Book review: Einstein’s God

Posted on Monday, January 3, 2011 in Book Reviews | 0 comments

by Krista Tippett

★★★★

The battle between science and religion comes to a head in these interviews of cutting-edge scientists and researchers, and the winner is … oh. The two sides are getting along a little better nowadays, it appears.

Words you’ll read often in the book include “spirit” and “soul,” as such concepts are explored by our deepest thinkers. Tippett interviews a theoretical physicist, a cosmologist, a clinical professor, an expert on the life of Darwin, a professor of astrophysics, and many more, as she poses the big questions about science and the human spirit. Most interesting of the interviews, in my opinion, was the first, with Freeman Dyson, where the conversation often turns to Einstein and his views about God. Hey, I’m an Einstein groupie.

Tippett packs her most interesting interviews at the front of the book; after a few dozen pages, I could hardly wait to finish the book so I could write a glowing review! But–and this may merely be personal preference–the interviews grow less interesting as the book goes on, and the topics turn from the merger of science and religion to revenge and forgiveness, stress, and depression. Yet, regardless of the slow denouement, this is a book worth reading.