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Mormon Scientist: The Life and Faith of Henry Eyring

Henry J. Eyring

Start date: April 1, 2010

Finish date: April 30, 2010

Discussion: New Book

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Jan 04, 2009 Jamie rated it really liked it

Shelves: church

So I just loved the last three pages of this book. This man has truly been able to get a grasp on relgion and life. So the following is the last few pages from the book that really touched my heart.
"So for me, I've made a picture of the world. It may be right. It may be wrong. But for me it is very real, and I've had experiences for me which are real, and so for me the onlyt thing that I can do is say, "Try what the Savior said: try it and see if it works, and you;ll find that it does work and t So I just loved the last three pages of this book. This man has truly been able to get a grasp on relgion and life. So the following is the last few pages from the book that really touched my heart.
"So for me, I've made a picture of the world. It may be right. It may be wrong. But for me it is very real, and I've had experiences for me which are real, and so for me the onlyt thing that I can do is say, "Try what the Savior said: try it and see if it works, and you;ll find that it does work and that it's tremendously important." Of course it's everything. I mean, you can't put anything in comparison with it. It's really true. I mean, if there is a God who cares and whether we like it or not we're going to stand in judgment (in my case you might speculate that it might be quite soon--thank you, but I don't think it will be that soon), but anyway I've always thought of this picture; I've thought this thinkg that kind of makes me do a little better. I've thought, if the Lord is really just and a little bit harsh, He might just put on that screen up there while all of you are watching in the hereafter and say, "Old Man Eyring --do you remember the night that he preached to you down at the BYU and osunded so noble and fine? Here is what he is really like, here'e the movie of the fellow from the time he was a little boy up throught the whole years. And he had the gall to go down there and preach to you and talk like a Saint, and he's a scoundrel."
Now, that would make me do better. I mean, just to think that makes me try to do a little better. But I don't think He'd do that; I don't think He'd be that harsh. But you know the test of what you ought to do? You ought to live in such a way that you would be perfectly happy to have everything that you do known. And if you don't do that, maybe you'd better change a little bit. I'd say if you're doing somthing that you hope poeple don't know, God knows them, and if He wants to He'll turn that movie on for you. I mean, He'll at least turn it on in your own mind. He may not be so unkind as to show it to all the neightbores, but He will let you see it and He'll remind you, and if you're doing some things right tonight or tomorrow or any other time that you don't care to have anybody else know--or you wouldn't even want to know about them yourself or have to think about them very clearly--I think we better quit. I mean, that' the best test for me to try to do better. I don't want to even look at myself; I mean, I'm not very bad, I'm not even bad enought to be interesting. But dull as I am I wouldn't want to do that; so don't look for anything, because I'm kind of harsh on my graduate students and expect a little more of them and take more of the credit sometimes than I ought to; you know, just not as noble as I ought to be. My wife drives me up here tonight and did it beautifully, and we get over in the parking lot and she talks a little bit about how we ought to have gotten closer, and I get a little bit out of patience and say, "Well, we can't always be perfect," and she remembers. But all of us have got things we've got to do better.
So we ought to make a picture of the world like mine or make a better one, make one that squares with reality more, and in it I think will come this idea: that you are going to have to live with yourself, and that your neightbores may have to know about you a certain amoungt, and that there is going to be a judgement, and that the world is really beaurigul, and really it's a wonderful place to live and lots more wonderful if you live in such a way that you can live with yourself.
So this, then, is sort of the picture that I would give you and end on the note that I can't see any difference between the kinds of arguments that you make to support religion and the arguments that you make to support science. I understand, of course, that there are contradictions of all kind in science, and there are contradictions betweeen various parts of religion in every human mind (but not in God's mind; in a billion years you'll have your problems solved, if you can wait).
And there aren't any problems, really, but I always feel a little bit unhappy when somebody tells me that they'll give me a beautiful picture that reconciles everthing. Baloney. I mean, I can't reconcile chemistry, and they're going to take the whole world and reconcile it and relgion and science and everything in it? I can't do that. I like contradictions. I like a little bit of a mess, and I am glad when one of the brethren says saoething that I think is a little bit foolish, because I think if the Lord can stand him, maybe He can stand me. So that's it, and I think that maybe there's a certain stumbling block that some of us have: we expect other people to be a kind of perfection that we don't even attemt to approach ourselves. We expect the brethren or the bishop or the stake president or the General Authorities to be not human, even. We expect the Lord to just open and shut their mouths, but He doesn't do that--they are human beings; but they're wonderful, and they do better than they would if it weren't for the Lord helping them. I think I would say this, that I don't think there's a finer group in the world than the bishops of the Latter-day Saint Church. Some of the aren't what they ought to be, but just by-and-large you won't find a more devoted group of men than that.
So that's my answer to this remark--somebody says that a student is down here at BYU and he's a member of the Church, but he's a mess. And I say, "Yes, I agree. But you ought to see what the fellow would be like if it weren't for the Church." And that's what the gospel does. It takes all of us withour faults and makes us better. It's a wonderful thinkg, and there isn't anything like the gospel. If we can live close to it and approach, at least, the life of the Savior in the kind of way that we put other people's interests before our own and in general try to be helpful, we can have a heaven on earth, and life will be a wonderful thing. And it's really true, in my opinion."
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Jul 27, 2010 Dustin Flanary rated it it was amazing

Shelves: history-biography

Short unique biography on the life of Henry Eyring the scientist. It takes a topical/paradox approach rather than a linear one through his life. Not too long and provides neat examples of a fascinating man who blinded his religion and his significant scientific knowledge effectively.

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Apr 08, 2010 Wendy rated it really liked it

Shelves: religion, non-fiction

This is the biography of President Eyring's (the apostle) dad, who was a really famous scientist and professor at Princeton and later ran the graduate school at the University of Utah. He was a fascinating man. I liked how he was a brilliant, educated person, but was still humble and a little bit sassy. I liked how he didn't care what people thought about him. Awesome human being. ...more

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Feb 28, 2009 Cindy rated it really liked it

Shelves: science, non-fiction, biography, lds

This was a biography of scientist Henry Eyring. He had a very colorful life, from growing up in Mexico in a polygamist family, to becoming a mining engineer, then decided to study chemistry and teach at Princeton. He sounds like he would have been fun to know. I took a point off for style. It was written by his grandson, which is great, but I didn't like the way he had to create this artificial sort of flow between the chapters. It was a little repetitive at times as well. But overall, a good bo ...more

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Jan 24, 2009 Brandon Dean rated it really liked it

Shelves: religious-spiritual-doctrinal, religious-historical, biography, own

This is a really good book. It has a lot of interesting ideas that Henry Eyring had, which I found very applicable and relevant to current world and doctrinal topics. The book is biographical in nature but topical rather than a narrative pace. I would highly recommend this book.

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Mar 16, 2008 Laurie marked it as to-read

Shelves: religious, biography, own-it

Our April book. It's about Pres. Eyring's DAD - also Henry Eyring. It's pretty good, so far! The first section was a little hard to get through - I'm not much of a scientist, but after that, I've been dying to finish it! ...more

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