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IN SEARCH OF DIVINE REALITY: SCIENCE AS A SOURCE OF INSPIRATION

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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.

donw@techline.com or dwallace@crc.stmartin.edu END

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.

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.

In addition to its thought-provoking philosophy, "In Search of Divine Reality" is also an excellent introduction to the basics of quantum mechanics. Dr. Schafer explains these usually intimidating concepts in a way that most laypeople will have no difficulty understanding. If you are one of those people who has been scared of the "hard sciences" since high school, this is the book for you. It's bound to get anyone as excited as a kid with a new chemistry set.

At the end of his book, "In Search of Divine Reality", Lothar Schäfer refers to the philosopher Immanuel Kant, by modifying one of Kant's famous statements. He writes: "Two things fill my mind with ever increasing admiration and reverence the more I think about them: the miracle of my consciousness and its covenant with the mind-like background of physical reality." I am citing this text, because it is a highlight of Schäfer's philosophy. At the end of `Critique of Practical Reason', Kant offered a testimony of his philosophy, called the `Conclusion', which begins with the following sentences: "Two things fill the mind with ever new and increasing admiration and awe, the oftener and the more steadily we reflect on them: the starry heavens above and the moral law within. I have not to search for them and conjecture them as though they were veiled in darkness ... I see them before me and connect them directly with the consciousness of my existence. The former begins from the place I occupy in the external world of sense ...The second begins from my invisible self, my personality, and exhibits me in a world which has true infinity, but which is traceable only by the understanding, and with which I discern that I am not in a merely contingent but in a universal and necessary connection, as I am also thereby with all those visible worlds."

Kant refers to two contrary aspects of human beings, which are related by our consciousness.
On the one hand there is the perceiving human being within the seemingly `unconscious outer-world of the universe', and on the other hand there is this ,infinite inner-world of a conscious universe`. In a nutshell, a human being as a material and also a spiritual being, within a world which is also, at the same time, material and spiritual. The American philosopher Ralph Waldo Emerson, a great admirer of Kant's, writes in his book `Nature': Nature is Spirit! That was and still is the philosophy of the gnosis. It was opposed by Christianity. But Christianity once also opposed the idea that the earth would be a ball. We know that Galileo Galilei had to suffer for this `sin'. Since the time of Isaac Newton, science and philosophy separate the observing human being radically from religion and a non-conscious nature. Human consciousness is completely irrelevant for this classical world view. This changed radically with the advent of quantum physics. Suddenly our consciousness is part of a `conscious nature', with which Kant acknowledged an intrinsic infinite relatedness. While this is rejected by the majority of scientists, Lothar Schäfer reminds us of Kant's legacy.

In a remarkable way, Lothar Schäfer achieves in this book a synthesis of classical philosophers with the state of the art knowledge of modern physical science. In this way, chemistry, physics and biology, which are usually taught without any `spirit', will gain `spirit' again! I strongly recommend this book to everyone, who is trying to understand the common ground of spirit and nature, and especially to those scientists, who have driven spirit and consciousness out of nature, out of human beings, and with it out of themselves.

First, a disclaimer: I used this book as a supplement to a class on Quantum Reality at the University of Arkansas in Spring 2009, taught by Prof. Schafer himself.
The semester before I took Prof. Schafer's class, I had taken the undergraduate QM course offered by the physics department. Although I enjoyed that class, I felt a little "cheated", because between normalization constants, potential wells, bra-ket notation, Clebsch-Gordon tables, intrinsic angular momentum, ect., I felt we never got a feel for what QM "means" or its implications. That's where this book comes in. Between this book and Prof. Schafer's lectures and discussion, I gained an appreciation for the physical and metaphysical consequences of QM as they apply to the macroscopic world. Some theories I agreed with, others I didn't, but Schafer's book is meant to be a catalyst for discussion, not a gospel fact.
Now, as a catalyst for discussion, one of the more remarkable things about this book is that it requires no background in QM, effectively opening the topic of Quantum Reality to anyone with an open mind, and not just the more technically-minded. Besides myself, and a few chemistry majors who had exposure to quantum theory through Atkins, most of the class was completely oblivious to the nature of quantum physics when they showed up on day one. However, the qualitative features of QM - Stern-Gerlach, Heisenberg, Pauli Exclusion, Schroedinger Eq., nature of the wavefunction, spin - were covered, to the point that everyone, from business majors, english lit. majors, and journalism majors to science and engineering majors, openly discussed the nature of Quantum Reality, without dumbing the subject down. And this brings me to how this book is so enlightening: this book bridges the gap between the often-inaccessible mathmatical theory of QM with the more humanistic, philosophic interpretations. In Search of Divine Reality provides something for literally everyone, and while you don't have to agree with Schafer's interpretations, you must admit that it's a wonderful motivation for discussion.
Prof. Schafer, if you're reading this, thanks for the experience (and the book).

Lothar Schafer's "IN SEARCH OF DIVINE REALITY" happily answers many more questions than it raises. This book seems to put many desparate issues into a seamless and
readable story. Great quotes and brilliant observations also make this read a
valuable tool in dealing with reality as we perceive it. I did not detect any
personal agendas nor slights towards others. He seems to write to enlighten and
entertain in a very down to earth way. Thank you Lothar.