Foreword by Michael Shermer
Publisher of Skeptic Magazine and Monthly Columnist for Scientific American
"Stenger confronts mainstream theologians and New Age gurus—anyone who tries to link physics to mysticism. He takes their theories seriously enough to examine them in detail and he finds that, so far, none of them live up to the standards of scientific truth. As we accompany him on his investigation, he guides us through the most important concepts in modern physics from relativity to string theory. The world has needed a book like this for a long time. If you care about scientific literacy, Quantum Gods is not optional.”
GEOFF GILPIN
Author of The Maharishi Effect: A Personal Journey
Through the Movement That Transformed American Spirituality
“Physics has developed a reputation of providing support for all sorts of supernatural beliefs, from old-fashioned religions to New Age ideas. Quantum physics, especially, seems to mean ‘magic’ for too many people. ... Be grateful for the work of Victor Stenger, who is one of the best for diligently separating real physics from popular misconceptions.... Everyone interested in debates over physics and the supernatural should read this book.”
TANER EDIS
Associate Professor of Physics, Truman State University
Author of The Ghost in the Universe and Science and Nonbelief
Does quantum mechanics show a connection between the human mind and the cosmos? Are our brains tuned into a "cosmic consciousness" that pervades the universe enabling us to make our own reality? Do quantum mechanics and chaos theory provide a place for God to act in the world without violating natural laws?
Many popular books make such claims and argue that key developments in twentieth-century physics, such as the uncertainty principle and the butterfly effect, support the notion that God or a universal mind acts upon material reality.
Physicist Victor J. Stenger examines these contentions in this carefully reasoned and incisive analysis of popular theories that seek to link spirituality to physics. Throughout the book Stenger alternates his discussions of popular spirituality with a survey of what the findings of twentieth-century physics actually mean. Thus he offers the reader a useful synopsis of contemporary religious ideas as well as basic but sophisticated physics presented in layperson’s terms (without equations).
Of particular interest in this book is Stenger’s discussion of a new kind of deism, which proposes a God who creates a universe with many possible pathways determined by chance, but otherwise does not interfere with the physical world or the lives of humans. Although it is possible, says Stenger, to conceive of such a God who “plays dice with the universe” and leaves no trace of his role as prime mover, such a God is a far cry from traditional religious ideas of God and, in effect, may as well not exist.
Like his bestselling book, God, The Failed Hypothesis, this new work presents a rigorously argued challenge to many popular notions of God and spirituality.
Binding: Hardcover
Pages: 292
ISBN: 978-1-59102-713-3
Shipping Weight: 2lbs
Author Bio:
Victor J. Stenger, PhD, is adjunct professor of philosophy at the University of Colorado and emeritus professor of physics and astronomy at the University of Hawaii. He is the author of the New York Times bestseller God: The Failed Hypothesis, and many other books, including God and the Folly of Faith, The Fallacy of Fine-Tuning, Quantum Gods, The Unconscious Quantum, Has Science Found God?, The Comprehensible Cosmos, Timeless Reality, Physics and Psychics, and The New Atheism.
