30 of 32 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
PBS quality production of cosmology, December 16, 2003
This review is from: Journey Toward Creation (DVD)
Journey Toward Creation is an excellent overview of big bang cosmology and the fine tuned nature of the universe that argues powerfully for an intelligent creator behind it all. It is appropriate for all ages--my 7 and 9 year olds sat in rapt attention through the entire show. The animation sequences are wonderful and reveal a view of the cosmos that everyone needs to see and contemplate. Easily something one would expect from Nature or Nova on PBS in terms of production quality.
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40 of 45 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Awe and Wonder, August 26, 2004
This review is from: Journey Toward Creation (DVD)
I suspect that many of us have never thought of a telescope as a time machine but that is exactly what Dr. Hugh Ross invites us to imagine in this amazing video. And, he makes a lot of sense in doing so! A telescope, whether earth bound or a satellite, looks out into the cosmos and in so doing looks back in time. If we look at the moon we are looking at light that reflected off the moon's surface 1 1/2 seconds ago; if we look at the Sun, we are looking at light that was generated there 8 minutes ago; if we look at Alpha Centauri, the next nearest star after the Sun, we are seeing light that left there roughly 4 1/2 years ago, and so on. And so we calculate distances in terms of "light years", the distance light travels in one year, moving at the rate of 186,000 miles per second (thus a light year is roughly 6 trillion miles!). It is the only way to calculate the immense distances of the ever expanding universe.
In addition, to take this Journey from where we are in space and time back to the point of creation, Dr. Ross provides another analogy. In order to consider the Universe, especially the roughly 14 billion years back to the Creation event, Dr. Ross invites us to consider that amount of time as being analogous to the distance between the Seattle Space Needle and the Empire State Building in New York City. In other words, by analogy, by the time we have left our Solar System with its accompanying asteroid and comet belts which go as far as 2 light years out, we have only travelled a couple hundredths of an inch in our journey back to Creation. Amazing!
Having heard Dr. Ross speak in person several times, he is an excellent teacher. He takes difficult concepts and makes them much more readily available to the non-scientifically trained person such as myself. Although it's not going to compete with "Star Wars", the special effects and visual aids provided by the video are well-done and very helpful. Dr. Ross's narrative is well crafted.
In order to learn more, I have watched the video several times and I learn something new each time. I am continually amazed at the information shared about the incredible fine-tuning that is necessary for the universe to produce just one planet like Earth and for the Earth to support life. I am in awe of the probabilities or should I say the improbability of the earth itself, not to mention the fact that there would be life - the fine-tuning of "the Big Bang", the fine-tuning of the mass of universe, , the size of the Sun, the unique configuration of our solar system with two gas giants that are just the right size and distance from the earth to provide shielding, etc. Whether you are a believer or a non-believer, this video will leave you with a sense of awe and wonder at your very existence.
If a faith perspective is an obstacle to you, be forewarned. This video is the work of people of faith. Dr. Ross in the Director of "Reasons to Believe" and he is not shy about sharing his faith perspective. His conviction (and mine) is that science points to God (thus "Reasons to Believe") rather than being at odds with faith. He is convinced that there is mounting evidence from the scientific community in recent decades that makes faith in God virtually irrefutable. In fact, one has to go through incredible intellectual gymnastics to get to the point where one denies the possibility of God.
Also, be forewarned with regard to the fact that, if you are a biblical literalist and believe that world was created in a literal six days and that the world is only about 6,000 years old, you are going to be sorely disappointed. Dr. Ross deals with this issue in some of his books and argues that the Bible certainly supports the view that Creation, and the Earth in particular, took considerably longer than 6 days. However, in this video, that issue does not come up directly and there is no question that Dr. Ross argues for and exceptionally long time between the beginning of Creation and now.
The only reason I did not give this Video 5 stars is that there are occasionally awkward transitions and the analogy between journeying back to Creation and the distance between the Seattle Space Needle and the Empire State Building sometimes gets a little confusing. If I could have done so, I would have given the video 4 1/2 stars.
This is a piece of excellent work.
Gary R. Jepsen
Puyallup, WA
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