Why science does not disprove God

Amir D. Aczel

Book - 2014

Analyzing the theories and findings of such titans as Albert Einstein and Charles Darwin, a renowned science writer and mathematician demonstrates in multiple ways that science has not, as yet, provided any definitive proof refuting the existence of God.

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Subjects
Published
New York : William Morrow, an imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers [2014]
Language
English
Main Author
Amir D. Aczel (author)
Edition
First edition
Physical Description
viii, 294 pages : illustrations ; 22 cm
Bibliography
Includes bibliographical references (pages 269-281) and index.
ISBN
9780062230591
  • Prologue: The birth of the new atheism
  • The coevolution of very early science and religion
  • Why archaeology does not disprove the Bible
  • The revolt of science
  • The triumphs of science in the nineteenth century
  • Einstein, God, and the Big Bang
  • God and the quantum
  • The "universe from nothing" deception
  • And on the eighth day, God created the multiverse
  • Mathematics, probability, and God
  • Catastrophes, chaos, and the limits of human knowledge
  • Between God and the anthropic principle
  • The limits of evolution
  • Art, symbolic thinking, and the invisible boundary
  • Engaging the infinite
  • Conclusion: why the "scientific" argument for atheism fails.
Review by Booklist Review

*Starred Review* In Aczel, Richard Dawkins and his fellow New Atheists face a formidable opponent. As a mathematician with a Berkeley-Harvard resume, 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.--Christensen, Bryce Copyright 2014 Booklist

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

Aczel's (Fermat's Last Theorem) latest book challenges the notion recently articulated by New Atheists such as Richard Dawkins (The God Delusion) that science has proved the nonexistence of God. The author's focus is on the science and what it might have to say about a creator, with a few detours such as a chapter on archaeology, which is more about the Bible's authenticity than theistic ontology, and a futile discussion on who owns "Einstein's God"-atheists or theists. Overall, the better chapters reflect Aczel's strengths in mathematics and physics; in those, he discusses subjects such as quantum theory, the multiverse, and mathematical probability. Aczel asks an important question about science, but with a primarily scientific explanation he doesn't tread new ground. His material will instead inflame more misunderstandings, essentially providing a "God of the gaps" dismissal for his critics. VERDICT The author's discussion of theoretical physics and mathematics demonstrates the philosophical nature of his question, which is hinged upon clear definitions of God and a deep, complicated philosophical history; strangely, however, all this is missing from the book. Dawkins, at least, whether you agree or not, defines the God he is disproving, whereas Aczel's remains a mystery.-Scott Vieira, Sam Houston State Univ. Lib., Huntsville, TX (c) Copyright 2014. 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.