The author has very interesting points that definitely make a lot of sense. Since he was both a Jesuit and a scientist, Teilhard De Chardin links spirituality and evolution in a wonderful way. The only problem I had with this book was that some of the author's arguments were stated as intuitive, but actually appeared to me to be counter-intuitive. Some of the ideas were just not bolstered by enough proof, or any proof whatsoever. On a whole, I think this book brings up some astounding points. Th More...

Essential reading for anyone interested in evolution, theology, or philosophy in general. I personally approached it more interested in its spiritual concepts, so I found a fair portion of the middle of the text rather slow and inaccessible due to its focus on the scientific specifics of evolution (details that are probably outdated today anyway, which doesn't help). But there are enough interesting lines, images, and trains of thought throughout to make the whole read worthwhile, and the last t More...

This was great reading in the first and third parts of the book…though the middle almost killed me with its technicality.

In the early 20th century, Pierre Teilhard became a forerunner in integrating evolution with a theistic worldview, but the greatest import of his work was that he took a dead-eye shot at predicting where naturalistic evolution was heading. Advancing beyond mere rosy humanism, Teilhard fervently believed in the eons-long progress of hominization—the coming to being of humanity More...

There is no denying that Teilhard's book has been very influential. It provides a nice alternative to mechanistic evolution by arguing that consciousness is inherent in all things (or as Teilhard puts it, everything has a 'within'). He also argues that evolution is not random, but rather, we are being pulled by something, which he calls the Omega Point (I prefer Terrence McKenna's version though - the transcendental object at the end of time). Teilhard was a Jesuit paleontologist who spent sever More...

Teilhard de Charin and Carl Jung never met.

Dr. Jung did finish reading The Phenomenon of Man less than a month before his death. The book had both a great and visible impact upon Dr. Jung according to Michael Serrano. It must have been satisfying for Dr. Jung to see Teilhard de Chardin from the perspective of a paleontologist and Jesuit Priest reach the same empirical conclusions about the evolution of consciousness that Dr. Jung found in his empirical research in Depth Psychology.

It is a pecu More...

I believe this is one of the great books of the 20th Century. Too bad the Vatican doesn't seem to agree. Father Teilhard proposes such a revolutionary idea about the nature of reality that he must invent a new set of concepts (or old concepts used in a new way) to talk about it -- the within and the without of things, the relation of interior of things to their complexity, that consciousness is inherent in matter from the beginning. I don't personally share the viewpoint of this book. But I reco More...

A mostly original and organic work of poetic spiritual/scientific synthesis, with many weird ideas but beautifully rendered and inspiring. Teilhard was a beautiful human being, unpretentious, a polymath, and absolutely tripping on evolutionary theology. His Christianity bears little resemblance to the kind the word usually conjurs. Anyone interested in thinking about what human conciousness might be like in 1000 years, even poetically speaking ( assuming we don't blow ourselves up or stop inter- More...

I really admire de Chardin, I should say that upfront. He was a very learned man - a scientist, an archeologist, and a Jesuit Priest. His vision of the future is one of unity and universality - a merging of consciousness and love with the Omega (God). His book, however, was a difficult read. I am no scientist and this book is absolutely filled with science. If I hadn't been reading it for a class, I doubt I would have understood his message at all. Nevertheless, I enjoyed many of his ideas and a More...

This work was so revolutionary for the time it was written that the powers that be would not even allow it to be released until sometime after the death of Pierre Teilhard de Chardin. When one reads this overwhelming work they will come to know why the truths were kept secret for so long. Works of such a nature challenge mankind behind the brinks of their present conscious evolution and spur on a conscious revolution that is needed for the survival of the species.

Pierre Teilhard de Chardin was one of the most forward-looking thinkers of the early twentieth century. Trained as a paleontologist and ordained a Jesuit priest, foresaw the time when scientific knowledge and religious knowledge would join together in an ecstasy of sorts that he termed the "Omega Point". This is arguably one of the greatest single ideas of twentieth century thought. If the book were rated solely on this point, it would definitely be a 5-star work.

However, reading Teilhard's book More...

I really tried to love this book, which contains a number of ideas that I find wacky but exciting. I'm sad to say that it was something of a letdown. The astonishing concepts are weighed down by unpalatable writing (or translating, possibly) and a truly strange style of argumentation. Teilhard's pretense that his worldview, which contains a number of fascinating ties to mystical visions from the medieval West and the Far East, is a simple product of scientific reasoning absolutely fails to convi More...

Again this is a well known book but is not all that easy to read.But if you want to try and understand religion (God) and how man fits into all this here is a really good book. But like most of his works it is one you need to really study. Some of his works were placed on prohibited reading by the Catholic Church for a while but all have been removed from that list. But it shows you how deep and new his writings were.

This book is a fascinating read, either written in or translated beautifully from the French. Pierre Teilhard de Chardin speculated quite presciently about evolution by socialization, the inextricability of complexity and consciousness, and a living conscious universe.

“The cell has become someone. After the grain of matter, the grain of life; and now at last we see constituted the grain of thought.”

Yes, the science is a little outdated, but that doesn't change the overall message. If anything, modern physics is validating Teilhard's concept of the noosphere, and web-based technology has manifested it. In my own case, there were passages that explained the same things I've thought my whole life (hence the five stars) but was unable to put into words.

I don’t really recommend this book to most people. Instead, I would recommend doing a little background check on Pierre Teilhard de Chardin. He is a character that has had a memorable impact on my own psyche for two reasons: 1) the brilliance of his ideas and 2) his wisdom in dealing with the orthodoxy of his day. http://www.teilharddechardin.org/biog...

This book intends to describe the past and future evolution
of life. Many of the scientific concepts expressed in the
first half of the book have been superseded by more recent
developments.

For me, the main interesting concept in the book is the
assertion that human consciousness is an aspect of
evolution. Also that evolution has a goal, i.e. the increasing
complexity of human consciousness (called noosphere) which
will culminate in the final super-humanized form (p. 259)
which the author calls the Om More...

I like like this book becasue it tries to appropriate or shall I "religiously interpret", although indefinitively and inconclusively, the major and recent scientific discoveries through the lens of the Christian understanding of history and of the cosmos.

This notable Jesuit scholar clearly read the great Olaf Stapledon before he wrote his Phenomenon of Man. The Phenomenon of Man is how I would imagine Boetheus would have interpreted Stapledon's "First and Last Men". It is an amazing read from 1938.

I've known Teilhard de Chardin's name and influence even long before I became interested in religion myself, and this book was a long time in coming. And a long time in finishing, it just didn't woo me.

His prose is stronger than his argument. His science is not up to modern standards, but nor in many ways his own. What continuously bothered me was how often he resorts to normative statements, analogies between unrelated things and such to make both scientific and theological claims. Yes, evoluti More...

An amazing concept, and true in my book, explored by a French Jesuit. I liked this book a lot for it's ability to walk the tightrope between religion and science. The fact that it was written by a Jesuit who wasn't allowed to publish it during his life bespeaks much regarding progress but not perfection. As it is on the surface a science book, one that was first written in French, it is difficult to comprehend on a first reading and multiple readings of chapters, paragraphs and even sentences is More...

First read was my senior year in a Catholic High School in 1968. Presented a new worldview in my learning quest throughout my life that opened the windows of the Christian structure to nature and unity in all faith.

Teilhard de Chardin, anthropologist and Jesuit priest, was prohibited by the Church from publishing this book during his lifetime. A flawed but compelling review of evolution and projection of evolutionary processes into the future, this work —published in 1955— sees human consciousness and the global interconnectedness of information as the telos of natural selection. Though unnecessarily mystic and tinged with Christian theology, the book is worth reading for Teilhard's discussion of the tende More...

Despite the hype, I found The Phenomenon of Man to largely consist of flawed, unsupported conclusions - except for the parts that were incomprehensible.

the book should be read with
Lewis Mumford's book that criticizes
people like Teilhard, Marshall McLuhan,
Timothy Leary and Buckminster Fuller

I return to Teilhard often to be challenged and enlightened. Sometimes difficult but always worth it

poetics are marvelously employed and ideas flow in a powerfully coordinated textual relations. GREAT

Responsible for major change on my views of life - all positive, forward looking.

A bit better than the common Wall translation. The notes help substantially.

This is an excellent book for those who aren't afraid to mix science with religion.

nonfiction,theology,evolution,Jesuit,science,philosophy