Torah and Science

Rating:
Summary: Very excellent masterpiece
Review: As a scholar of Talmud myself, I believe that Dr. Judah Landa has done a superb job presenting the link between the Torah and modern physics/astronomy. It was interesting to learn just how accurate the Rabbis of yore in their predictions about the universe. I did not think even the ancient Greeks were capable of such calculations, but our wise forefathers certainly were! I give Dr. Landa a thumbs-up for this fine piece of Jewish-scientific work.

Rating:
Summary: Very excellent masterpiece
Review: Specific questions you might have aren't likely to be answered or even mentioned here, unless you are in "seminary" or Yeshiva. The material centers on the technical (its fascinating and revealing in the Rabbis' conception of the cosmos), not the philosophical. It is was already dated when it was written (redshift and other evidences for the Big Bang had already been public by then), particularly in his discussion of Bereshis; he presupposes that the Big Gang theory is not the dominant conception of the universe, and then wastes an entire chapter on defending convoluted interpretations of Chazzal and torah to the end that the universe is eternal! In this even, he ignores the work done in the 80's around the manuscripts of the Tiferes Yisroel, who suggested cycles of creation on the earth. Better discussions of extraterrestrial life are found in Lamm's essay in "Challenge". I would only recommend it if you are a Ben or Bat Torah who has technical doubts about perceptions presented in Talmud or Tanach. Anyone else, aside from mathematicians or physicists ( probably curious about what they missed after being Bar Mitvah), will be bored.

Rating:
Summary: Wideranging, not written for the "uninitiated" in Talmud.
Review: Specific questions you might have aren't likely to be answered or even mentioned here, unless you are in "seminary" or Yeshiva. The material centers on the technical (its fascinating and revealing in the Rabbis' conception of the cosmos), not the philosophical. It is was already dated when it was written (redshift and other evidences for the Big Bang had already been public by then), particularly in his discussion of Bereshis; he presupposes that the Big Gang theory is not the dominant conception of the universe, and then wastes an entire chapter on defending convoluted interpretations of Chazzal and torah to the end that the universe is eternal! In this even, he ignores the work done in the 80's around the manuscripts of the Tiferes Yisroel, who suggested cycles of creation on the earth. Better discussions of extraterrestrial life are found in Lamm's essay in "Challenge". I would only recommend it if you are a Ben or Bat Torah who has technical doubts about perceptions presented in Talmud or Tanach. Anyone else, aside from mathematicians or physicists ( probably curious about what they missed after being Bar Mitvah), will be bored.

Rating:
Summary: Great book
Review: The book eloquently describes the connection between torah and science. It was masterfully written. I have great respect towards its auther Dr. Judah Landa.