Why Science Does Not Disprove God, by Amir Aczel
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Why Science Does Not Disprove God, by Amir Aczel
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Based on interviews with eleven Nobel Prize winners and many other prominent physicists, biologists, anthropologists, and psychologists, as well as leading theologians and spiritual leaders, Why Science Does Not Disprove God is a "well-informed and readable" (Wall Street Journal) analysis of the religious implications of our ever-increasing understanding of life and the universe. The renowned science writer Amir Aczel ("One of our best science popularizers"—Publishers Weekly) masterfully refutes the overreaching claims of the "New Atheists," providing millions of educated believers with a clear, engaging explanation of what science really says, how there's still much space for the Divine in the universe, and why faith in both God and empirical science are not mutually exclusive.
Why Science Does Not Disprove God, by Amir Aczel - Amazon Sales Rank: #304843 in Books
- Brand: Aczel, Amir D.
- Published on: 2015-03-17
- Released on: 2015-03-17
- Original language: English
- Number of items: 1
- Dimensions: 8.00" h x .68" w x 5.31" l, .0 pounds
- Binding: Paperback
- 304 pages
Why Science Does Not Disprove God, by Amir Aczel From Booklist *Starred Review* In Aczel, Richard Dawkins and his fellow New Atheists face a formidable opponent. As a mathematician with a Berkeley-Harvard résumé, Aczel wields impressive intellectual weapons in demolishing the New Atheists’ claims that science has disproven the existence of God. With compelling reasoning, Aczel demonstrates that whenever Dawkins and his allies turn their attacks against anything but naively literal readings of the Bible, they distort or misrepresent the methods and findings of science. Darwinism has provided no godless explanation of how human consciousness emerged. The attempt to reduce the astounding fine-tuning of the big bang to quantum physics likewise leaves huge questions unanswered. Disproofs of God’s existence based on probability theory similarly fail under scrutiny. When the New Atheists buttress their flawed science by appealing to the authority of Einstein, Aczel catches them cherry-picking quotations, so hiding complexities in the great physicist’s metaphysical thinking. Those who truly grapple with modern science, Aczel finally avers, discover not a disproof of God but rather perplexing mysteries, such as the stunning vistas of infinity that the intensely religious theorist Georg Cantor glimpsed behind his revolutionary continuum hypothesis. Such mysteries may not signify the presence of the divine, but they will surely stir deep wonderings. --Bryce Christensen
Review “If everyone understood as well as Amir Aczel does that scientific and religious ways of knowing belong to entirely separate and uncompeting forms of human experience, the world would be a much more pleasant place to live in.” (IAN TATTERSALL, American Museum of Natural History (Division of Anthropology); author of Masters of the Planet: In Search of Our Human Origins)“Amir Aczel combines scientific credibility, stylistic elegance, and argumentative vigor in Why Science Does Not Disprove God. What’s more, he’s right.” (RABBI DAVID WOLPE, Sinai Temple (Los Angeles); author of Why Faith Matters)“[A] thoughtful, erudite journey through modern science and philosophy, and a clear exposition of a problem with which humans have struggled for millennia.” (MARIO LIVIO, astrophysicist, Space Telescope Science Institute; author of Is God a Mathematician? and Brilliant Blunders)“Aczel is one of our best science popularizers.” (Publishers Weekly)“Amir Aczel is a pop idol of the science-writing world.” (Willamette Week)“In Aczel, Richard Dawkins and his fellow New Atheists face a formidable opponent. Aczel wields impressive intellectual weapons in demolishing the New Atheists’ claims. ... With compelling reasoning, Aczel demonstrates that Dawkins and his allies ... distort or misrepresent the methods and findings of science.” (Booklist (starred review))“[An] intelligent and stimulating book. ... Part of the continuing and restorative conversation of humanity with itself. In the end, all of our art, our science and our theological beliefs are an attempt to make sense of this fabulous and fleeting existence we find ourselves in.” (ALAN LIGHTMAN, Washington Post)“Explains that science and religion should not be mutually exclusive [and] you can embrace scientific progress while staying devoted to your faith.” (Beliefnet)
From the Back Cover
The renowned science writer, mathematician, and bestselling author of Fermat's Last Theorem masterfully refutes the overreaching claims of the "New Atheists," providing millions of educated believers with a clear, engaging explanation of what science really says, how there's still much space for the Divine in the universe, and why faith in both God and empirical science are not mutually exclusive
In recent years a highly publicized coterie of scientists and thinkers, including Richard Dawkins, the late Christopher Hitchens, and Lawrence Krauss, have vehemently contended that breakthroughs in modern science have disproven the existence of God, asserting we must accept that the creation of the universe came out of nothing, that religion is evil, that evolution fully explains the dazzling complexity of life, and more. However, in this much-needed book, veteran science journalist Amir Aczel profoundly disagrees and convincingly demonstrates that science has not, as yet, provided any definitive proof refuting the existence of God.
Based on interviews with eleven Nobel Prize winners and many other prominent physicists, biologists, anthropologists, and psychologists, as well as leading theologians and spiritual leaders, Why Science Does Not Disprove God is a fascinating tour through the history of science and a brilliant and incisive analysis of the religious implications of our ever-increasing understanding of life and the universe. Throughout, Aczel reminds us that science, at its best, is about the dispassionate pursuit of truth—not a weapon in cultural debates. Respectful of both science and faith—and argued from the perspective of no single religious tradition—Aczel's book is an essential corrective that should be read by all.
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Most helpful customer reviews
80 of 88 people found the following review helpful. Right or wrong, one of the best books I've read in a while By O. R. Pagan Right or wrong, this is one of the best books that I have read in a while. Not that the book is perfect, but it is quite entertaining and thought-provoking. Its main message is that science cannot be used to disprove the existence of God, simply because it cannot. Not surprisingly, the main antagonist is Richard Dawkins, arguably the face of the New Atheism movement. Incidentally and for the record, I admire Dawkins’ writings (only the science ones), but I digress.In “Why science does not disprove God” Aczel takes the reader in a more or less chronological brief history of science, with an odd detour about “Why archeology does not disprove the bible”. This chapter, in my opinion, is the weakest part of the book because ir does not contribute anything to the main topic. Also, the chapter on art and the “invisible boundary” did not quite “click”. Its message is not quite as strong as the rest of the book.These minor sins are more than atoned for in the other chapters. My favorites were the one on quantum mechanics, the one about mathematics and probabilities and (surprisingly refreshing for me) the one about how we cannot possibly really understand the “infinite” concept. I had no idea how much I did not know about infinity. I particularly liked the chapter on how absurd is the claim that our universe came out from literally **nothing**. When I heard the “universe from nothing” argument for the first time it sounded really illogical to me, but I thought that maybe I did not know enough physics or mathematics, so I gave it the benefit of the doubt. Well, Aczel certainly knows his physics and mathematics and finds the universe from nothing equally flawed. Full disclosure: I have said elsewhere that I am a pharmacologist/neurobiologist with a tad of physics envy… So there.The chapter on evolution seemed a little bit dismissive to me and it was unfair of Aczel to compare the relative mathematical sophistication of physics vs biology, particularly evolution. We (speaking as a biological scientist) will get there! It is just that we need to come up with better (rather, different) mathematics to understand biology in a true quantitative way. Let’s not forget that life is without question, the most complex aspect of nature. We truly know more of what fundamentally goes on at the center of stars than what goes on fundamentally at the center of cells.The final chapter cogently and convincingly summarizes the point of the book. I think that even if one does not agree completely with what Aczel says in it, this chapter is a delight to read. I think that regardless of your personal leanings in these topics, you will enjoy the book.**Note: This review was originally posted in my personal blog, baldscientist.wordpress.com.
60 of 68 people found the following review helpful. A little off target in its aim, but worth reading By Edward Durney A former professor of math and statistics and now a science writer, Amir Aczel follows up his book on Fermat's Last Theorem with this book on a more controversial subject: science versus religion. He could not have picked a more bitter battleground to enter. As Cornell University's first president Andrew Dickson White shows in his 1886 tome A History of the Warfare of Science With Theology in Christendom, some thinkers feel that science and religion have for centuries been enemies engaged in a war. You fight for one side, or you fight for the other. You cannot be in both camps.Amir Aczel does not accept that. He argues that you can be in both the science and religion camps. He says that this book's theme is to show that science has not proved that the existence of a creator of some kind must necessarily be false. In fact, he writes, in italics: "The purpose of this book is to defend the integrity of science."Trouble is, I'm not sure that the integrity of science is under attack. Certainly those who Amir Aczel identifies as behind the New Atheism movement speak with strident voices. Sam Harris with his book "The End of Faith: Religion, Terror, and the Future of Reason." Richard Dawkins with his book "The God Delusion." Christopher Hitchens with his book "God Is Not Great." Lawrence Kraus with his book "A Universe from Nothing." And Daniel Dennett (though his book titles tend to be more measured, as do his views on religion).And those New Atheists -- Dawkins, Harris, Hitchens, Kraus, and Dennett -- do tend to be quite critical of religion. They don't just believe that religion is wrong, or that believers are mistaken. It's more than that. They believe that to believe in God or religion harms people and harms society.But do these five men, and other men and women who think similarly, really think that science proves that God does not exist? Are they really trying to destroy faith in the name of science? I think their argument is a little different. I think what they are saying is that you do not need religion and a Creator to explain how the universe came to exist and we humans in it. That is, science can explain things, so there need not necessarily be a "God of the gaps."That's a different argument. The New Atheists are not saying that science disproves religion, but instead that science doesn't need religion to explain what we see in our world. And that different argument is what Amir Azcel really attacks in this book. As he puts it, "[t]o assume that there was no God or act of creation behind our immeasurably unlikely universe seems to me presumptuous." To me, that is not defending science, but instead is attacking atheism.So the basic aim of the book seemed to me to be a little off target. That said, I think Amir Azcel picked the most interesting subjects to probe at in looking at what religion and science tell us. His topics include the usual biology (evolution) and physics (cosmology and quantum theory) and cover no new territory to speak of. But he did his research, is thoughtful, and writes well. Even though I've read a lot on this topic, I didn't see anything that was a stale rehashing of the thinking of others.The book is a fairly quick and easy read. For the most part, I enjoyed it. But there were some faults. Amir Azcel rarely rants, but he also never really gets past loaded words like "attack" and "defend." He doesn't let his research, his cited facts, and his arguments speak for him. Had he done that, it would have been a better book. He might have been more like Carl Sagan in his book The Varieties of Scientific Experience: A Personal View of the Search for God. Or more recently, Frans de Waal in his book The Bonobo and the Atheist: In Search of Humanism Among the Primates. Those books take a similar position that science and religion can comfortably co-exist. But both books were, for me, better books than this one.Still, this is an interesting book. Amir Aczel, partisan though he may be, is thoughtful. He treats the issues he addresses with the depth that they deserve. You might agree with what he says or not, but I don't think you will come away from reading the book without thinking a little differently than you did before reading it. In my mind, that makes reading the book worthwhile.
44 of 58 people found the following review helpful. Into the Fray By James P. Cornelio There's been a surprising amount of vitriol and ad hominen attacks by some who consider themselves "men of reason" in their reactions to this book. Actually, it's not so surprising as that seems a not uncommon reaction from that quarter whenever one dares to offer the mere suggestion that god may exist. What the reaction proves to me is that the human need for some sort of "answer," whether it be from physics (science) or meta-physics (religion), is so powerful that even supposed "men of reason" will end up behaving an awful lot like the priests-of-old, brooking neither dissent nor, even, doubt.Me, I'm an agnostic with, however, a leaning towards ... well, let me explain.The most powerful argument raised in Dr. Aczel's book which causes me to lean is the "explanation" now being offered by scientists for why the fundamental constants which were baked-into-the-cake at the time of the Big Bang seem so exquisitely and carefully designed to bring forth stars, planets, galaxies and, yes, us. That "explanation" is ... well, that there exists an INFINITE multi-verse.An INFINITE multi-verse???!!! C'mon.Actually, ironically, and I wish Dr. Aczel had made a point of this in his book, if you believe in an INFINITE multi-verse (and it definitely is an article of faith as much as any belief in god), then not only is your "answer" really no better than saying goddidit, it may well be THE SAME as saying goddidit.Why may it be the same? Because in an INFINITE multi-verse, it is a GIVEN that conscious intelligence has arisen an INFINITE number of times in an INFINITE number of variations (after all, it's arisen once, at least allegedly, in our own). Such is the bizzaro, almost mystical nature of the infinite. So unless we are so solipsistic, arrogant, anthropomorphic and unimaginative as to believe that HUMAN conscious intelligence has achieved the pinnacle of evolutionary development ever, anywhere at anytime, even in an INFINITE number of universes, then it is also a GIVEN that, though an omnipotent/omniscient/eternal/omnipresent intelligence may not have arisen, surely an intelligence potent/'niscient/'ternal/ present enough to have created our universe (and, hence, us -- i.e., a "god") HAS arisen. In fact, once again, such an intelligence would have arisen an infinite number of times in an infinite number of variations.Interestingly, in his book, "The Fabric of the Cosmos," Brian Greene, a scientific reductionist par excellence, essentially acknowledges the legitimacy of the argument I just made. But unable to escape the solipsistic arrogance typical of too many scientists, in musing about such an intelligence, what does he see? Well, believe it or not, a scientist. Yep, a scientist. But that scientist, who surely is otherwise just like Brian Greene, has a really, really good computer. You know, like from the future. And since Mr. Greene has that scientist necessarily doing experiments (presumably to gain all the knowledge which that scientist otherwise lacks), Mr. Greene goes on to speculate that WE could well be one of those experiments. Ugh. The Matrix revisited. With a scientist as our creator god (of course!)Personally, I prefer building on one of Andre Linde's claims. He believes that humans, at some point in the future, will not only be create our own Big Bang but will also be able to seed it with fundamental constants just like the ones in our own which are giving our scientists such agita. So maybe a scientist in some far-advanced universe did create us. But not (ohmigod and thank god) as a computer program. Instead, we remain organic -- yeah!So, even more so than Dr. Aczel, I'm dismissive of the infinite multi-verse theory. I say keep ideas about the infinite where they belong --- in the laps (or laptops) of abstract loving, mental-masturbatory mathematicians. Claiming infinite PHYSICAL things lead nowhere other than to absurdity. Or maybe even (ohmigod) god.
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