Reviews (98)

More Fact, Less Opinion Please
There are many areas of this book where this brilliant scientist documents science correctly and accurately, but unfortunately Dr. Collins also tries to pass off a lot of erroneous opinions as fact.Some specific examples follow. Great Book!!!
I have thouroughly enjoyed this book, although i could not give it past three stars.
Required Reading for Fundamentalists and Atheists
This gentle, well reasoned and insightful book should be required reading for all fundamentalists and atheists.I'm a Christian and since I hit my first biology class at age 13 I've wondered how to explain to all the folks in my denomination that they were wrong about evolution and that denying evolution was really a slap in the face of God, denying one of His most amazing acts because they don't like those nasty evolutionists.To believers he says, "The consequence (of being anti-evolution) can bring ridicule on the church, driving sincere seekers away from God instead of into His arms."On the other hand, those nasty evolutionists ought to read it as well.To them Dr. Collins says, "Keep in mind that the pure water of spiritual truth is carried in those rusty containers called human beings, so there should be no surprise that at times those foundational beliefs can be severely distorted."Yes, both Christians and scientists can be buttheads.Don't let that stand in the way of the truth.Read this book.(Did you hear me, Kansas State Board of Education?) ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Apologetics    2. General    3. Philosophy    4. Philosophy & Social Aspects    5. Religion    6. Religion & Science    7. Religion - Commentaries / Reference    8. Religion - Socialissues    9. Religion And Science    10. Philosophy of religion    11. Philosophy of science    12. Religion / Philosophy   

Reviews (8)

Is Darwinism bad for the environment?
On one level this is an eloquent plea for an environmental awakening sounding the alarm on the destruction of species diversity. But this clarion call is marred by the introduction of Wilson's Darwinian obsessions. The age of environmental exploitation has also been the age of the reign of the false theoretical constructs of Darwin and his misleading and socially destructive theory of natural selection. The book even includes a hectoring section about the laws of biology, which is bad science and concealed propaganda. Wilson should know better. Biologists fancy themselves the sages of nature, but in fact the reductionist positivism of their methodology constitutes a misunderstanding of nature and reflects the concealed ideology of classical liberalism that is responsible for the indifferent ravaging of natural resources and environments. So behind the fine words Wilson is really a spokesman and ideologist for the problem, not the solution.
A Plea for the Religious & the Secular to Work Together for the Biosphere
Thank you Edward O. Wilson for taking this burden on your shoulders; for making the plea to the religious among us to abandon the Dominionist principle that the Earth is here to be bent to humankind's will and save the biodiversity that makes our lives livable.
One long appeal
When Charles Darwin published "The Origin of Species" he declared it to be "one long argument".Today, less than 150 years later, Edward O. Wilson explains that the one species omitted [except for one sentence] from the "argument" is devastating the life of the planet.In one long appeal to a fictional Baptist pastor, Wilson describes what is clear to all but a few dedicated die-hards - life on this planet is in deep trouble.The die-hards are firmly identified in the opening passages; Christians in the US who regard themselves as "biblical literalists".Such folk expect the Apocalypse soon and saving the environment is of little concern.
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Subjects:  1. Biology    2. Creation    3. Environmental Science    4. General    5. Life Sciences - Evolution    6. Philosophy & Social Aspects    7. Religion & Science    8. Science    9. Science/Mathematics    10. Christianity    11. Science / Environmental Science    12. Science: General Issues   

Reviews (3)

Status Report on the Wilber Project
Ken Wilber started out 30 years ago in "Spectrum of Consciousness" trying to butt-weld Buddhism onto western developmental psychology.Now in "Integral Spirituality" he is trying to imagine what religion would look like if it accepted that the modernist critique of pre-modern religion and the postmodernist critique of modernism (including science) are true.
Spirituality with intelligent thought: not a bad idea
The previous reviewer has done a great job summarizing the content in this book, so I'll just make a few simple comments. This book will probably be most enjoyed by people who have some familiarity with Ken Wilber's work (thought this is not necessary). Not a lot of time is spent defining and suiting his theory (thank goodness, since he's already done that in a hand-full of previous books). It was refreshing to see Wilber present some significant new ideas, some revisions of previous ideas, and he also began to relate different parts of his model to each other in a more dynamic fashion (thought there is still a long way to go).
Integral Theory, with some application to spirituality
The book mostly presents a theory of how to theorize about spirituality, rather than simply delivering a direct theory of spirituality.By this late stage, we must set high standards for Wilber to meet, for the content of his theory and his presentation of it.This presentation is not as condensed, polished, and finished as one would expect from the expert on integral spirituality; it's a hashing-out of a rebuttal to one aspect of postmodernism, and a repeated urging to take that one aspect into consideration.It has an unbalanced emphasis on "the myth of the given", as though the only aspect of postmodernism to think about is how mystic experiencing is shaped largely by cultural factors.The presentation gives the sense Wilber is still in the midst of working-out these ideas; we'll have to wait for someone else to boil down his top-heavy use of jargon into plain-spoken English in a balanced, polished presentation with straightforward subheadings.
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Subjects:  1. General    2. Philosophy Of Religion    3. Religion    4. Religion & Science    5. Religion - Socialissues    6. Sociology of Religion    7. Spirituality - General    8. Religion / General    9. Religion: general    10. Spirituality   

Reviews (9)

Wide-Eyed Wonder
This book somewhat builds on the anthropic principle, the idea that our planet is finely tuned for life. It follows the long-out of print and highly readable contribution by Augros and Stanciu, The New Story of Science. The authors search the world for evidences of not simply design, but genius, and examine human genius to see what it might look like. Along the way they not only ruminate over a myriad dazzling ideas and observations, but also bring a much-needed cooling down to the pitched debate over intelligent design.
Excellent Exploration of Nature's Genius
A Meaningful World is a profoundly thoughtful, clever and witty exploration of the beauty and genius of nature.Where reductionists see unguided, mechanistic processes and meaninglessness, Doctors Benjamin Wiker and Jonathan Witt see purpose and layer upon layer of meaning.The new book is a valuable contribution to the ongoing debate surrounding neo-Darwinian evolutionary theory and the theory of intelligent design (ID), and a must-read for those who follow this debate.
The Summation of Evidence of Design
Benjamin Wiker and Jonathan Witt have coauthored a very compelling account of why science and the arts reveal design and genius in nature.This accomplishment serves as a summation of the various written accounts of the revival of the theory of design as the overarching philosopical explanation of the physcial world.Stating that the sum is greater than the individual parts, Wiker and Witt have written a thorough attack upon the materialist reductionist belief system and exposed the central false assumption of our times.
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Subjects:  1. Christianity    2. Christianity - Theology - Apologetics    3. Christianity - Theology - General    4. Creation    5. Doctrinal Theology    6. Meaning (Philosophy)    7. Nature    8. Philosophy    9. Philosophy & Social Aspects    10. Philosophy Of Religion    11. Religion    12. Religion & Science    13. Religion - Socialissues    14. Religious aspects   

Reviews (37)

Fantastic Popular Treatment of the Darwin v. Design Debate
The Politically Incorrect Guide to Darwinism and Intelligent Design is an excellent introduction to the new and emerging Darwin vs. design debate. Biologist Jonathan Wells' book is an especially helpful primer to general audience readers who only hear about this controversy through elite media/old media accounts.This publication succeeds as both an informative and entertaining read.
Science through a public relations campaign
In a society that tends to believe in creationism, Wells continues the politically correct campaign to change minds through public appeal instead of research.Science is a slow process that requires evidence presented to academic peers for the process of a slow paradigm shift to occur.Since ID has no evidence other than a longing from the dominant political group in the US, it is nothing more than faith.
Bad science easily rebutted
This book is embarassing.Even worse than Icons of Evolution.What he presents as science is mostly a mix of ignorance and outright lies.There are many sites by real scientists which expose Wells' errors and fabrications step by step (Panda's Thumb is a good one.) Anybody who is unfamiliar with the actual scientific literature on evolution would be well advised to visit one of those sites and at least begin the process of self education.If you do, you will quickly see how unreliable Wells is as a science writer. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Biology (Specific Aspects)    2. Creationism    3. Evolution (Biology)    4. Life Sciences - Biology - General    5. Life Sciences - Evolution    6. Philosophy & Social Aspects    7. Religion & Science    8. Religion And Science    9. Religious aspects    10. Science    11. Science/Mathematics    12. United States    13. Biography: general   

Reviews (55)

Awesome
If your into knowing more about the big picture this is the book/dvd to do it. Very scientific in nature but interesting to average folk.

The Special, and Intelligently Designed "Pale Blue Dot"
Co-authored by two Discovery Institute Fellows, astronomer Guillermo Gonzalez and philosopher Jay W. Richards, The Privileged Planet presents a new form of design argument which can be applied to the level of the cosmos. Design proponents have long held that the physical constants of nature and properties of our solar system appear finely tuned and specified to allow for advanced life.But Richards and Gonzalez take this argument to a new level by arguing that the same set of circumstances which permit advanced life are also optimized for a range of scientific discoveries.
Well written theories
This book examines the history of scientific discovery and scientific thought related to the cosmos, our place in it, and the origins of life, and argues that our presence on this planet is innately intertwined with our awareness of the cosmos at large.Specifically, the authors argue that the conditions that make a planet conducive to producing technologically advanced life forms such as ourselves are essentially identical to the conditions needed to explore the world and the space around it.These conditions include the type and age of star, the number, type and orbits of the other planets, the presence of a satellite (our Moon) of a specific size, composition, and orbit, a location within a specific area of the Milky Way Galaxy, being located within a galaxy of a specific type, age, and location in the universe, and being in a universe where the various physical constants (gravity, electron mass, electron charge, etc...) have just the right values.The book also examines the validity of various philosophies relating to man's and Earth's place in the heavens.This book is not a direct argument for the existence of God, or some grand creator.It is an argument for order, in that it shows that the geological and cosmological factors needed for technologically advanced life such as ourselves are not that common in our galaxy, and hence advanced life itself might not be that common.All in all a great book. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Cosmology    2. Discoveries in science    3. Earth    4. General    5. Philosophy & Social Aspects    6. Planets    7. Religion & Science    8. Science    9. Science/Mathematics    10. Solar systems    11. Popular astronomy    12. Popular science    13. Science / General   

Reviews (17)

a new perspective
This book was enlightening.I was dealing with all those nagging questions the author addressed in this book.After reading, I have a new perspective in my quest for the truth.Using deductive reasoning is addressed in exploring creation, life after death, etc.Gave me substance and confidence in the foundation of my beliefs.

Living in questions...an ok place to be
Dr. Timothy Johnson of ABC fame presents a great text about his personal spiritual journey intermixed with science, medicine, service, and theology.
Easy to understand
I found this book to be excellently written, easy to understand, and well organized.Dr. Johnson does a wonderful job of explaining how faith and science enahnce each other instead of being opposites.I would recommend this book to anyone confused over the issue or anyone who just wants to review Christian principles. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Apologetics    2. Biography / Autobiography    3. Christian life    4. Christianity - Christian Life - General    5. Christianity - Theology - General    6. Faith    7. God (Theology)    8. Religion    9. Religion - Christian Life    10. Religion and science    11. Religious    12. Worship   

Reviews (2)

Good reading
This is a book by a respected astronomer on his view of the creation. He believes there is "purpose and intention" behind this creation. And he seeks God's hand, albeit in a subtle way, behind all those serrendipitious phenomena which encourage people to invoke an anthropocentric worldview. Well majority of the scientists will not agree with his view. But this book provides glimpses of the 'other view'. Although not very penetrating thoughts, this book summarizes some thoughts of the author's apologetics in a very concise way. One may want to read this book to learn what may be a believing scientist's view of nature.

A Broad-Based, Integrated Approach to "Veritas"
Owen Gingerich is Professor Emeritus of Astronomy and of the History of Science at Harvard's Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics.In this concise and readable work, he advocates a broad framework for integrating science and religion -- one that does not artificially mandate a secular explanation for every facet of the universe.
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Subjects:  1. General    2. History    3. Philosophy & Social Aspects    4. Physics    5. Religion    6. Religion & Science    7. Religion - Socialissues    8. Spirituality - General    9. Evolution    10. Philosophy of religion    11. Religion / General   

Editorial Review

Are Christianity and science incompatible? If there is a God, is he only an impersonal starter force? An introductory high school biology class first propelled Lee Strobel toward a life of atheism. God and science, he reasoned, were mutually exclusive. When the former legal editor of the Read more

Reviews (160)

Use for High School Age
This is a well written and informative book. I used this book to teach middle school students (grade 6-8) in a sunday school class this summer. I woud recomend using the Kids edition for that age because middle school students generally do not have enough knowledge of biology to understand this edition. I was glad that I had spent 2 years as a Biology major in College so that I could bring it down to the students level. For Others doing youth ministry please use the kids edition to teach middle school and lower and this edition for high school students. I found that using this along with the Adult book allowed me to better explain the book to my students.
Excellent Book
If you are familiar with the work of Strobel, this book will continue to impress you.If you are not however, and would like to know where the author is coming from, I encourage you to read his previous works, "The Case for Christ" and "The Case for Faith" so that you might better understand Strobel.
Absolutely Fantastic Read
This is hands down the most comprehensive, complete and gripping book I have ever read covering the topics of how Christianity/Religion constantly seem at war with Science, and how if you actually spend some time doing some research and analysis, you'll find that the two are very compatible. Strobel eloquently and articulately goes into great details, but without "too much" detail. Highly recommended. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Christianity - Christian Life - General    2. Christianity - Theology - Apologetics    3. Christianity - Theology - Cosmology    4. General    5. God    6. God (Theology)    7. Proof, Cosmological    8. Religion    9. Religion & Science    10. Religion - Socialissues    11. Religion And Science    12. Christian Interest    13. Christian life & practice    14. Religion / Christian Life   

Editorial Review

If author Mary Roach was a college professor, she'd have a zero drop-out rate. That's because when Roach tackles a subject--like the posthumous human body in her previous bestseller, Read more

Reviews (63)

Spook Is Superb Science
If Woody Allen were to write a science book, this would be it.Mary Roach utilizes her enormous wit to make her sometimes highly technical investigations fascinating and fun.She admits to being a skeptic, but suspends disbelief as she investigates the supernatural world.She is enormously fair.She readily admits that the skeptics may be right "but they are no fun to go to the graveyard with."So she maintains that spirit of wonder as she exacts the high standard of proof that science demands.If you are looking for validation that ghosts, without a doubt, are watching you sleep, she will not provide that certainty.But she will tell you about the sometimes ingenius ways that spiritualists and paranormal specialists are going about trying to prove it.So her book is somewhat like Lewis Thomas' NOTES OF A BIOLOGY WATCHER in that you get a layman's education on how the soul has been searched for.You get Woody Allen's wit and Carl Sagan's concern for unbiased evidence as you travel through this fascinating culture of afterlife specialists who just may, in the end, be privy to dimensions the rest of us cannot see.

Boring - Avoid this Book!
I love ghost stories and stories of the 'beyond' and all that those categories entail.That said, I hate this book.Mary Roach has the authorial voice of a 12 year old.I read the first chapter thinking, 'wow, this book might as well have been edited by a middle school yearbook writer.'There are a plethora of books on the market dealing with this subject matter.Pick any of them.Leave Mary Roach on the bookshelf.

Science writer researches the afterlife
Spook: Science Tackles the Afterlife. Mary Roach
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Subjects:  1. Earth Sciences - General    2. Future life    3. General    4. New Age / Body, Mind & Spirit    5. Reincarnation    6. Religion and science    7. Science    8. Science/Mathematics    9. Scientology    10. Supernatural    11. Science / General    12. Unexplained phenomena   

Reviews (30)

When Science and Spirituality Collide
This is a completely fascinating book. The Dalai Lama has completed an amazing discourse comparing and contrasting the worlds of scientific and spirtual thought. Ultimately the goal of this book is to make the scientific community and the "world" community think about their present and future roles in the development of science, its' ethics and the reduction of suffering.
Truly, an Ocean of Wisdom
The title "Dalai Lama" is sometimes translated into English to mean something like, "ocean of wisdom."The 14th Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso, proves--yet again--that he is deserving of this title.I was curious to see how a religious leader would handle the vast topic of science.While he humbly concedes that some of the complexities of scientific thought are beyond the scope of his knowledge, he delivers a book on science that is inspirational, possibly a literary first.