Stephen Hawking and the Mind of God (Postmodern Encounters) (Paperback)

by Peter Coles (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
Stephen Hawking has achieved a unique position in contemporary culture, combining eminence in the rarefied world of theoretical physics with the popular fame usually reserved for film stars and rock musicians. Yet Hawking’s technical work is so challenging, both in its conceptual scope and in its mathematical detail, that proper understanding of its significance lies beyond the grasp of all but a few specialists. How, then, did Hawking-the-scientist become Hawking-the-icon?

Hawking’s theories often take him into intellectual territory that has traditionally been the province of religion rather than science. He acknowledges this explicitly in the closing sentence of his bestseller, 'A Brief History of Time', where he says that his ultimate aim is to ‘know the Mind of God’.

'Hawking and the Mind of God' examines the pseudo-religious connotations of some of the key themes of Hawking’s scientific work, and how these shed light not only on the Hawking cult itself, but also on the wider issue of how scientists represent themselves in the media.

About the Author
Peter Coles is Professor of Astrophysics at the University of Nottingham, where he works on problems connected with the origin of galaxies and large-scale structure in the universe.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 80 pages
• Publisher: Totem Books (June 25, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1840461241
• ISBN-13: 978-1840461244
• Product Dimensions: 6.9 x 4.4 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.9 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,456,099 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Much too short, September 7, 2001

By	Edward Bosnar (Zagreb, Croatia) - See all my reviews

The text in this little booklet is much too short, but since it is part of a series of pamphlets called Postmodern Encounters, I suppose its brevity was a requirement set down by the publisher. Basically it is an examination of why theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking has become such a widely recognized cultural icon, even though his field of research (astrophysics and cosmology) is hardly understood by most people. Coles even speculates, correctly I think, that vast majority of those who bought his best-selling Brief History of Time probably did not even bother reading it. Even though Coles never implies that Hawking is anything but a brilliant scientist and top-notch researcher, he also points out that Hawking can hardly be placed in the company of such revolutionary physicists as Galileo, Newton or Einstein  even though is how he is now perceived in the popular mind. Coles thus explores how this assignment of an almost guru-like status for Hawking came about. Along the way, Coles also provides a summary of the basic ideas underlying relativity theory and quantum physics, geared toward compleat idiots such as myself. This section actually accounts for the bulk of the text, and makes his rather brief investigation of the Hawking phenomenon all the more tantalizing. This subject matter deserves a much more detailed study  hopefully Coles is working on a more comprehensive book.

4.0 out of 5 stars Misleading Title, December 28, 2008

By	Ric Warner (New York) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This was a very informative booklet and Coles presented the facts about Stephen Hawking. Coles started out with a quick overview on Hawking, the phenomenon surrounding this great physicist, he touches on the history of physics, and an implied connection of Hawking birth to Galileo's death, exactly 300 years ago.

he middle section of the book build up to the connection of the three primary theory, the need of finding a link with the laws of gravity, and the work Hawking did regarding Black Holes being no so black.

The downside of the book are; i) I expected Hawking's spiel on the Mind of God or even god, ii) the brevity iii) the comments about the celebrity of Hawking due to modern media coverage.

I recommend reading the book and then getting a copy of A Brief History of Time (1988) by Stephen Hawking