Book Review: God and the Astronomers

Author: Robert Jastrow
Spiritual Bias: Agnostic
Origins Bias: Unknown
Rating: Middle of the Road
Level: Basic/Intermediate

Comments: Astronomer Robert Jastrow discusses the rash of scientific discoveries in the last century which have led to the discovery of Big Bang cosmology. He chronicles the implications of Einstein's relativity, Hubble's law, and the discovery of Cosmic Background Radiation. This book is very clear and easy to understand. The reader need not be the most scientific and mathematically skilled in order to grasp the explanations provided by Jastrow. He also spends a lot of time discussing the implications of the scientifically supported idea of the finite "beginning" of our Universe. Although this book is about a decade old (published in 1992) most of the science is still valid and is definitely worth reading, especially if you are interested in learning the basics behind Big Bang Theory.

Summary Quote: "Five independent lines of evidence- the motions of the galaxies, the discovery of the primordial fireball, the laws of thermodynamics, the abundance of helium in the Universe and the life story of the stars- point to one conclusion; all indicate that the Universe had a beginning. In the past, a few scientists bit the bullet and dared to ask, "What came before the beginning?" Edmund Whittaker, a British physicist...concluded ,"It is simpler to postulate creation ex nihilo- Divine will constituting Nature from nothingness."