader and majestic--you will not regret having his work in your library.

Gleiser makes a normally dull subject dance with new life.

I picked up this book on a whim, seeking to learn more about creation myths and the relation between science and religion. An English major who typically favors literary fiction, I was pleasantly surprised by what I found within its pages: a very compelling narrative about past and present views of the universe and the people who contributed to our understanding of it - all in a language that even the most physics-phobic reader can understand and appreciate. Gleiser is an eloquent and entertaining writer whose writing style does much to support his arguments that science and reason are not necessarily devoid of emotion and spirituality. His obvious enthusiasm for the knowledge he imparts is infectious and although other works may be better at explaning the mechanics of the universe (e.g. Stephen Hawking's A Brief History of Time), anyone who has ever suffered through the unwieldy textbook jargon of an introductory physics course can appreciate the way which he makes this book not only educational, but *readable.* By weaving together information about how the universe works and the people who made those discoveries, Gleiser's book reads less like a scientific explanation of the universe and more like a story populated with fantastic figures and propelled by amazing discoveries. An excellent, well-written book on a subject the author manages to make fascinating to even this scientifically-numb reader, I find myself intrigued by the subject and eager to learn more.

Fascinating; Highly Recomended!

Gleiser tells the History of Physics and explain its theories in an understandable way. He also tells many interesting stories of many personalities: from Heraclitus to Kepler; Thales to Einstein. Very interesting book. Gleiser explores the relations of science, mistycism and mithologies. He writes a great chapter about modern cosmology, and the certain "freedom" cosmologists have on their work. The book is writen in a rich, beaultiful and concise style. You'll find also citations of many thinkers, poets, scientists and philosophers in the begining of each chapter, including a fascinating poem from Borges! A must read book.