Jobs
Links
Can you catch the eye
of the beautiful Pleiades sisters?
Or distract Orion from his hunt?
Can you get Venus to look your way?
Or get the Great Bear and her cubs to come out to play?
Do you know the first thing
about the sky’s constellations?
I’m speechless in awe ...
Words fail me!
The Book of Job in the Bible
of the beautiful Pleiades sisters?
Or distract Orion from his hunt?
Can you get Venus to look your way?
Or get the Great Bear and her cubs to come out to play?
Do you know the first thing
about the sky’s constellations?
I’m speechless in awe ...
Words fail me!
The Book of Job in the Bible
Highbury Astronomy Page
Bang! A Reflection on Science and Religion
It arrived on Christmas afternoon a year or so ago!
I’d been dropping hints for quite some while and in the end they bore fruit!
It caught my imagination when I read that Brian May of ‘Queen’ had returned to the PhD he had almost completed when Freddy Mercury and friends side-tracked him into following quite a different course from the one his parents had been hoping he would follow.
His PhD was in the field of astronomy and involved a study of zodiacal light: remarkably, his research is still appropriate today and he is returning to it with zeal.
A frequent guest of Patrick Moore on the Sky at Night, Brian May has teamed up with Patrick Moore and his co-presenter, Chris Lintott, to publish BANG!, modestly sub-titled, ‘The Complete History of the Universe’.
As those who were at church on Christmas Day will recall it was with mixed feelings that I opened my stocking to discover not the book, but a triple CD collection of Queen’s greatest hits.
All was not lost, however, the book arrived later!
It’s been quite an education in more ways than one!!
The book makes a good read , and I’m quite enjoying the CDs. I am intrigued by the choice of chapter headings in the book.
After an introduction entitled, ‘The Lure of the Skies’ Chapter 1 is called ‘Genesis’ and I am pretty sure it’s not a reference to a rival group!
The full title of Chapter 1 is ‘Genesis: In the Beginning
That’s followed by Chapter 2 ‘And then there was Light’
Isn’t it interesting that they should choose to start their ‘Complete History of the Universe with chapter headings like that.
From there on the chapter headings don’t have biblical allusions ... But they make sense to me.
Chapter 3: The Evolving Universe.
Chapter 4: Stars and Planets
Chapter 5: The Emergence of Life
Chapter 6: Into the Future
Chapter 7: The End of the Universe
Some might bridle at the switch from ‘creation’ language to ‘evolution’ language.
I don’t.
I have never had trouble squaring the insights my faith gives me as I read the Bible - that the wonderful world we live in is created by God - and the insights I glean from scientists that life in the Universe and on this Planet has evolved and continues to evolve.
In BANG! The book there is no discussion of that kind of question. Very occasionally the word ‘creation’ is used to describe the Universe.
It is not until the Epilogue that reference is made to the bigger questions of Science and Religion.
When I read what Brian May, Patrick Moore and Chris Lintott had to say I was elated: that’s exactly where I stand too.
“We hope that we have communicated to the reader a feeling of the extraordinary power of the thread that runs through the evolution of the Universe - a thread into which we are all inextricably tied. Everything we are, and everything we know was there in that first Big Bang. And in a sense we are still in it.
“We, the authors, believe that this history book is a reasonable attempt to portray how things happened, according to current knowledge. Very deliberately, we have not ventured one inch into the territory of why they happened, or into the question of whether some extra-human intelligence put the whole sequence into operation. This, in the absence of any physical evidence, is the realm of mysticism and religion.
“We feel that if the workings of the Universe, in all their beauty, are properly appreciated, there is no conflict between Science and Religion; they merely deal with different areas.
“We hope that in a small way we will have contributed to calmness and lightness in the discussions that currently rage around our planet on this subject.
“If we spent a lifetime trying to understand completely how a single daffodil is made, we would be no nearer to understanding why such beauty is shown to us; nevertheless,, we can have endless fun satisfying our curiosity in both areas.
“We wish you endless fun.”
In my book that’s a wonderful statement about the relationship between science and religion. I can say a fervent ‘Amen’ to all of that.
Not least to the fun to be had in ‘satisfying our curiosity in both areas’.
It may be the Epilogue, but it’s by no means the last word in the book.
As you might expect from these three authors in particular the book finishes with a section on ‘Practical Astronomy’ before finally finishing with potted biographies of great scientists and an indispensable glossary of terms.
Brian May, Patrick Moore, Chris Lintott, BANG! The Complete History of the Universe is published by Carlton Books.
