IN SEARCH OF DIVINE REALITY: SCIENCE AS A SOURCE OF INSPIRATION [Paperback]

LOTHAR SCHAFER (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 235 pages
• Publisher: University of Arkansas Press; First edition (August 1, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1557284687
• ISBN-13: 978-1557284686
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 5.5 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #787,701 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best discussion yet on the relation between mind and mattter, May 16, 1998

By 

[e-mail] (Grays Harbor County, WA.) - See all my reviews

This review is from: IN SEARCH OF DIVINE REALITY: SCIENCE AS A SOURCE OF INSPIRATION (Hardcover)

Schafer's book is by far the best I have read on the relationship between mind and matter. He makes a convincing case that matter arises from the mind and not the other way around as classical physics and neo-Darwinism insist. The key to understanding how matter arises from the mind is the wave/particle duality. Schafer shows how it takes an act of observation to collapse a ghostly wave of probabilities into a specific bit of real matter. His chapter on the wave/particle dualty is superb, again the best I have read.. Schafer, in my opinion, does a far better job than E.O. Wilson, in his recent book Consilience, of unifying human knowledge within the framework of science. The difference is that Schafer uses Quantum Physics while Wilson hardly mentions it, and stays largely with the old mechansitic and materialistic world view of Newtonian or classical physics.

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10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An inspired argument for a scientifically based spirituality, May 18, 2002

By 

DN (Delray Beach, FL) - See all my reviews

This review is from: IN SEARCH OF DIVINE REALITY: SCIENCE AS A SOURCE OF INSPIRATION (Hardcover)

An excellent and well-written discussion of how quantum physics makes it possible to conceive of a new notion of spirituality that is consistent with available scientific data, yet provides meaning and a moral basis for our lives. The author has a deep understanding of both physics and metaphysics, reserves the technical aspects of his argument for appendices, and provides a multitude of informative references. The book possesses a conciseness and clarity uncommon in literature of this sort, and reflects the author's passion for the subject. A truly worthwhile read.

22 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Quantum Mechanics offers a new base for spirituality., April 23, 1998

By 

Dr. Lothar Schafer (Fayetteville, Arkansas United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: IN SEARCH OF DIVINE REALITY: SCIENCE AS A SOURCE OF INSPIRATION (Hardcover)

Lothar Schafer: In Search of Divine Reality

KEYWORDS: SCIENCE AND RELIGION; QUANTUM MECHANICS AND SPIRITUALITY

In the context of Encounters of Science and Religion, "In Search of Divine Reality" proposes that the traditional conflict between the two disciplines is mainly one involving classical,Newtonian Science and many of its most pressing issues have been solved by the discovery of Quantum Mechanics. In Classical Physics, there is no room for the spiritual and for God. In the World of Quantum Mechanics, the foundations of physical reality have revealed all the aspects of a transcendent reality; with non-material entities at the basis of material things; with components of ordinary things that are not as real as the things that they make; with instantaneous, long-distance (non-local) influences pervading the universe; and with elementary entities that have mind-like properties. Thus, in the same way in which dead atoms can form living organisms and stupid molecules can form intelligent brains, the metaphysical can engender the physical. Without the employment of advanced mathematics, the book uses the phenomena of Quantum Reality to provide a clear and generally understandable description of the concepts of Quantum Mechanics and its consequences for our views of human nature. In the words of Prof. Quentin Smith, Department of Philosophy, Western Michigan University, Author (with W. L. Craig) of "Theism, Atheism, and Big Bang Cosmology": "Schafer's book is an integrative approach to Modern Science and Religion that aims to show how some traditional religious and philosophical notions can be understood or redefined in terms of modern science. The scientific explanations are reliable and the scientific interpretations of religious ideas are interesting and should be taken seriously and respectfully by even the most sober-minded adherents of the scientific world-view. Rather than science being opposed or or subordinated to religion, religious views are refashioned in terms of currently accepted scientific theories. Most of the arguments of the book are based on conclusions drawn from the phenomena of quantum reality and it is one of the clearest introductory explanations of quantum mechanics on the market. Schafer's book is written in a lively and accessible style that will appeal to the general reader. I really enjoyed reading this book."

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Lothar Schafer is Distinguished Professor of Physical Chemistry at the University of Arkansas. His research interests include topics in Computational Chemistry and Molecular Structural Studies by Electron Diffraction.