- Hardcover: 256 pages
- Publisher: Jossey Bass (9 Nov 2007)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0787994669
- ISBN-13: 978-0787994662
- Product Dimensions: 16 x 2.5 x 23.5 cm
- Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 864,540 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- See Complete Table of Contents
God's Mechanics
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Review
“Brother Guy Consolmagno speaks in the softest, sanest voice imaginable as he enters the current firestorm of opinion re science and religion. His engaging commentary exposes the mindset of a true ‘techie’––but one who equates science with a sacred act.”––Dava Sobel, author, Galileo’s Daughter
“A prominent Vatican astronomer takes up the problem of presenting the Christian faith to his fellow ‘techies.’ After analyzing their scientific modes of thinking, Consolmagno proposes ways of speaking to their mentality. His fresh approach opens up new paths for evangelization and dialogue.”
––Avery Cardinal Dulles, S.J., Laurence J. McGinley Professor of Religion and Society, Fordham University
“My grasp of technology doesn’t much go beyond the chipmunks on treadmills that generate the electrical power for my computer. Put those chipmunks inside my brain, and you’ve got an idea how much I understand about religion. Which is why I found [this] book so amazing. Brother Guy has a knack for taking extremely complex concepts and explaining them in ways even a technological and religious rustic like me can understand. He’s smart, patient, through, and very funny. I only wish Brother Guy had been my science professor and my Sunday school teacher. I’d have a lot fewer chipmunks running around in my office and in my head.”––Gary K. Wolf, creator of Roger Rabbit
“Brother Guy Consolmagno’s book explores the origins and nature of religion in novel and interesting ways, especially for a Catholic writer. His insights and thought processes honestly accept and answer many religious questions relating to scientists, engineers, and contemporary society as a whole. He is deeply candid, sharing his own faith and revealing his true love for the Catholic Church.”––Archbishop John J. Myers, Newark, New Jersey
“Brother Guy is someone whose faith is mysterious to me. I′m an atheist, I think that God is a mental state we achieve by tickling our brains, not a creator who intervenes in the universe. Brother Guy′s book is an important step in bridging the gap between we the irreligious and anti–religious tech–world and the faithful among the geeks.”––Cory Doctorow, author. Overclocked: Stories of the Future Present and coeditor of Boing Boing (boingboing.net)
Product Description
In God’s Mechanics, Brother Guy tells the stories of those who identify with the scientific mindset—so–called “techies”—while practicing religion. A full fledged techie himself, he relates some classic philosophical reflections, his interviews with dozens of fellow techies, and his own personal take on his Catholic beliefs to provide, like a set of “worked out sample problems,” the hard data on the challenges and joys of embracing a life of faith as a techie. And he also gives a roadmap of the traps that can befall an unwary techie believer.
With lively prose and wry humor, Brother Guy shows how he not only believes in God but gives religion an honored place alongside science in his life. This book offers an engaging look at how—and why—scientists and those with technological leanings can hold profound, “unprovable” religious beliefs while working in highly empirical fields. Through his own experience and interviews with other scientists and engineers who profess faith, Brother Guy explores how religious beliefs and practices make sense to those who are deeply rooted in the world of technology.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
This down to earth survey of one man's reasons for faith is light and
fun to read but also profound and enlightening. This is the ideal book for anyone who would like to know what it is that Catholics believe and, in the present climate of mistrust, why that should makes sense to many people. The author is an astronomer and writing from the point of view of a "techie" as he calls it, a member of the scientific community. It is also a great book for catholics, to remind them of things they have been taking for granted. I shall be buying copies for all my children.
fun to read but also profound and enlightening. This is the ideal book for anyone who would like to know what it is that Catholics believe and, in the present climate of mistrust, why that should makes sense to many people. The author is an astronomer and writing from the point of view of a "techie" as he calls it, a member of the scientific community. It is also a great book for catholics, to remind them of things they have been taking for granted. I shall be buying copies for all my children.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
As a research scientist in a rapidly-developing field of engineering, I've taken a lot of interest in the "science / religion debate" in recent years. This book is one of the most refreshing books I've ever read on this topic. In fact, it is refreshing precisely because it is not really a contribution to the religion / science debate at all, but an exploration and explanation of how so many highly-respected scientists and engineers ("techies" as he calls them) reconcile their working lives with their faith. This book says much that I've felt for years, but would have struggled to articulate with anything like the wit, applomb and authority which Guy Consolmagno SJ deploys to such entertaining and enlightening effect in this highly readable book. It is a hoot of a book - really humorous and lively - and yet it is shot through with down-to-earth profundities - an impressive feat for an astronomer! While I'd recommend this book to anyone, I'd be particularly keen for Christians who are puzzled by the supposed conflict between science and religion to read this. They might not find all of it comforting: while Consolmagno takes no prisoners with the ludicrous irrationality of the anti-evolution brigade, he also takes aim at Christians in science who seek to explain the activity of God by reference to intangible interstices of quantum theory. "Some people never learn" is his sardonic conclusion on all attempts to create a 'God of the gaps'. Anyway, read it. I think it's brilliant.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
13 reviews
16 of 17 people found the following review helpful
A Different Take
19 Dec 2007
Format:Hardcover
Brother Guy is a Vatican astronomer who specializes in the study of meteorites and dwarf planets. He's also a regular at various science fiction conventions, and the thing I liked most about his book, aside from his techie sense of humor, is he gives a very interesting answer (or set of answers) to the question, how do scientists, who are trained to be skeptics, make sense of religion.
Here's a brief sample from his book:
"So if doing science is ultimately a religious act, why does the story of a split between science and religion exist in out culture today? Because too many religious people have been scared away from science by the very stories of this split. Because most scientists keep their religion private, as is their right. Because the religious people most likely to be heard in the news are those whose strong bent in engineering hides their very limited education in science: the creationists. Because the scientists who do speak publicly about these topics have been precisely those whose very limited education in religion (people like Richard Dawkins or Stephen Jay Gould) have made them "science fundamentalists"," every bit as narrow as the religious fundamentalists and probably not the best representatives of their fields--just the best known." (p. 169)
Highly recommended.
Here's a brief sample from his book:
"So if doing science is ultimately a religious act, why does the story of a split between science and religion exist in out culture today? Because too many religious people have been scared away from science by the very stories of this split. Because most scientists keep their religion private, as is their right. Because the religious people most likely to be heard in the news are those whose strong bent in engineering hides their very limited education in science: the creationists. Because the scientists who do speak publicly about these topics have been precisely those whose very limited education in religion (people like Richard Dawkins or Stephen Jay Gould) have made them "science fundamentalists"," every bit as narrow as the religious fundamentalists and probably not the best representatives of their fields--just the best known." (p. 169)
Highly recommended.
7 of 8 people found the following review helpful
A Non-fiction page turner
12 Dec 2007
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
Brother Guy Conssolmagno has exceeded his presentation of the synthesis of religion and science he began in Brother AstronomerBrother Astronomer: Adventures of a Vatican Scientist. In his presentation of believing in God and religion Consolmagno claims to be taking a techie point of view. He defines a techie as someone whose world view pragmatic, logical and functional. Techies want to know how things work. It is this attitude that gives them an understanding of God as "all modern science developed precisely because the medievals believed in a creator God,and thus they had the confidence to assume that this apparently chaotic universe did make sense (and was worthy of study)." On the matter of religion, he likens it to the scientific community which through peer review of experimental results leads to a better understanding of the world. His chapters specifically directed to his Roman Catholic religion (he is a Jesuit) apply to almost any main stream catholic, orthodox or protestant organization because it deals with his humanity and how that requires him to deal with other humans, God, and his creation. Consolmagno raises points of disagreement, but explains his position in a clear enough manner that you can argue with him, which makes the book fun as well as enlightening. His easy to read style and clear presentation of ideas make this book a page turner even if it is non-fiction.
5 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Fresh view on how techies approach God and religion
21 Jan 2008
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
A very interesting book on religion from the point of view of techies. The author is a Jesuit brother and also an astronomer, with advanced degrees from MIT and Arizona. The book exposes how techies think about God(s) and religion(s), the supposed "gap" between science and religion, and how different parts of religion (such as an organized religion, rules, etc...) make sense when analyzed analytically and pragmatically. The author did some research interviewing scientists on their views, and extracts some interesting ideas on how techies approach religion. The second part of the book is about the author own experiences, and how he makes sense of his faith and the life he has chosen.
I greatly appreciate that when he has no rational answer to some question, he says so, and makes himself clear when he says some of his views are biased. It is a book that could spur many interesting talks with friends, religious or not. It is easy to read and entertaining, and even the author makes some fine geeky jokes here and there. (It would have been interesting if the book included some bibliography or "further reading" section at the end of the book.) Recommended.
I greatly appreciate that when he has no rational answer to some question, he says so, and makes himself clear when he says some of his views are biased. It is a book that could spur many interesting talks with friends, religious or not. It is easy to read and entertaining, and even the author makes some fine geeky jokes here and there. (It would have been interesting if the book included some bibliography or "further reading" section at the end of the book.) Recommended.
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