David’s Comments (group member since Dec 13, 2009)

David’s comments from the Science and Inquiry group.

Has anybody else been reading The Grand Design? What do you think of it?

I am somewhat dissatisfied with Hawking's answer to the so-called "anthropic principle"--namely, that the laws of physics and the fundamental constants appear to be perfectly tuned to allow our world, life, and humans to develop. If any of the laws or fundamental constants were to deviate even slightly, life might not be even possible.

The answer to this dilemma, the authors state, is not that God created the laws of physics, and the answer is not that, by some fantastic coincidence, the laws of physics just happen to be perfect. Instead, an infinite number of universes have been created, each with its own unique set of laws. Since, obviously, these is no evidence for these universes, this explanation just seems to be a giant stretch.

I much prefer an explanation given by Victor Stenger, who wrote God: The Failed Hypothesis. How Science Shows That God Does Not Exist. He showed that most of the fundamental parameters are dependent on one another--only four of the parameters are truly independent. He relates the results of his own calculations, where he allowed the parameters to change, but required the dependent parameters to change together. He found that even when changed over orders of magnitude, the structure of the universe still would have allowed for stars to live long enough to generate heavier elements, and thus be favorable to the development of life.

Stenger's explanation seems a lot more palatable to me, than Hawking's. What do you think?

Alex wrote: "I read Grand Design a tiny bit early; I read 1491 a couple years ago, but would love to join in the discussion; it's seriously one of my favorite books ever."

Alex, what things got your attention in the book "1491" ?

Is anybody else reading either of this month's books:
1491: New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus
or The Grand Design
How do you like the book?

I've never before read a pre-Columbus history book of the Americas. I found 1491 to be fascinating. So much new stuff!

I get many of the books I read from our local public library. One of the neatest features on Goodreads allows you to permanently add a link to your library, from every book page. In that way, whenever you find a book you like, you can click on a link to your library--one click is all it takes, to check if the book is on the library shelves!

To do this, go to your "my account" page, and click on the "book links" tab at the top. On the right side of the page is a list of all the pre-existing links that you can choose from. The list is very long, so to find a particular one, you can alphabetize it. After you add the link, you can bring it up to the top of your individual list of links (even above the Amazon link), to make it easy to access in the future.

I did not find my library on the list, so I had to add it to the list, using the "add a new link". That brings you to a page with instructions for adding a link to your public library. The instructions are not simple--it took me some trial and error to get it right.

I just noticed something about this thread. To the right of the discussion, there is a list of a few Books mentioned in this topic. If you click on the "More..." link, you can see a very long list of all the books mentioned!

Steve wrote: "... Another was the analogy of a group of overlapping maps that agree along their boundaries to envision M Theory. "

I agree, Steve--the overlapping maps was a really good analogy. Various theories can be correct in overlapping domains. When I studied relativity, the analogy was always motion on a train. I guess Hawking needed to speed things up a bit! :-)

Analogies and metaphors are very powerful tools for teaching new concepts. Good authors use them all the time.

It looks like Packing for Mars: The Curious Science of Life in the Void will be February's book of the month. I look forward to reading it!

Here you can view how many books you read last year, and set a goal for yourself for this year.

It's time to vote for February's Book of the Month. Five excellent books have been nominated! Please only vote for a book you would seriously consider reading. The poll will be open through January 4.

Kirsten wrote: "How did you manage to finish Pinker's book so quickly?!"

I'm taking a break from work this week. :-)

I just finished reading two books about the human mind:

Kluge: The Haphazard Construction of the Human Mind by Gary Marcus is a fun, easy read. It is a pop-psychology book that describes a whole bunch of quirks of the mind.

But, if you really want to learn about the human mind, I would instead highly recommend How the Mind Works by Steven Pinker. This book describes--in great detail--how natural selection has shaped the evolution of the mind: Why the mind makes the decisions that it does, and how evolution gave us our belief systems, family values, our sense of vision, and our reasoning abilities. This book is awesome!

Alex, you might also want to take a look at the book, The Evolution of God. This book examines the development of the God of three Western religions, and draws some interesting conclusions. I gave it 5 stars.

Alex wrote: "Does God: A Biography count for us? Sorta sketchy, there. Probably not. I got it for Christmas and I'm gonna read it soon regardless, so I thought I'd mention it. ..."

Personally, I would like to read this book--it looks quite interesting. But, from the book synopsis on Goodreads and from the reviews, the book doesn't seem to have a connection to science.

Kirsten wrote: "I got a huge stack of books today. It was awesome. Let the games begin! ..."

Every year I give myself a birthday present, an order for a bunch of books...it's great when they arrive! :-)

Taja wrote: "I would like to nominate What we leave behind by Derrick Jensen."

That would be: What We Leave Behind

December is almost over...so it's time to nominate books for the Book Club for February. Nominations will remain open through December 30, and then we will take a vote. Lots of good books have been mentioned in the discussions recently...write them in!

Afiq, I don't know if The Hot Zone is a good book--but I do know, that the events took place in the town where I live!

I just finished the book Physics and Psychics: The Search for a World Beyond the Senses by Victor Stenger. The author is a physicist, and he shows that the claims of many parapsychologists are directly at odds with the accepted theories of special relativity and quantum mechanics. Although the book is 20 years old, it still seems relevant today.

Are there any more comments about Absolutely Small: How Quantum Theory Explains Our Everyday World from people who are reading the book?

This book is quite unlike others that we have voted for book of the month. For example, the author's style is quite serious--it doesn't have the humor that seems to be present in many other "popular style" science books. Also, there are some algebraic equations, that are generally absent from other popular science books. The book's goal is not to entertain, but to enlighten. Are these things putting people off from reading it?

Salvatrice, I agree with Melissa whole-heartedly! Please do continue to stick around!