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Summary: Awe-inspiring explanation of life, meaning, and existence.
Review: As a supplement to the thoughts of Lonergan, Ursula Franklin, Thomas Aquinas, and Plato, this book serves to put into poetic terms the dance of physics, biology, cognitive thought, creation, evolution, spirituality, psychology, love, life, death, meaning, and essentially everything else this universe holds. It was interesting to see this work done in the matter of the dialogues - it worked for the Greeks for teaching difficult topics. The book holds much more meaning if you have already studied concepts of life, such as those expressed by Lonergan. The reader is really forced to think in a completely different manner in order to understand Swimme's thoughts. You look at everything differently after reading this; you gain a new love of life and in the process become more human. I would whole-heartedly recommend this book to anyone with an interest in life and existence, no matter what your background knowledge is. Best thing out there!
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Summary: Undiscriminating mix of fact and fancy, patronizing tone
Review: I am a scientist, and I do appreciate and feel the vastness and beauty of the universe, and the elegance of biological evolution. But I don't think Swimme's romanticizing of science, cosmology, and particle physics is going to lead us to build a better society or better individual lives. Educated people have already tried making a god of science in this culture, I presume because of the seeming miracles it has performed, and the result has been people with empty spiritual lives and a desperate need to fill the void with stuff - food, things, travel - anything to avoid facing the sense of meaninglessness they get when they feel like tiny insignificant cogs in a vast machine. It doesn't really matter whether the machine is the military/industrial complex or the universe, in terms of its effect on the human spirit. Granted, the current state of much organized religion is not ideal, but I don't think Swimme's approach is going to have any better results. There are many alternative approaches between religious fundmentalism on one pole and an exclusive devotion to matter on the other.
This particular book is also painful to read, due to its patronizing tone and the way science is mixed with the subjective speculations and opinions of the author. There is a lack of respect for logic or fact in this book, which is surprising considering its topic and the author's credentials. Swimme is misusing the hard-won authority of science, which has performed its seeming miracles by a rigorous attention to observable facts. He owes it to his trusting readers (note the many 5-star reviews at this site) to distinguish clearly between the facts and his interpretations. There is a lack of intellectual humility here, which ironically mirrors his complaint of inappropriate human grandiosity in relation to nature.
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Summary: . . . and we are the dragon's fire.
Review: I arrived at this book after reading Swimme's more recent book, THE UNIVERSE STORY (1994). Both books reimmersed me into the enchanting wonders of a child gazing up into the stars. This book is written in the classical form of a philosophical dialogue between two speakers, "Thomas" and "Youth." Swimme's book is dedicated to his more recent collaborator, Thomas Berry "and the cosmological tradition he celebrates, stretching back from Erich Jantsch and Teilhard de Chardin through Thomas Aquinas to Plato" (p. 19). The other speaker, "Youth," serves as a reminder that, "having only just arrived on this planet, we are still learning what it means to become fully human" (p. 87)."The universe bestows on us fire from the beginning of time, simultaneously evoking our profound reverence for this fire" (p. 169), Swimme writes. He uses the green dragon metaphor "to avoid lulling [us] into thinking we have the universe in our grasp, like a stray dog shut up in its kennel" (p. 25). "It is outrageous to compare the universe to a green dragon," he writes, "but I hope this will express some of my astonishment at what we now know about the universe" (p. 26). "The universe continues to unfold, continues to reveal itself to itself through human awareness" (p. 31). Simply stated, Swimme's premise is that "the universe is a single multiform event. There is no such thing as a disconnected thing. Each thing emerged from the primeval fireball, and nothing can remove the primordial link this establishes with every other thing in the universe, no matter how distant" (pp. 59-60). The same dynamics that forged the fireball and the trillions of stars are also at work within us (p. 109). We are dragon fire. "The universe is enchantment" (p. 94), and Swimme's profound book is liberating. As the universe unfolds, it demands our response: "Do we awake, dedicating ourselves to a vision of beauty worthy of our fire's origin?" (p. 169). G. Merritt
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Summary: The best book I ever read
Review: I couldn't stand looking at the one star review on the Amazon page that doesn't show that almost all the rest gave five stars. Hands down this is my favorite book -- for all the reasons the eloquent writers of the five star pieces cited. I've bought 400 plus copies -- if you are my friend, you've read it, and if you are someone I've brushed by who is listened to by others, I've pressed a copy in your hands. Understanding the concepts in this book changes you into what it is that hopefully us humans are becoming, where our gratitude for the privilege of human life in this wondrous creation supercedes our proclivity to blow each other up.
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Summary: Romantic and Inspirational...
Review: Picture this: Suspended in time, Italo Calvino (having just written Cosmicomics) and Carl Sagan (fresh off of the Cosmos mini-series) collaborate on a fictitious conversation about the universe. This is about as close to an analogy I can think of to describe this book. While at certain parts the 'dialogue' becomes a little too hokey, the end result from reading this through is the visceral equivilent of a wistful, romantic gaze at the night sky with intuitive, magnified eyes. Quite profound.
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Summary: Swimme's assertions fail the simple test of observation
Review: Swimme writes about our authentic maturation as a species. Let us then consider one splendid example of authentic maturity: the shark. Unquestionably, the shark is essentially perfect in fit, form, and function. That need not surprise us: the shark is the result of tens of millions of years of change. No one would argue the shark prevents the Earth from blooming. The shark also provides a useful test of the assertion that the shark got to its present state of maturity by continuing to question, develop, hope, live in awe and in the depths of wonder. We are to believe the shark developed a greater awareness by the process of "self-reflexion" and that explains its perfect fit in the universe. I believe the opposite is true: the shark is a "matured" species precisely because it was (and is) incapable of any of the activities Swimme claims as prerequisites for maturation. One paragraph in Swimme's book reads: "Can Earth sustain our violence? Can a great beauty grow from the ruins we leave? Concerning this question, it is important to understand the temporal nature of the Earth's creativity. The Earth at one time was able to create life, but that time has gone. The first life forms consumed the very conditions that enabled life to emerge. The fertility of the Earth is different now. If the higher life forms disappear, they cannot be re-created. When life forms vanish, they vanish forever." Several thoughts come to mind. In the geologic past at the Cretaceous-Tertiary transition, current evidence suggests an immense event took place. Just about all life forms vanished. We can safely assume that one of those life forms qualified as the "highest". It very likely vanished too. And at the transition we find no evidence of any life form like Homo sapiens, or any evidence of a life form that remotely approaches the intellectual capacity of Homo. Now, 65 million years later, there is Homo sapiens. Swimme's assertion is that when T. rex (for example) was erased, there was no possibility of anything "higher" in the future. This is clearly not the case, for if it were, Homo wouldn't be here. The fertility of this planet is amazingly resilient and is the same now, 65 million years ago, and two thousand million years ago. Even the suspect extraterrestrial impact marking the Cretaceous-Tertiary transition did not prevent Homo from appearing later. Furthermore, any ruins we might leave pale in comparison to extraterrestrial impacts, repeated continental glaciations, magnetic pole reversals, mega-thrust earthquakes, gigantic eruptions of theoliitic flood basalts, cratonic rifting, lateral strike-slip displacements with 1000 kilometer length scales, subduction of entire landmasses, and the list goes on and on. If the Earth can "endure" all those events, then it can easily handle the worst we can throw at it. No, I am not suggesting we are therefore granted license to continue on an irresponsible path of environmental degradation, but I do think we need to be willing to confront root-causes for our lousy stewardship and do something about them. One classic root-cause for our ills is greed. I find greed a better explanation for our ills rather than from our failure to appreciate the workings of the universe. Said another way, I have trouble accepting the idea that once the Theory of Everything is formulated (and withstands the rigors of experimental verification), all we need to do is embrace it and then greed will vanish and the Earth will bloom once again. Based on that thinking, you would expect the Copernican Revolution, Newton's Principia, and Einstein's General Relativity to have at least provided some incremental improvements in the condition of Homo, yet I find no evidence of that. Swimmes writes at length about violence. I have even more trouble with the idea of a link between the explosion of a star and the violence Homo perpetrates on itself and its environment. In fact, the idea that there is violence apart from Homo amounts to anthropomorphism. The explosion of a star is not a violent event: it's simply another event just as its ignition is an event. Don't ask me to accept the proposition that protons and neutrons perpetrate violence. Furthermore, no shark kills based on ideological differences with its prey. Blue stars don't conspire to blow up red stars because of a prejudice against the color red. Violence is a unique trait of Homo. Of course, the very simple solution to the problem of violence is to love our neighbors as ourselves; but alas, that doctrine is rooted in one of those out-moded, eroded religous systems (which might be why Swimme doesn't write about it). And it requires that we change ourselves. Leo Tolstoy said it best: everyone wants to change the world, but no one wants to change himself.
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Summary: The Universe is a Green Dragon
Review: Thanks for getting the book out so quick!
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Summary: One of the most outstanding books ever written
Review: This book is terrific. Using the classical dialogue between teacher and student, the dynamics of the universe unfold like gentle breezes on an Autumn afternoon. There is just too much in this book to praise. It is a rare blend of science and poetry. Clearly Brians best book to date. It's the best book ever written by anyone associated with Creation Spirituality (Matthew Fox and Thomas Berry included). If you are a scientist, teacher, spiritual, or any human; if you look at a butterfly and are happy, or gaze up at the Milky Way and are filled with awe, this book was written by the universe to call you into the stupendous dance of joy, creativity, and love.
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Summary: Why are we all here?
Review: This book is the author's answer to that most basic of questions. His answer is a beautiful, life affirming one and given from the prespective of the cosmos. It also highlights are responsiblity as humans - ones that can be done with great joy. However, I don't know if I really see it as a synthesis of spirituality and science as it is made out to be. This is one of the best books I have ever read, if I only read one book this year, this would be it. I don't want to give away too much, go read this book.
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Summary: We can be the heart and mind of the universe.
Review: To meet the modern crisis, Swimme says we need nothing less than a new creation story, a new cosmology.In the light of the new physics, this is what he presents.He says we are such stuff as stars are made of.The cosmos values those who awake to the splendor of the universe.The wonder that is a child has to be appreciated by adults.Our life purpose is to honour the beauty and wonder of the universe.We have to re-invent ourselves as the heart and mind of the universe.We have to move away from a merely human centered view into the cosmocentric, unfolding universe.Our primary teacher is the universe itself.This is a truly inspiring work that lifts us out of a hum-drum existence into an exciting universe fraught with cosmic purpose.Are we up to the challenge?Will we live like blind worms crawling on their bellies?Or will we be charged with star power and grasp our destiny as creators of a new world?Read this book and take a chance!
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