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Fascinating facts about God's world that gives us thousands of pieces of evidence to prove that He created and sustains the universe.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
76 of 86 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Very thorough look at Creation vs Evolution,
This review is from: It Couldn't Just Happen: Fascinating Facts About God's World (Paperback)
We love this book, but I know of many people that have chosen not to read it because of another review that states it has errors.
I'm going to attempt to respond to each of the amazon reviewers statements about errors in the book with what I've researched. Page 8 - There are exactly 1029 visible stars. answer - With good eyesight, as many as 6000 stars are visible. From a really dark location and under excellent seeing conditions you should be able to see about 10,000 stars (visual magnitude 7 and brighter) at the same time. However, from most locations we can only detect about 1000 or less stars (magnitude 5 and brighter) due to omnipresent light pollution. People who live in large cities are usually limited to a couple of hundred stars (magnitude 4 and brighter). He probably shouldn't have given an exact number in the book, but he may have gone outside and counted that many, who knows. Page 8 - Galileo's 1609 work was done "about 300 years ago." answer - This book was copyrighted nearly 400 years after 1609. This book was copywritten in 1987. That's 378 years after Galileo did his work. I think "about 300 years ago" is an adequate estimation. Page 8 - Galileo invented the telescope in 1609. answer - Hans Lippershey invented the telescope in 1608. Did Galileo invent the first telescope? No. This is one of those things that "everyone knows," yet is absolutely incorrect. I'll talk about the reason for this mistake in a moment. First, let's give credit to the person who really invented the telescope. Who invented the telescope? I don't know. No one does, really. In 1608, Dutch eyeglass maker, Hans Lippershey offered a new device to the government for military use. This new device made use of two glass lenses in a tube to magnify distant objects. He may not have invented the telescope (in fact, at least two other Dutch opticians were also working on the idea at the time), but Hans Lippershey has been credited with its invention. He, at least, applied for the patent for it first. Now, why do people think of Galileo Galilei as the inventor of the telescope? As soon as he heard about the wonderous device coming out of the Netherlands, Galileo Galilei was fascinated. He began constructing telescopes, himself, before ever seeing one in person. By 1609, he was ready for the next inevitable step. He began using telescopes to observe the heavens, becoming the first astronomer to do so. While Galileo Galilei did not invent the telescope, he made great improvements in the technology. His first construction was a three power instrument, which he quickly improved to eight, twenty and then thirty power. With this new tool, he found mountains and craters on the moon, discovered that the Milky Way was composed of stars, and discovered the four largest moons of Jupiter. Page 8 - Galileo saw exactly 3,310 stars. answer - Galileo saw many more than 6,000 stars. I could not find any specific numbers for how many stars Galileo saw, but as you read in the rebuttal above, he made many telescopes, always improving upon the last. It is not clear which one Lawrence Richards is referencing in his book, but I always assumed it to be his first version, the three power telescope. In any case, I would think that both numbers are correct. Does anyone know the specific answer to this one? Page 9 - Alpha Centauri is the nearest star. answer - Proxima Centauri is the nearest star. Actually, both answers are correct. Proxima Centauri is the closest single star, while Alpha Centauri is the closest star system. The Sun is about 93 million miles from the earth. The star nearest to the Sun is Proxima Centauri. Astronomers measure the distance between stars in units called light-years. A light-year equals 5.88 million million miles (9.46 million million kilometers). This is the distance light travels in one year at a speed of 186,282 miles per second (299,792 kilometers per second). Proxima Centauri is 4.3 light-years from the Sun. It is a dim red star in the constellation of Centaurus that lies at a distance of over 40 million million kilometers, some 270,000 times greater than the distance between the earth and the sun. Alpha Centauri is the closest star system to the Solar System, being only 1.34 parsecs, or 4.37 light years away from our Sun. The nearest stellar neighbors to the Sun are three stars that make up a multiple system. To the naked eye the system appears as a single bright star, Alpha Centauri. Alpha Centauri is a double star -- two stars revolving about each other that are too close to be seen as seperate by the naked eye. Near them is the third member of the system, a faint star known as Proxima Centauri. Discovered in 1915, it is smaller than Alpha and Beta. Proxima (meaning nearest) it is slightly nearer to the Sun than the other stars in this triple star system. The distance from the sun to Proxima Centauri, stated in five sources as a fact, has been found consistent. The distance to Proxima Centauri is 4.3 light-years. Page 14 - The "bouncing universe" theory was not even a theory. answer - It was a theory, even though it was proven false. Lawrence Richards actually states that this theory is "not a scientific theory at all." There's a big difference. He acknowledges it as a theory, he just states that it is not scientific. Page 15 - Pulsars send out bursts of energy. answer - Pulsars send out steady streams of energy. A pulsar is a neutron star which emits beams of radiation that sweep through the earth's line of sight. Like a black hole, it is an endpoint to stellar evolution. The "pulses" of high-energy radiation we see from a pulsar are due to a misalignment of the neutron star's rotation axis and its magnetic axis. Pulsars pulse because the rotation of the neutron star causes the radiation generated within the magnetic field to sweep in and out of our line of sight with a regular period. Page 17 - The planetary orbits are circles. answer - The planetary orbits are ellipses. Now this is just plain nitpicky. Lawrence Richards states, "Each of the nine planets swings in a great circle around the sun..." I looked up the definition of "ellipses" and it means "falling short." I think what the reviewer actually meant was ellipse, which means "an ellipse (Greek '''''''' (elleipsis), a 'falling short') is the apparent shape of a circle viewed obliquely from outside it, an oval, an elongated circle." Page 22 - The law of entropy tells us the planets are dead. answer - Only by sending probes can we know what is happening. I will quote what Lawrence Richards states on page 22, "Actually our voyage to the planets was unnecessary. (The previous portion of this chapter is an imaginary voyage to explore the other planets in our solar system.) We could tell from Earth that they are dead worlds. The law of entropy tells us that they must be dead worlds." He is simply applying a proven law of science to this investigation. That is good science. Using laws to help us understand what we don't know for sure. Page 27 - The Earth isn't going to lose her moon. answer - The Moon is moving 4 cm farther away each year. Actually, the earth's moon is moving 1cm farther away each year, but here are several answers I found to the probability of it ever breaking out of our gravitational pull: 1. It would take 38,250,000 years just to get twice the distance it is now. And wouldn't the rate be continually decreasing since the tidal forces acting on the speed would diminish? And, wouldn't tidle locking happen before that. Therefore, would the moon leaving orbit even happen? 2. The Moon will never leave orbit-- to expel the Moon gradually would require giving it an infinite amount of angular momentum (in Kepler's law, angular momentum increases with distance like the square root of distance). The Earth's rotation does not have infinite angular momentum, so it never happens. What would happen first is that the Earth's rotation would essentially stop, or actually, would rotate so slowly that it would keep the Moon at a fixed point in the sky, and there would be no further angular momentum transport from the Earth to the Moon. Page 28 - Tjeered van Andel is an oceanographer. answer - His first name is spelled "Tjeerd." Another ridiculous allegation. I found both spellings, although the more common one is "Tjeerd." Page 31 - Two parts oxygen with one part hydrogen yields water. answer - One part oxygen with two parts hydrogen yield water. Yes, this is an actual error. When reading it to my children, I simply pointed out, "Oops, that's a mistake. They meant two parts hydrogen, one part oxygen." And a simple mistake I really do think it is. Everyone knows what the chemical makeup of water is, and it's an opportunity to point out the importance of editing your work. I hope you will all give this book a chance! It has enriched my children's understanding of God's world and given them a thirst to go deeper in Science so they can learn more. I have even used this book to teach our middle school Sunday School class, and they, too, enjoyed it. Always be careful to "study to show yourselves approved unto God, a workman that needeth not be ashamed." Don't always take someone's word for it, not even the author's. If it doesn't sound right, look it up. Be careful not to throw the baby out with the bathwater, if you do find errors. Simply point out the error and continue. I hope this helps some of you make a wise, informed decision about this book!
134 of 167 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
Your children believe everything you say when they're little...,
This review is from: It Couldn't Just Happen: Fascinating Facts About God's World (Paperback)
In order for a book to be trustworthy, it has to be based on solid facts. However, this book starts off with blatant errors in even the most basic science and then goes downhill from there. At some point, your children will become educated enough to see those errors. And then what will happen? Will they start to question the conclusion that God and His Son do indeed exist? Find a better book. :)
Some errors in this book: Page 8 - There are exactly 1029 visible stars. answer - With good eyesight, as many as 6000 stars are visible. Page 8 - Galileo's 1609 work was done "about 300 years ago." answer - This book was copyrighted nearly 400 years after 1609. Page 8 - Galileo invented the telescope in 1609. answer - Hans Lippershey invented the telescope in 1608. Page 8 - Galileo saw exactly 3,310 stars. answer - Galileo saw many more than 6,000 stars. Page 9 - Alpha Centauri is the nearest star. answer - Proxima Centauri is the nearest star. Page 14 - The "bouncing universe" theory was not even a theory. answer - It was a theory, even though it was proven false. Page 15 - Pulsars send out bursts of energy. answer - Pulsars send out steady streams of energy. Page 17 - The planetary orbits are circles. answer - The planetary orbits are ellipses. Page 22 - The law of entropy tells us the planets are dead. answer - Only by sending probes can we know what is happening. Page 27 - The Earth isn't going to lose her moon. answer - The Moon is moving 4 cm farther away each year. Page 28 - Tjeered van Andel is an oceanographer. answer - His first name is spelled "Tjeerd." Page 31 - Two parts oxygen with one part hydrogen yields water. answer - One part oxygen with two parts hydrogen yield water. Do I really need to continue?
69 of 86 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great tool for building a "Creationist" foundation!,
This review is from: It Couldn't Just Happen: Fascinating Facts About God's World (Paperback)
First of all realize that this book is written for Kids ages 9-12.Now I would like for you to also realize that this 30+ year old learned tons while teaching from it to a Junior High Sunday School class! The year I taught this, we had 18 kids and half of their parents purchased the book after the class. It was such a hit that we are teaching it again 2 years later. This book does a wonderful job at setting a foundation from which kids can build on and learn from. Lawrence Williams blends the laws of physics, theories on origins of the universe, "true science" vs. "junk science", nature, the Divine Will of God, Biblical references, and tons of real world examples into a brilliant, easy to read source for learning to understand, explain, and defend Creationism. We know that our Children are going to learn the theory of Evolution at one point or another in their life. Instead of hiding in the sand and hoping they'll either a.) Not be exposed to it at all. b.) Learn it from a weak teacher. Or c.) Somehow be able to formulate an irrefutable argument without really learning about physics, science, nature, the Bible, and how they all work together to support and prove Creation. Why don't we add a "d."? "Build them a strong Creationist foundation, so that they not only understand their faith, but they can defend it and teach others also." This book does just that! Pick it up for your kid, but don't be surprised if you read it also. Better yet, use it yourself for a "Family" Bible Study!
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