Einstein and Religion

Rating:
Summary: A Scholarly Description of Einstein's Religious Philosophy
Review: In the first chapter that deals with Einstein's personal attitude toward religion, we learn the followings: Einstein regarded science and religion as mutually depending on each other, which is evidenced by his words, "Science without religion is lame, religion without science is blind." However, the predominant motivations that led him to his development of the theory of relativity were purely physical considerations. Like Spinoza, Einstein denied the existence of a personal God, and used the term "cosmic religious feeling" to describe the sublimity and marvelous order in nature.

Near the end of the first chapter, the author asks a question, "Did Einstein's conception of religion affect his scientific work?" and derives a positive answer. The story that Einstein's introduction of the cosmological constant was religiously motivated concludes the chapter.

The second chapter discusses what Einstein has written about the nature of religion and its role in human society. Einstein's "Credo" about the cosmic religious feeling is cited repeatedly. In his essay read at a conference held in 1940, Einstein called the doctrine of a personal God not only unworthy but also fatal. The author writes about many responses Einstein got in reaction to this essay. At the end of this chapter the author analyzes Spinoza's role in the development of Einstein's religious philosophy.

As can be seen from the above, topics given in the first two chapters are quite attractive, and explanations are instructive to the reader who has interest in the mental background of Einstein's academic work. The scholarly style of the author's writing is enjoyable.

However, the third and final chapter that studies the influence of Einstein's scientific work on theology was not interesting to me at all. After finishing the book, I read Introduction section of the book again. To my great relief, I found the following words of the author near its end: "It is possible that [Einstein] would have rejected all of the arguments in chapter 3 if he were alive." The reason why I was not interested in the final chapter was that my thought about religion was the same as Einstein's!

Thus I recommend the first two chapters to all those who have interest in Einstein or religion, but do not recommend the third chapter for those who think like Einstein.

Rating:
Summary: Einstein, Bohr and determinism.
Review: This book explains clearly what Einstein thought about God and religion.
I quote the author: "A God who rewards and punishes is inconceivable to him for the single reason that a man's actions are determined by necessity, external and internal, so that in God's eyes he cannot be responsable, any more than an inanimate object is rsponsible for the motion it undergoes".
For Einstein the demon of Laplace was all too real. He believed in total determinism. For him there was no free will. I quote Einstein: "I do not at all believe in human freedom in the philosophical sense. Everybody acts not only under external compulsion but also in accordance with inner necessity. Schopenhauer's saying, 'A man can do what he wants, but not want what he wants,' has been a real inspiration to me since my youth."
This stance by one of the most brilliant scientists ever is, for me, unbelievable. It had a profound influence on his later scientific work, where he tried in vain to refute quantum mechanics. He knew too well, as Bohr stated, that quantum mechanics gives free will a new background against the mechanical concept of nature.
On the other hand, could Einstein's stance be an excuse for his not so high standard moral behaviour when he was a young man?

The last part of the book "Physics and theology" is only for theologians. It reminds me of the stubborn fight of Paul Davies in his book 'The mind of God' to find a place for God in modern physics and the quantum universe. Davies only found ... mysticism as a solace for the faithful.
A revealing book.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent discussion of an impersonal God
Review: Three chapters: two for the everyman and one for the brave physicist/mathematician. The first two chapters are an excellent discourse on a Universal and Logical but impersonal God, the creator of the Universe. Well worth reading for those confused by the inconsistencies in Christianity, Judaism and Islam. Places forgiveness, ethics and morality squarely on the shoulders of the individual. And chapter three really nails it down even though it required six reads for this mathematician.