The God Experiment: Can Science Prove the Existence of God? Book

"WHEN SCIENTISTS INVESTIGATE THE PHYSICAL WORLD, provided they ask the right questions and adopt good, sound scientific methodology, nature has no alternative but to yield up its secrets. But applying that methodology to God is not a guarantee of success. God might simply decide not to co-operate..."

Down the centuries there have been various attempts to prove the existence of God, and to demonstrate God's action in the world. Russell Stannard, the distinguished physicist and author, looks at what modern science can bring to the discussion. Are the difficulties of 'knowing' God the same difficulties physicists now confront in 'knowing' the physical world?

Comparing the latest scientific theories and age-old religious thinking, Stannard produces some startling parallels. He examines Creationism and the Big Bang, Biblical miracles and Quantum physics, and the idea of an omniscient God in the context of 4D spacetime. Written in a clear and lucid way, The God Experiment is a fascinating challenge to our assumptions about God, science and our place in the Universe.

About The Author
Russell Stannard is one of the world's leading authorities on the meeting points between science and religion. A distinguished high energy nuclear physicist, he headed the Physics Department at the Open University in London for the past twenty years. The author of several bestselling books on science and religion, he is also a regular commentator for BBC radio and television.

Publishers Weekly

Although presenters of the distinguished Gifford Lectures in science and religion almost inevitably repackage their contributions in book form, few are as successful as Stannard in addressing the general audience originally intended for the lectures themselves. To show how science might inform or challenge human religious perspectives, Stannard draws from a nearly global survey of scientific fields, intent more on illuminating the background of science-and-religion investigations than on constructing a single argument toward religious conclusions. The book takes a generally conciliatory approach, offering clarifications and suggestions rather than adjudicating between believers and skeptics. Stannard writes primarily as a physicist; his commentary on physics benefits from a technical mastery that is lacking in his relatively conventional treatment of evolutionary biology or his forays into biblical interpretation. He also writes as a Christian, and this perspective clearly influences his treatment of what is "problematic"Da term he uses without disapprovalDabout God and about the possibility of human experience of God. When he describes areas of potential conflict between science and Christian belief (creation/evolution debates, humanity's place in the universe or miracle stories in the Bible), Stannard shows real sympathy for both sides. Believers and nonbelievers alike should appreciate his straightforwardness, even if some of his reinterpretations of Christian beliefs in the name of scientific coherence turn out to be nearly as "problematic" as the traditional interpretations they replace. (Dec.) Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.