The Prophet and the Astronomer: A Scientific Journey to the End of Time [Hardcover]

Marcelo Gleiser (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 2002

From the beginning of time people have looked to the heavens to find order in the universe and divine meaning and direction from celestial events. The same skies that used to instil fear in the ancient prophets today spawn a rich apocalyptic science for awestruck stargazers. This book explores the shared quest of prophets and astronomers to explain the strange phenomena of our skies - from the apocalypse foretold in Revelations to modern science's identification of multiple cataclysmic threats, including the impact of comets and asteroids on earthly life, the likelihood of future collisions, the meaning of the solar eclipse and the death of stars, the implications of black holes for time travel and the ultimate fate of the universe and time.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

As in his popular The Dancing Universe, Gleiser (physics and astronomy, Dartmouth Coll.) argues that science and religion spring from a single challenge to the human spirit: anxiety over our mortality, which defines us and gives our life meaning. Thus, the different narratives used by science (the Big Crunch) and religion (the apocalypse) to reconcile our finite existence with an apparently infinite universe are not mutually exclusive; they share an awareness of our limited time on Earth, which motivates us to understand the universe and our place in it. While Gleiser offers an extensive discussion of modern scientific cosmology, his account is not overly technical and is easily accessible to the average reader. One measure of how much a reader has enjoyed a book is the number of margin notes and underlined passages that mark the text, and this reviewer's copy has been copiously highlighted in three different colors. Strongly recommended for both public and academic libraries. James Olson, Northeastern Illinois Univ. Lib., Chicago
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

(*Starred Review*) A rare astrophysicist as comfortable quoting Scripture as explaining formulas, Gleiser ponders the dark parallels between the apocalyptic visions of ancient seers and the cosmic predictions of modern scientists. In refreshing contrast to theorists who dismiss all prescientific cosmology as mere superstition, Gleiser recognizes the imaginative authenticity of humanity's earliest astral terrors. Eclectic scholarship clarifies how fully a cosmic collision could fulfill the grimmest ancient prophecy--how, in fact, such a collision probably wiped out the dinosaurs and how such a collision occasion nearly occurred again in 1996 when a stray asteroid unexpectedly brushed by the earth. But from the conjunction between the oldest religions and the newest science, Gleiser draws more than reasons for terror. In the profound human craving for unity that monotheism has nurtured, he locates the impulse now spurring researchers toward new models of the universe that will finally reveal the beginning and end of galactic time. Gleiser's musings--about how leptons might transmute into quarks, for instance--occasionally will baffle the nonspecialist, but most readers will consider a few moments of perplexity a small price to pay for the opportunity to probe humanity's oldest nightmares and newest aspirations. Bryce Christensen
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 320 pages
• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company (May 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0393049876
• ISBN-13: 978-0393049879
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.2 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,440,925 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Marcelo Gleiser is the Appleton Professor of Natural Philosophy and a Professor of Physics and Astronomy at Dartmouth College. He is the author of over 80 scientific papers and three popular science books in English. (In his native Brazil--he proudly grew up at the shores of fabulous Copacabana beach--where he sometimes is compared to Carl Sagan, he has published 10 books, including a historical novel based on Johannes Kepler's life.) He is fascinated with questions of origins: of the universe, of matter, and of life-- the main topics of his research.

When he is not teaching, doing research, or writing, he loves exploring the still pristine streams of Vermont and New Hampshire with his fly rod in search of wild trout. No, he doesn't ever kill a fish, although sometimes the fish, or their pursuit, come close to killing him. He is also an avid long-distance runner (watch out Murakami!) and yogi.

If you want to know more about Marcelo's activities please visit his official web page: www.dartmouth.edu/~mgleiser
and his blog at National Public Radio, shared with three other scientists/writers: www.npr.org/blogs/13.7

You can also follow Marcelo on twitter: http://twitter.com/MGleiser

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars For anyone who was ever wondered about our fate, May 19, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: The Prophet and the Astronomer: A Scientific Journey to the End of Time (Hardcover)

Marcelo Gleiser has written an extremely compelling and accessible book on the science of "the end of the world" theories. It's exciting that science is taking a serious look at this, just as they have with the origins of our universe. It is especially exciting to me that this book is not the type of writing that seemingly only other scientists can understand.
-From someone who has never studied physics nor astronomy in a classroom yet wants to know the "real" science behind humanity's "big" questions.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars An Interesting Look at Cosmology, September 1, 2005

By 

Katie "book worm" (PA , USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Prophet and the Astronomer: A Scientific Journey to the End of Time (Hardcover)

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.

6 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars interesting but not successful, February 17, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: The Prophet and the Astronomer: A Scientific Journey to the End of Time (Hardcover)

I read this book primarily on the basis of the recommendation by Freeman Dyson who wrote that this book gives a clear picture of "science evolving within the culture of religion that gave it birth" At the risk of disagreeing with one of my favoritie science authors I would have to say that this book fails. I cannot think of a single book on the same subject, however, that succeeds. The author writes well but does not convince me that the science of today is motivated by the same instincts and attitudes that underlay the concerns of religion in anything more than a superficial sense. The only book to succeed in my memory was " tao of physics" which , unfortunately was simply wrong.

There is a brave attempt to explain inflation theory in an original way, but it too fails. The most interesting chapters are on comets and asteroids, but apart from introducing the subject by pointing out that people had always thought of comets as ill omens there is no real link between how people may have thought then and how or what they think now. The fact is there is a huge difference in our understanding of cosmology. We may want to know about the stars for many of the same reasons. But that is a trivial observation. Science is no longer a religious occupation.
In short I think it is another attempt to fill a market niche of "science-religion", but without any real ideas it fails. I wish Mr. Dyson would actually read the books that he recommends.