Book review: The Beautiful Scientist

Posted on Wednesday, June 11, 2014 in Book Reviews | 0 comments

by Corrado Ghinamo

★★★★★

This little book is a gem. Ghinamo doesn’t present his credentials beyond personal study, he doesn’t use footnotes, and he has no reference section, so it’s clear this isn’t meant to be read as a scholarly treatise. It’s just an honest way of looking at God, one which is consistent with scientific exploration. Nevertheless, he is well-read in the sciences, and he presents his views very simply and beautifully.

Ghinamo draws our attention to the Super Force governing our universe (a phrase coined by scientists) and argues that it’s likely this force is our creator. More than that, creation was intentional, by a being of advanced intelligence. Let’s call him God, a being that must of necessity be composed of both a “maker” part (who dwells outside the universe, for he created it) and a “ruler” part (the physical Super Force). But we can’t go too far with this line of thinking without leaning on religion to fill in the details, and Ghinamo feels satisfied with Christianity for that.

Utmost among Ghinamo’s concerns is to point out that science and belief do not contradict one another. Evolutionary creation doesn’t contradict the Bible. Science, he insists, is that discipline which studies God. (I would have put it the other way around: God is that which science studies, but this is probably too restricting for Ghinamo’s tastes.) Ghinamo elegantly describes reality in a manner which is consistent with Christian beliefs about such a being, delving into a “flatland” scenario to help explain a governing being who may reside in one or more dimensions beyond ours. He even gives a reasonable explanation for Satan.

In search of perfection, Ghinamo leads us deeper into the microscopic makeup of living matter, down to the cell, the atom, the quarks, and he notes how the precise role of each elementary particle is perfectly performed. Working backward, then, he posits that the assembly of living beings, though it appears to have flaws, is actually perfect. This implies perfection on the part of our creator, as well. I’m not sure I agree with this definition of “perfect,” or the logic itself, yet I share his appreciation for the wonder of creation!

Be aware that Ghinamo’s focus is not as an apologist trying to prove the Christian viewpoint. He simply argues that science is consistent with Christian thinking, in both this life and the next, and even discusses the creation account in Genesis, though he doesn’t insist on a rigorous adaptation. More than anything else, The Beautiful Scientist is meant to open our eyes to the beauty of the world around us and its creator. This he does very well.

Tate Publishing & Enterprises, LLC, © 2012, 188 pages

ISBN: 978-1-62147-462-3