The Prophet and the Astronomer: Apocalyptic Science and the End of the World: A Scientific Journey to the End of Time by Marcelo Gleiser (PDF)

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An intellectual accomplishment that illuminates the magic and the wisdom of the heavens above.—Kirkus Reviews”Tracing our contemplation of the cosmos from the big bang to the big crunch” (The New Yorker), Marcelo Gleiser explores the shared quest of ancient prophets and today’s astronomers to explain the strange phenomena of our skies—from the apocalypse foretold in Revelations to modern science’s ongoing identification of multiple cataclysmic threats, including the impact of comets and asteroids on earthly life, the likelihood of future collisions, the meaning of solar eclipses and the death of stars, the implications of black holes for time travel, and the ultimate fate of the universe and time.Presenting insights to cosmological science and apocalyptic philosophy in an “easily accessible” (Library Journal) style, Gleiser is “a rare astrophysicist as comfortable quoting Scripture as explaining formulas” (Booklist). K. C. Cole praises his ability to “[work] the entwined threads of science and religion into a vision of ‘the end’ that is strangely comforting and inspiring.”

User’s Reviews

Reviews from Amazon users which were colected at the time this book was published on the website:

⭐I just finished reading this book, and I must say that it took much longer than usual to get through it. I tended to read it a bit at a time because, although interesting, it was quite hard to get through. The main reason for this, I think, is that it’s filled to the brim with physics-related information – and I have little to no physics background with which to understand these concepts. It’s because I believe that many others would be stumped by this information as well, that I have rated “The Prophet & the Astronomer” a 3.Beyond the complicated physics theories, I found this book to provide quite an interesting look at cosmology through the ages. The author discusses how several hundred years ago, most people believed that such things as comets & shooting stars were actually meant to warn them of bad things to come – famine, war, death, etc… This is how cosmology began to influence, and be influenced by, theology/religion.He then goes on to show how many cults of past & present still use this type of information to scare their followers into continued cult association, and how they also use such things as comets & shooting stars to then explain away why their predictions didn’t come about as they said it would – for ex., they might say that they just saw a shooting star, and this means that God has changed his timing…It’s also shown how each culture tends to believe that the end of the world will occur in their lifetime – people have been preparing for this for thousands of years…One can see through the progression of this book how some people today still believe much the same things as those in times past re: cosmology & the end. However, now more than ever, science has been at the forefront of this exciting field, as opposed to religion. However, the author believes that science & religion don’t have to be on opposite sides of the fence on this issue – as both are essentially trying to answer the same questions.Overall, I would recommend this book to those who have an interest & background in physics in general, and cosmology in particular. I think you will find it an interesting read.

⭐The Prophet and the AstronomerBy Marcelo GleiserBook ReviewBy Richard E. Noble”In this book I explore religion’s assimilation of cataclysmic cosmic phenomena and its influence on scientific thought through the ages from the pre-Socratic philosophers of ancient Greece to modern day cosmology … Indeed, I will argue that we create a scientific world as we do a spiritual one – in order to overcome fear, to defy time, to understand our place in the world, and to justify our lives … Drawing on the Book of Danial, the Book of Revelation, and an investigation of apocalyptic sects, art and literature we will examine the formation and evolution of the solar system, the extinction of dinosaurs, Einstein’s general theory of relativity, pulsars and black holes, the big bang and the inflationary universe, all the way to the latest ideas on cosmology.”Reading the above, a curious reader who is not familiar with Marcelo Gleiser might conclude that this is a book by some right wing religious preacher type who is going to do a mystical tap dance on the science of the Universe.Not so.Marcelo Gleiser is the real thing. He is a professor of Natural Philosophy, physics, astronomy at Dartmouth College.If you are like me and found your way to an interest in the origins of the Universe and science in general via early religious training followed by studies of early Greek and Roman philosophers, then you will enjoy reading this book.This author keeps it as simple and understandable as could be expected while dealing with highly complicated cosmological theory and speculative particle physics.The first part of the book was right up my alley. The reader is taken back to before the time of Christ and the Christian era. The author links the ancient Greek and Roman philosophers and philosophies to the heavens.We learn about Zoroaster and other pre-Christian like tales. We see how the heavens have always played their part in the hopes and fears of humans. We see the connection between astrology, astronomy, religions and their holy books.We delve into comets and asteroids make connections between then and now. The old superstitions are constantly being updated to our present day superstitions and similarly cultish ideas. The author continually attempts to explain to the reader the difference between religious superstition and science.This is easier said than done.As the author delves more and more deeply into speculative cosmology and particle physics, the Big Bang, black holes and whatnot, the line between the fantasies of the superstitious and the scientific get more and more blurred.The bottom line: “First and foremost, science does not promise redemption. Science is a human invention preoccupied with understanding the workings of nature … Science may not offer eternal salvation, but it offers the possibility of a life free from the spiritual slavery caused by the irrational fear of the unknown … Thales of Miletus during the sixth century B.C.E. tried to understand the workings of nature, without invoking the actions of gods or God.”Despite Thales the author points out repeatedly the many geniuses of science who specifically sought science as their means to establish the truth of their religious beliefs. Isaac Newton stands out among these. Isaac actually gave up his endeavors in science as a waste of his time to delve more deeply into what really mattered … the Bible and God’s revelations.But as the author attempts to assuage our fears with the wonders of science, he exposes us to new real fears.”The conclusion is clear: Earth has been bombarded by large objects in the past and not so distant past, just like all other bodies of the solar system. Scientists use terms like `cosmic pinball’, `cosmic shooting gallery’, ‘target earth’ and so forth to illustrate the fact that collisions are an integral part of life in the solar system.”So the end of our world may still be just around the corner, Big Bang or no Big Bang and whether there is a God around that corner or not. The point being that science may not eradicate all our fears but it may provide a rational explanation.That could be considered helpful; then on the other hand, maybe not.”If the history of life on earth, in all its myriad forms, can be understood as an experiment in evolutionary genetics orchestrated by natural selection, the emergence of intelligent life seems to be the result of a chance occurrence, an odd event that would be extremely hard to duplicate elsewhere. The long reign of the dinosaurs … success and longevity as a species makes it hard to argue for the necessity of intelligent life at the top of the evolutionary chain … it is much easier to argue for extraterrestrial life than for extraterrestrial intelligent life.”We are all aware via Einstein and his famous theory of relativity that matter can be turned into energy but what about the reverse?”The converse is also true, energy can turn to matter; it is possible for highly energetic photons … to spontaneously create particles of matter.”Now this is my theory and not the authors.For years I have been reading about a lack of matter in the universe and how nothing can travel faster than the speed of light. It seems that when something (for lack of a more scientific word) approaches the speed of light it gains in mass and consequently slows down. As it continues to slowdown and gains in mass, could it not then turn back into matter at some point along the way?If the answer is yes, then are we not back to the possibility of a steady state universe with matter transforming into energy and energy reforming into matter according and in concordance with the laws concerning the conservation of energy and matter? In which case there is not a lack of matter in the universe. What has always been there, is always there in one form or the other … and in balance.A few pages later in this book the author criticizes scientific thinkers like Hoyle because their steady state notions suggest that matter must be created ex nihilo (from nothing) to sustain the steady state notion.No, not from nothing does the necessary matter come, but from the energy (light) gaining mass and transforming back into matter.The author is an avid Big Bang supporter. I am not.I try my best to follow along but much of what the author explores in this regard, I feel will all be scrapped as time rolls on.I’m referring to background noise, time having a beginning and ending, that time did not exist prior to the Big Bang, cosmological constants and the super inflationary early universe. All this I find dubious and compensating along with much else that Marcello hypothesizes and speculates upon.But Professor Gleiser’s theorizing won’t be scrapped by the likes of me. And I intend to keep reading this author. I know one thing for sure. If the science changes, so will Marcelo Gleiser. Because he is a scientist and not a dogmatist … or a theologian for that matter.Richard Edward Noble author of “Bits and Pieces” Hobo Philosopher series.

⭐First the good news. The author knows his science very well. The bad news is he does a poor job of blending the theme of religion’s effect on the science of astronomy. Religious persecution was, and still is, a great hinderence in the scientific community. The author’s ” I’m o.k. you’re o.k.” approach to this problem left me cold.

⭐This is a well-written popularization of some very abstruse material, i.e., the creation of the universe and the nature of time. I could quibble with some of the choices he made. He leaves out some things which perhaps he should have included, and includes others which he should have left out. Also, like many modern-day scientists, he sometimes is a little condescending towards ancient philosophers, but in general he does a great job of integrating modern and anicent ideas.My complaint is that the book is the wrong size. I have to admit I am not sure what size it should have been. It is a standard 250-page trade book, but it really should have either been a thin pamphlet or a thick tome– or possibly a richly illustrated coffee table book a la Carl Sagan’s Cosmos. Gleiser’s book as it actually exists simultaneously feels like a thin pamphlet with extraneous anecdotes added to pad it out to “full” length and like an abridged synopsis of a magnum opus.

⭐This is another title by Marcelo Gleiser that makes us reflect about the origins of the universe and of life itself. Gleiser reconciles science and religion showing that both have narratives that aren’t so distant from each other when it comes to explain our origins. It is a book worth reading.

⭐takes some digesting but a lot of interesting information

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