The God problem How a godless cosmos creates

Review by Choice Review

This is a fascinating book with a heap of unconnected tidbits and conceptual nuggets woven into an enjoyable story. Writer/publicist Bloom (The Lucifer Principle, CH, May'95, 32-4871) talks about the wonders in the universe and the puzzles that have intrigued the human mind for generations. The chapter and section headings tickle the reader, and their elaborations are "curiouser and curiouser," as Alice would have exclaimed. So much history without a touch of boredom, so much philosophy without denseness, and so much physics without equations are all presented with dressing and frosting in one book--a real bargain. But in the end, like George Carlin, Bloom leaves readers with provocative questions rather than answers: questions that can turn one's head like strong wine and grand poetry. He bluntly states that in those unanswered questions "lie the real answers to the question of how a cosmos without a bearded and bathrobed god creates." There is more wisdom than science in the recognition that ultimately there is mystery, not clear-cut answers, when one digs deep to unscramble the universe. Books like this add spice to the more substantial knowledge that hardworking scientists in laboratories and observatories bring to human understanding. Summing Up: Highly recommended. All academic, general, and professional audiences. V. V. Raman emeritus, Rochester Institute of Technology

Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.

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Review by Booklist Review

Scholar Bloom (The Genius of the Beast, 2009) addresses the question whether a god or supernatural power is required in order to explain the vastness, complexity, and creativity of the cosmos. He seeks a naturalistic explanation for the workings of the cosmos in lieu of relying on bearded deities, divine designers, and holy minds in the sky. Indeed, Bloom believes that some of Western science's laws and unquestioned assumptions ineluctably require a divine explanation. This is the god problem of the book's title. So, he proceeds to take his readers through a history of Western science, mathematics, and philosophy, suggesting when and how we got it wrong. While that is no easy task, Bloom engages heady material with enthusiasm, even when his unrelentingly folksy style wears a bit thin. Scientific experts will have to debate the merits of Bloom's views on, say, entropy and sociality and the conclusions he draws. Even assuming he is correct on all counts, a bearded and bathrobed god only becomes unnecessary, not impossible.--McConnell, Christopher Copyright 2015 Booklist

From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.

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Review by Library Journal Review

Readers may conclude that their foundational beliefs are wrongheaded. In this provocative and erudite work, Bloom (The Genius of the Beast) deconstructs "heresies" (e.g., A does not equal A; one plus one does not equal two; entropy is wrong) and shatters scientific laws. He, furthermore, poses the question, "How does a godless cosmos create?" Bloom's tone is much less acerbic and much more civil than the New Atheists' vitriol, and to pursue an answer to Bloom's query, readers will traverse a cerebral landscape: a masterful integration of anthropology, history, science, and philosophy. The author exposes readers to his model of cosmology, which he calls the Big Bagel theory. He presumes a multiverse, or "ensemble of universes"; it pays homage to the oscillating or cyclical universe, which expands and contracts ad infinitum. This view, according to Bloom, would unseat the dominant Big Bang model. VERDICT Bloom, an iconoclastic and seminal thinker, has been mentioned in the same breath as Stephen Hawking, Sigmund Freud, and Charles Darwin; this contribution is paradigm-shifting and brings to mind Thomas Kuhn's The Structure of Scientific Revolutions. In short, this intellectual tour de force and heady expedition will challenge readers' education, assumptions, and perceptions.-Brian Smith McCallum, Arlington Heights Memorial Lib., IL (c) Copyright 2012. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

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