The Fallacy of Fine-Tuning: Why the Universe Is Not Designed for Us Review

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(More customer reviews)Vic Stenger is an experimental physicist who, since retiring, has turned his attention to metaphysics. He has written eight books, six of which are on the general theme of the misuse of science to support religion, alternative medicine, and other superstitions. The "fine tuning" of the title refers to the idea that values of various physical quantities could not be even slightly different than they are in our universe and still permit life to exist. Some religionists have seized on this idea as evidence that a creator god "fine tuned" those values just for us. And even many agnostic and atheist scientists have been impressed by the fine tuning of some parameters like the cosmological constant.
Stenger examines each of the fine tuned parameters that have been touted as essential to a life-friendly universe. He brings to bear a sweeping knowledge of physics and explains why each claim of fine-tuning is either entirely misconceived or is not nearly so "fine" as claimed. You can learn quite of bit of physics reading this book and even better you can learn to think like a physicist. The presentation can be followed by anyone who took high-school physics, but Stenger also includes some mathematical exposition that requires calculus to fully appreciate. Here the reader needs to watch out for some typos in the equations. If they look wrong or confusing, check online. The physics and mathematics is all standard stuff and easily checked. If you have Stenger's purely physics book, "The Comprehensible Cosmos" take a look in it.
In looking over reviews of Stenger's other books, I see that he is criticized for not proving that God doesn't exist or that some fad or superstition is false. I expect this book will draw the same criticism. This is a misunderstanding of what he is doing. He doesn't propose to prove that a creator God doesn't exist. In fact he has said that the god of deism, a creator who doesn't meddle in his creation, is a possible god. What he does prove is there is no evidence for a creator god; and specifically in this book, no evidence of fine tuning. Everything about the universe looks as one might expect if the universe arose by natural processes out of nothing.
Stenger briefly considers the idea of a multiverse, the idea that any natural process producing our universe would, absent some special principle, also produce arbitrarily many other universes. This would answer the question as to why the universe is fine-tuned for life: the answer being that of course life occurs in those universes friendly to life. Although Stenger doesn't reject the multiverse idea, he considers it unnecessary for answering the fine-tuning argument because he has shown there is no fine-tuning. Furthermore, he notes that the Bayesian inference argument of Mike Ikeda and Bill Jeffery shows that any observation that the universe is fine-tuned could only count as evidence *against* a god.
In the interest of full disclosure, I should note that my name appears in the acknowledgements of this book.

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Best of Robert Ingersoll: Selections from His Writings and Speeches Review

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(More customer reviews)Nobody knows Ingersoll's name today, and that's a shame. America has pushed him down into the footnotes of its history books. If it remembers him at all, it is as an atheist crackpot, a son of Tom Paine.
"I would rather be right than be president." Henry Clay said it, but if he hadn't, Col. Robert G. Ingersoll would have. It was certainly more true of Ingersoll than of Clay. He had the qualities people sought, then and now, in a leader. He had a keen, powerful mind; he was a matchless orator in an age which understood, and adored, oratory. He had led a regiment bravely in battle in the Civil War. He was honest, moral, dignified and in love with his wife and daughters. But when people encouraged him to run for president, or governor, he told them it was impossible, that he could only win votes if he would renounce his agnosticism, which he would never do. He would renounce high office rather than be false to his conception of truth. Between power and integrity there was, for him, no choice. And this disqualified him for office.
Mark Twain idolized him. Oscar Wilde, when he came to the United States, was curious to see this man Ingersoll whose lectures were so much more in demand than his own. He attended several Ingersoll performances, and pronounced him "the most intelligent man in America." It has been written that Frederick Douglass said that, "of all the great men of his personal acquaintance, there had been only two in whose presence he could be without feeling that he was regarded as inferior to them -- Abraham Lincoln and Robert Ingersoll."
People turned out by the thousands to hear him speak -- 50,000 one night in Chicago, in the days before microphones and sound systems. Ingersoll criss-crossed an America still deeply pious, heaping scorn on the brutality of religion. By the time he died in 1899, he had probably been heard by more human beings than any other person who lived in the 19th century. Although Ingersoll launched a broad-front free-thinker's assault on religious credulity, people seemed to focus on his words against the stupider aspects of Christianity, the ones that good, intelligent people had, by the late 1800s, outgrown. His sarcasm shreded the lingering bigotry in the national religion.
He held the odd status of beloved agnostic in a Christian land, in part, because this public man was so clearly living an honest, useful and loving life. His house was filled with spiritual and intellectual light, and he used a wonderful mind and a matchless personal power in the service of the good of all humanity. He frankly advocated equality for women when few men did, and he damned child abuse masquerading as parental authority. "Gentlemen," he said in one circumstance, "it isn't to have you think that I would call Christ 'an illegitimate child' which hurts me: it is that you should think that I would think any the less of Christ if I knew it was so."
His friend Walt Whitman probably captured the common view of Ingersoll when he called him, "a fiery blast for new virtues, which are only old virtues done over for honest use again." The odd thing is, Ingersoll would have been shut out of public discourse in America today. The fundamentalist movement began a few years after Ingersoll died, and the level of public and private spirituality in this country sank steadily and rapidly, unto the current level, where leading "men of faith" include Bob Jones and Jimmy Swaggart, "a cellarage only to be gazed at across the barriers of libel law."
Ingersoll's words and his life give proof to the suspicion many Americans may have, but few dare utter, that people without religion can live full, generous public lives, can have a better sense of right and wrong, than those bound up in creeds. I look forward to the day when I can cast a vote for a man as worthy as Ingersoll to be president of the United States, whether he believes in God or not. I doubt I will live to do it.

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Robert Ingersoll was America's finest orator and foremost leader of freethinkers. Mark Twain, Thomas Edison, Eugene V. Debs, and Elizabeth Cady used to gather to hear the speeches of "the great agnostic". Roger E Greeley has selected the best from speeches and essays of this iconoclastic orator who laboured to destroy the superstition and hypocrisy of fundamentalism in America and who answered the Moral Majority in the last century. One hundred years after he advanced into the national spotlight, Ingersoll's commentaries still retain their fresh, penetrating, and witty character. His pleas for civil rights, the rights of women and children, responsible and responsive government, and individual freedom of conscience and religious belief have placed him in the vanguard of enlightened thinkers. Today the legacy of Robert Ingersoll, prophet and pioneer, merits the attention of anyone who espouses humane, liberal, rational, or agnostic opinions.

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The Portable Atheist: Essential Readings for the Nonbeliever Review

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(More customer reviews)The Portable Atheist, edited by Christopher Hitchens, is a great selection of how atheism has transformed into what it is today. Hitchens' introduction itself is an astounding tour de force that should not be skipped. In his introduction alone, Hitchen's lays out the foundation and positive attributes of atheism. This is crucial as many people have the common misunderstanding that atheists are pessimists or discontented. He also makes the genuinely important point that in order to believe in one of the three major monotheisms, you have to believe that the heavens watched our species for at least one hundred and fifty thousand years with "indifference, and then- and only in the last six thousand years at the very least - decided that it was time to intervene as well as redeem." He concedes that it is preposterous to believe such a heinous thing - for it would be cruel if true. His introduction is intelligent, convincing and witty - and it doesn't stop there.
The selections in this book show the evolution of atheism (or at least nontheism) from early critics of religion such as: Benedict De Spinoza, Thomas Hobbes and David Hume to more of a middle stage (Darwin, George Eliot, Mark Twain and Bertrand Russell) and then to modern-day critics like: Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris, Steven Weinberg, Daniel Dennett, Carl Sagan, Victor Stenger, Ayaan Hirsi Ali, and many more. Another great thing is the book is helpfully arranged in chronological order. All beliefs aside, the selections in this book are powerfully argued and well written. I'd recommend it to anyone with a hunger for the truth and an open mind.

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Unweaving the Rainbow: Science, Delusion and the Appetite for Wonder Review

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(More customer reviews)Not many people have the gift of taking some common event and deconstructing it to the nth degree, while making it all seem quite normal. As in his other books (Blind Watchmaker, Climbing Mount Improbable, etc.) Mr. Dawkins makes your mind boggle at the way nature use very simple (?) building blocks to fashion something extraordinary ... like us. You are set back on your heels when you realise that your body is largely composed of modified bacteria, without which we could not exist. He goes on to expound on how we see and from there how our brain interprets the world, comparing it to Virtual Reality (no comparison!) - anyone who has experienced any form of VR will understand the immense computing power it takes to present even a half-decent rendition, but the brain does this continuously AND has time to dream, imagine, remember past events and places all in real-time - I doubt if enough teraflops of computer power exist in the world even now to do that.
The main thrust of the book is the poetry of science; how, by understanding more about the way the universe works, we can appreciate the wonder of it all the better - open our minds to something more beautiful than just the outward appearance of a beautiful object - even make us see the beauty in some not-so- pleasant sights!
In this book he uses well thought-out, easy-to-grasp concepts to explode myths, de-bunk charlatans, and de-mystify magic (a little TOO vitriolic at times, I fear!) - all with the intention of opening our minds to the concept of evolution (specifically Darwinism). He takes us from rainbows to barcodes to DNA in easy stages, explaining in graphic (but never tedious) detail just how nature can (and will) evolve all its wonders.
Sometimes I had to put the book on one side just to let the enormity of it all sink in. I still find it hard to grasp the vastness of time it required for nature to accomplish all that it has - yes, I can imagine a thousand years; a million? ... I'm struggling now; a billion? ... overload! But that's what you need to do to come to grips with the evolutionary process. I suspect it's this lack of comprehension / imagination that is behind the beliefs of many Creationists, or maybe a refusal to accept that evolution can happen without some 'intervention'. Having laid myself open to attack, I can only recommend that you read what Mr. Dawkins has to say and make up your own mind who has the right of it.

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The Rage Against God: How Atheism Led Me to Faith Review

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I was attracted to read this book because of my familiarity with Peter Hitchens and his brother Christopher Hitchens. Both have become public intellectuals of varying degree. And both, as it turns out, have books being released this summer. I was excited when I got the opportunity to read this book, so provocatively titled "The Rage Against God."
This book is very much a testimonial (and an apologetic as well) of a man's life lived in the rapidly changing Britain (and West) of the post-WWII ear through today. Hitchens description of the Britain of his youth is accurate in the narrative of a nation that has slowly ossified and changed from what was a person living in Great Britain would have known prior to WWI. The public confidence in British institutions has greatly changed (witness the wrangling over Princess Diana's death by Queen Elizabeth II, for example) The relevance of Christian life in public life that was common-place and expected, whether at Christmas time or Easter was unquestioned.Hitchens describes how these touchstones have rapidly disappeared to the point where public pronouncements of religious faith are mocked and shunned to the extent that expression becomes an oddity. Witness the Church Of England abandoning so much of the liturgy that was known prior to WWII by almost all Brits. Today, even Biblical history is rapidly disappearing from public life.
Hitchens goes on to make three counterpoints of common lodestars of what non-believers argue as reasons for abandoning faith: religious faith causes conflict, moral relativism and atheism in nation/states. Finally, Hitchens goes on to debate the arguments of how the alternative to the "Christian" state, i.e. Marxist/Leninist states (such as the Soviet Union) are inherently and inextricably linked to the idea that a Godless state does not lead to 'excesses.' Of course, knowing the backstory of Peter and his brother, Christopher Hitchens as agnostics/atheists made this part far more compelling.
Frankly, I breezed through this book in just a few hours. Yes, it is short (clocking in at around 200 pages), but it is a very interesting and fascinating take on modern life (many of his observations seem undeniable for better or worse). Though this book may be thought of as a Christian testimonial, it is never preachy or judgmental. Rather, it is fascinating and compelling in illustrating why this particular former Trotskyite (!) was compelled to renounce his atheistic ways and find religion.
I really enjoyed this book, almost unexpectedly because I just didn't know what to expect from this book. But, I found myself thinking about my life in a different way, and indeed, it gave me a new perspective about thinking of how contemporary events are shaped.
I look forward to reading his brother's last book as a counterpoint. Indeed, in the marketplace of ideas about faith on both a personal level and on a communal level, this book is a valuable tool.

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The Varieties of Scientific Experience: A Personal View of the Search for God Review

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(More customer reviews)+++++
Former professor of astronomy & space sciences and former director of the Laboratory for Planetary Studies at Cornell University Dr. Carl Sagan (Nov. 1934 to Dec. 1996) has risen from the dead to write a book on his search for God!!
Well, not quite. Sagan's third wife & widow and his longtime collaborator Ann "Annie" Druyan has turned his 1985 lectures (formally entitled the "Gifford Lectures on Natural Theology") that he presented at the University of Glasgow in Scotland into a fascinating book. Astronomer and the Sagans' dear friend Steven Soter wrote scientific updates that appear in the book's footnotes and, as well, he made "many editorial contributions."
The purpose of these lectures as Druyan tells us is as follows:
"Carl saw these lectures as a chance to set down in detail his understanding of the relationship between religion and science and something of his own search to understand the nature of the sacred."
But exactly why did Druyan turn these lectures into a book (which she edited)? Here's her answer:
"In the midst of the worldwide pandemic of extreme fundamentalist violence and during a time in the United States when phony piety in public life reached a new low and the critical separation of church and state and public classroom were dangerously eroded, I felt that Carl's perspective on these questions was needed for than ever."
Thank goodness that she thought this way because she has given all of us a valuable book to be cherished, "a...stunningly valuable legacy left to all of us by a great human being." For those who have followed Sagan's writings in the past, the science he presents will be familiar and easy to follow. He does though illuminate his discussion with examples from such disciplines as cosmology, physics, philosophy, literature, psychology, cultural anthropology, mythology, and theology. What was especially new and unexpected to me were the religious viewpoints that he presents. I have never read these before and this is what makes this book a treat to read. These religious viewpoints are especially prominent in the last 5 chapters or lectures. They are entitled:
(1) Extraterrestrial folklore: implications for the evolution of religion
(2) The God hypothesis (an excellent chapter!!)
(3) The religious experience
(4) Crimes against creation
(5) The search
Sagan emphasizes an important point right at the beginning of the book in the "Author's Introduction" that he wrote in Glasgow, Scotland on Oct., 1985:
"I want to stress that what I will be saying are my own personal views on [the relationship] between science and religion...I hope only to trace my own thinking and understanding of [this relationship]."
This book has more than 35 figures or illustrations (mainly in the form of color photographs). The bulk of the photographs occur in the first four chapters that have the following titles (I have also included the number of illustrations per chapter):
(1) Nature and wonder: a reconnaissance of Heaven (14 illustrations)
(2) A retreat from Copernicus: a modern loss of nerve (5)
(3) The organic universe (13)
(4) Extraterrestrial intelligence (2)
After presenting all the lectures, the book ends with selected transcribed questions from the audience. Sagan answers these questions with his trademark style of elegance and style punctuating his answers with reason and rationality. I found this section most interesting.
Finally, a note on the photographs. Druyan explains:
"[I and Steven Soter] felt sure that Carl would not have wanted to use the 1985 slides from the lectures. Astronomers have seen farther and more clearly since then. Steve found the gorgeous [and more recent color] images that replace them."
I can validate Druyan's statement. All the photographs ARE gorgeous and a sight to behold.
In conclusion, this book presents the scintillating lectures of the relationship between science and religion by the late scientific icon, Carl Sagan. I leave you with Sagan's final words in the last lecture presented in this book:
"I think if we ever reach the point where we think we thoroughly understand who we are and where we came from, we will have failed. I think this search does not lead to a complacent satisfaction that we know the answer, not an arrogant sense that the answer is before us and we need only to do one more experiment to find out. It goes with a courageous intent to greet the universe as it really is, not to foist our emotional predispositions on it [as religion does] but to courageously accept what our explorations tell us."
(first published 2006; editor's introduction; author's introduction; 9 lectures or chapters; main narrative 220 pages; selected Q & A; acknowledgements; figure captions; index; figure credits)
+++++


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From Atheism to Catholicism: How Scientists and Philosophers Led Me to the Truth Review

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(More customer reviews)This book is a tour de force. I came to it wanting to learn more about modern philosophy's critique of theism; and that is here - Nietzsche, Darwinism, Bertrand Russell, Ayn Rand, etc. Vost's voice throughout is honestly appreciative of, and sympathetic toward, the atheist philosophers who shaped his earlier life. (With a subtitle like "How Scientists and Philosophers Led Me to Truth," I was correct in my suspicion that it would have a completely unique take on the matter.) An atheist well into his forties, when Vost points out the shortcomings in that position he does so with keen insight. His discussion of scientist turned amateur philosopher, Richard Dawkins, was very informative and his explanation of Dawkins' theory regarding "memes" the most down to earth I've seen. Vost introduces us to the works of other converts from atheism to theism as well - Antony Flew and Mortimer Adler two who jump to mind. In short, this book gives quite an education and from the pen of a man who knows both atheism and theism from the inside. He writes as one comfortable in his own skin (unlike so many within the "new atheism").

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God was dead to Kevin Vost for most of his adult life. Baptized, confirmed, and raised Catholic, at age 17 Vost left it all behind as he immersed himself in atheism for a period that lasted over two decades.Paralleling a successful career as a psychologist and professor, Vost allowed his clinical perspective to drive his faith perspective as well, falling into a common trap for many Catholics.This timely book's unique approach includes the good elements in the thinking of several famous atheists.But then from experience and logic, he shows how each of these authors falls short of the mark.Vost also opens the door to the philosophers and psychologists whose work, implicitly or explicitly, have paved the way toward belief in God and even in Jesus Christ.And finally, from the perspective of a clinical psychologist, Vost unveils how theologians, popes, and Catholic philosophers persuaded him to abandon his atheism and embrace faith in Christ and the Church.

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The Quotable Hitchens: From Alcohol to Zionism--The Very Best of Christopher Hitchens Review

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(More customer reviews)The first thing to understand about this book is that it's not really conducive to long periods of reading. As every fan knows, brevity is not Hitch's strong suit - in fact, a large part of the joy one gets from reading his works comes from his thorough explanations and fascinating side-notes. After becoming familiar with his writing style, it's almost unnerving to try and read this book for long periods of time. It starts to feel terse and manic. It's not because the quotes aren't worthwhile; each one is a classic gem, worthy of its reprinting here. But before long, the overload of short, brilliant quotes feels disjointed. It perfectly captures Mr. Hitchens' wit, but by implication can't include his level of depth or substance.
With that in mind, this book works perfectly in short bursts. And its alphabetical indexing perfectly divides it into 26 neat sections. I recommend reading one section a day. It feels like just the right amount. And of course, this makes an incredibly useful desk reference. If you ever need a sharp, intellectual quote to open a research paper or argument, this will become your favorite source. I've already used it twice in this way. It's easy to start on a high note when you can quickly find a quote on almost any topic you can think of, from one of the sharpest writers of the modern era.
One of the things that surprised me about this book is the extremely broad use of his quotes, in regards to both subject matter and time. The sections on "god", "Iraq War", and "Smoking" are shorter than you may expect, and there are dozens of topics you wouldn't expect, like "Patterns", "Euphemisms", and "Tennis". And the quotes themselves are evenly spread over his entire career. I expected it to rely primarily on his more widely known post-9/11 works, but this is not the case. Quite a bit of the material comes from interviews and columns from several decades ago. This is a great thing for devoted fans, as so much of it feels completely new. I own all of Hitch's books, and I was happily surprised to see so many quotes I'd never seen before.
Martin Amis' charming foreword alone is worth the price of the book, and at less than $10, you can't go wrong. It makes a great reference by itself, and if you're even mildly interested in Christopher Hitchens, you'll be happy to have this!


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