Customer Reviews

Who Wrote the Bible Code? : A Physicist Probes the Current Controversy

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There's a relatively small intersection between the kinds of people who would be interested in the so-called "Bible Codes" and those who actually have the mathematical background to investigate just how significant or insignificant the findings of Drosnin, Rambsel, Jeffery, et al really are. Dr. Ingermanson is one who, fortunately, took the time to address the question in a thoughtful, methodical manner.

Dr. Ingermanson takes a fairly sophisticated statistical analysis -- chi-squared analysis of two-letter and three-letter patterns in various permutations of a text -- and presents it, bit by bit, in a way that doesn't require deep mathematical knowledge to follow. (For math geeks like myself, he fills in the sordid, formula-laden details on his website.)

I wouldn't have minded a slightly more combative book, however. Drosnin in particular is clearly unable to understand what he's writing about, and leaves himself open to dozens of serious complaints. (The one that comes to mind is his "prediction" -- actually a "postdiction," in Ingermanson's useful coinage -- that Clinton would become President because the name "Clinton" could be found four times "encoded" in the Bible. What Drosnin didn't bother to point out is that the name of Clinton's opponent, Bush, appears _twelve million_ times. So much for Drosnin's scientific method.) It would have been a public service if Ingermanson popped one or two of Dronsin's bigger balloons -- Drosnin grants himself more wiggle room than an overweight belly dancer, but doesn't let the reader know. This unveiling would have been helpful for those who were won over by anecdotal evidence without understanding the nature of coincidence.

Ingermanson's book is balanced, fair, and meticulous, and -- unlike every other book I've seen about the "Bible Codes" -- doesn't make outrageous claims without backing them up.

If you do not read any other book on the Bible Code, READ THIS ONE! Dr. Ingermanson has tackled this subject completely. For the uninitiated, He explains what the Bible Code is, and does a very good job. Then he reviews other books and papers on the subject. Finally, he applies the tool of mathematics to the problem. But for the non-math people out there, he actually makes it understandable, putting all the scary equations into an online appendix which is available to the non-squeamish. And he comes up with an answer. (Read the book to see his conclusion) Dr. Ingermanson's style of writing is light-hearted, yet sincere. He builds interest throughout the course of the book and keeps the reader engaged to the end. It is a delightful excursion to the solution to the Bible Code mystery. Sherlock Holmes should be so much fun!

I've done intensive research on the Bible Code, looking at all sides of the issue. This is the only book that approaches the subject with a systematic, rational, and scientific viewpoint. The proponents of the code call it "science" therefore, it needs to be evaluated in the same way, and that is what this book does. --- Bottom line: the author starts from an objective position and makes his commentary as the research unfolds -- fair, scientfic, and clear. --- Beyond that: On a topic where "skewering" the opposition is the norm, Ingermanson approaches the subject with grace and care. He refuses to enter into the arena of accusation. When he disagrees with a position he does it by "speaking the truth in love." An unusual approach in this genre. Buy the book. It will challenge you unless you are a physicist, mathamatician, or statistician, but it will be worth your time and effort if you care about discovering the truth about the Bible Code.

Having read the book, I was astounded that the author has missed the point of the original published statistical paper on the Bible Code. What he has shown is that the Bible does not contain a hidden message at any particular skip code. The Bible Code is not at any particular skip sequence, but is single words in different skip patterns in close proximity. His computer code, though interesting, disproves what no one claims. Read Cracking the Bible Code for a more scientific and clear explaination of the Bible Code debate.

It is refreshing to read a book such as Dr. Ingermanson's Who Wrote the Bible Code? Codes along with cyphers are a form of writing usually used in an attempt to convey messages in secrecy. The better to keep the secret, the better the code. Many of these messages have had their secrecy broken by the use of computers. Bible codes discussed in Dr. Ingermanson's book offer another twist. Apparently, the code's author wants to have the secret discovered, but only the use of computers has made this discovery thousands of years after the codes were written. It is satisfying then to find the codes existence disproved also using, you guessed it, computers.

With the authors of other books each claiming that their computer found or didn't find a code, we can be expected to wonder who is correct. Dr. Ingermanson's careful use of statistics and easy to understand explanations of good scientific process applied to this problem go a long way to answering that question. I found the book interesting, with humor to help get through difficult conceptual explanations. He has put to rest the question for now, but no doubt it will not be long before another book on the subject will appear. Let's hope it is as rigorous as this one.

As a civil engineer who routinely uses statistics to evaluate the structural and surface integrity of roads and airfield pavements, I found Dr. Ingermanson's book very novel and refreshing. His application of the scientific method and statistics to determine who wrote the Bible code was much more interesting than my usual experience. The author very ingeniously analyzed the procedures and results of various proponents of the Bible code with familiar analogies, in non-technical language, and without math equations shown in his book. His approach led me to a new appreciation of a common tool, statistics; and, I believe the odds are that most people who read this book will learn much more than the answer to the question in the book's title.

For those slightly curious or wanting to know more about the Bible Code phenomenon "Who Wrote the Bible Code? by Dr. Randall Ingermanson is an excellent source. It is an easy read that brings you along in a logical step by step fashion through to a final conclusion. Dr. Ingermanson skillfully guides the reader through the statistical and mathematical necessities to the final point of truth. I will not disclose the results, it's up to you to enjoy the book chapter by chapter to the journeys end.

The Bible Code has gotten a lot of publicity over the last few years; it's also generated a lot of controversy. Although I'd read a few books about it, and had a pretty clear opinion about it, I was still interested in reading Dr. Ingermanson's analysis. It was well worth the effort to find and read it.

I appreciated his step-by-step approach to clarify a process that can be challenging to understand. I also benefited from his detailed descriptions of how this kind of examination is supposed to be done. Fortunately, too, Dr. Ingermanson has a unique sense of humor which leavens a book that could otherwise be too dry to appreciate: the start is a laugh-out-loud point. But overall, the book is serious and well done, but readable and relatively easy to follow. However, there are parts that should be read slowly (or more than once) because the reasoning is not intuitively easy to grasp.

He builds his reasoning on a firm foundation, continuing to what I found to be an unavoidable conclusion. In addition, he makes sure that he's explained each topic/chapter before continuing. He discusses the other books on the subject courteously: when he disagrees with other authors' analytical methods, he never doubts their motives, but always gives them the benefit of the doubt. And when he disagrees with their conclusions, he does so courteously.

He pretty well debunks the code, and I appreciate his doing so. I find it hard to believe that God would bury information in His Word in this way. It would give the Bible a seek-and-find-puzzle aspect that would be beneath It. It's worth the effort to go to his website to find more information about this topic. He also lists other sites which are likely to be useful, too.

I was grabbed by the title and his down to earth approach, but he never got indepth with the actual process of how his program worked. He Redundantly, reexplained the ideas of random occurances in numbers and tryed to apply it to text. But was it my understanding or was it his lack of explaination, I still don't comprehend where or how he started his process when he applied it to the text. Does he apply his theory to every Character or what? If your interested in the bible code he helps clarify questions I had from other books. Other than that, he hasn't convinced me either way. A must have in order to keep up with his bible code ideas because you know that next month someone will write another book using his theory to justify the code or rebuke it.

Dr. Ingermanson uses a scientific approach to settle the Bible codes issue once and for all. Amazingly enough, his book is easy and enjoyable to read -- even for someone like me who can't stay awake for typical non-fiction books. He uses humor and a down to earth approach to make what could have been a very technical subject simple and easy to understand. Not only does he explain the evidence for and against the existence of "Bible codes", but he designs and performs an elegant experiment that settles the whole issue. Who Wrote the Bible Code is a wonderfully written book and a brilliant piece of scholarship!