The aliens speak english, of course, and ask to see a paleontologist. Whether youve loved the book or not, if you give your honest and detailed thoughts then people will find new books that are right for them. If you have followed this blog for very long, you know that its not uncommon for me to cite from, or at least refer to, various books on the topics of science, politics, and religion. The fine tuning argument is presented in full forceeven enhanced by some fudging of the scienceand it leads to the inevitable conclusion that god exists. Mar 03, 2009 inventive, fastpaced, and alternately funny and touching, calculating god sneaks in a wellresearched survey of evolution science, exobiology, and philosophy amidst the banter between hollus and jericho. Sawyer is a canadian science fiction author of 21 books, including the book flashforward the abc tv show 20092010 was based on. Recently, ive spent exercise time with a couple of scifi entries by author robert sawyer.
Robert sawyers calculating god was a runnerup for the hugo award in 2001 and, having listened to this audiobook version, i again am forced to wonder why it didnt win. However, sawyers scope in this masterwork of science fiction was not limited merely to a discussion of heady philosophical and scientific arguments for the existence of god. Similar to the natural philosophers weve studied, sawyer often writes about how science and religion or god merge together. Jul 15, 2001 calculating god is the new nearfuture sf thriller from the popular and awardwinning robert j. Oct 14, 2012 calculating god does not have much to say about god in the real world the god that exists in the fictional universe is based on evidence that has never been observed in the real world. Calculating god academic dictionaries and encyclopedias. Factoring humanity, a canadian, is one of contemporary sfs most consistent performers. For your reference, we provided these calculating god quotes with page numbers using the following version of the book. The climax is an exhilarating and touching glimpse of transcendence.
Starlog vigorous speculationsawyer ends with some grandeur worthy of vintage arthur c. But the book also proves to be very moving and characterdriven sf, as jericho in the face of hollus s convincing arguments grapples. The alien, hollus, has come to earth to gain access to the museums large collection of fossils, and to study accumulated human knowledge in order to gather evidence of the existence of god. Hollus is traveling from star to star on a quest to scientifically prove that god exists. Hollus regarded me again, as if i were failing some test. I have also heard the phrases a loving god, and a compassionate god. Rocky mountain newsa spaceship lands outside the royal ontario museum in toronto. Inventive, fastpaced, and alternately funny and touching, calculating god sneaks in a wellresearched survey of evolution science, exobiology, and philosophy amidst the banter between hollus and jericho. A sixlegged, twoarmed alien emerges, who says, in perfect english, take me to a paleontologist. From the author of flashforward 1999, etc a theological polemic masquerading as a. Buy calculating god by sawyer, robert from amazons fiction books store. From the author of flashforward 1999, etc a theological polemic masquerading as a science fiction novel. Mar 25, 20 i have already written on sawyers calculating god and how it presentsin great detailthe teleological argument.
It takes place in the present day and describes the arrival on earth of sentient aliens. Everyday low prices on a huge range of new releases and classic fiction. Their debates, and their growing friendship, drive the narrative in this fastpaced, morally and intellectually challenging story of ambitious scope and touching. Calculating god part 1 of 2 leave a comment if you have followed this blog for very long, you know that its not uncommon for me to cite from, or at least refer to, various books on the topics of science, politics, and religion. Both books are based on clever premises, unfold nicely, but are in my opinion ruined by the authors penchant for invoking deusexmachina scenarios near the end. Hollus counters that god is a scientist, and all the events that have happened in the universe since the beginning of time are evidence of gods existence. Wel come back, said hollus, his eyes now looking at me. Hola, identificate cuenta y listas identificate cuenta y listas devoluciones y pedidos prueba prime carrito. I started out with flashforward, then moved to calculating god. The majority of its pages take the form of a dialogue between hollus, an alien forhilnor, and thomas jericho, an aging, cancerstricken paleontologist at the royal ontario museum. Sawyer is one of the major authors in the genre today have to know it now that his novel hominids has won the 2003 hugo award.
A novel and millions of other books are available for instant access. But the book also proves to be very moving and characterdriven sf, as jerichoin the face of hollus s convincing argumentsgrapples with. The bulk of the novel covers the many discussions and arguments on this topic, as well as about the nature of belief, religion, and science. After an extremely funny start, the major part of the book consists of a lively discussion between the alien, who is gathering additional evidence to prove the existence of god, and tom jericho, a paleontologist who is diagnosed with cancer and starts to wonder about some very basic questions. Abortion, fundamentalists, physicalism, and evolution. The first problem is the greyish page background, thats not adjustable. Jericho flatly denies gods existence and indicates to hollus that he is within the minority three percent of earths population that shares this belief. Calculating god robert j sawyer the good, the bad and the. Sawyer calculating god i found this an intriguing novel its a first contact novel with a surprising theme. He closed the newspaper and faced the front page toward me. The book i choose to write about is calculating god by robert j sawyer. He has clearly gone beyond just popular science sources. Finally, the tent covering is provided by what i call a writers scrapbook. An alien shuttle craft lands outside the royal ontario museum in toronto out pops a six legged, two armed.
Calculating god is the new nearfuture sf thriller from the popular and awardwinning robert j. Sep 27, 20 recently, ive spent exercise time with a couple of scifi entries by author robert sawyer. Tom jericho, who is astounded to find out that the alien, named hollus, wants to study earths fossil records to. His new novel concerns the appearance at the royal ontario museum in toronto of a spiderlike alien paleontologist named hollus. The primary goal of modern science, he continued, is to discover why god has. Enter your mobile number or email address below and well send you a link to download the free kindle app. Boddit serves as a candide figure, the naive visitor whose ignorance.
Calculating god is an exploration of the idea of god through the lens of science and more specifically science fiction. This happens to be thomas jericho, who by the way is an atheist. It is exactly the type of novel that you might have your grandmother read, then talk about it with her. The problem is that calculating god isnt a very good book on any level. Calculating god is probably a fine book, but the nook reader is so problematic that even though i bought the book, i havent read it. Then you can start reading kindle books on your smartphone, tablet, or computer no kindle device required. Both alien races believe this proves the existence of god.
Calculating god opens with a spaceship landing in front of torontos royal ontario museum. Calculating god is one of those novels, and jonathan davis is an excellent narrator, so this audiobook leapt to the top of my tbr list the moment i realized it existed. An eightlegged alien emerges, enters the building, and asks to see the museums senior paleontologist. Calculating god i have an epub of, the first match. In this hugonominated novel, neanderthal physicist ponter boddit brings canadian geneticist mary vaughan back to his world to explore the nearutopian civilization of the neanderthals. It is safe to say that sawyer has accomplished both with calculating god. Other readers will always be interested in your opinion of the books youve read. It seems that earth and hollus home planet, and the home planet of another alien species traveling with hollus, all experienced the same five cataclysmic events at about the same time, including events exactly like the meteor that wiped out the dinosaurs. Calculating god offers a unique look at theology from a science fiction perspective. Oct 11, 2000 the appeal of calculating god is that the story is deceptively designed to be as simple as possible, creating a nice coating around the many deep questions embedded in the novel. It seems that earth and hollus home planet, and the home planet of another alien species traveling with hollus, all experienced the same five. Calculating god does not have much to say about god in the real world the god that exists in the fictional universe is based on evidence that has never been observed in the real world.
The primary goal of modern science, he continued, is to discover why god has behaved as he has and to determine his methods. Sawyer, the awardwinning and bestselling writer, hits the peak of his powers in humans, the second book of the neanderthal parallax, his trilogy about our world and another parallel one in which it was the homo sapiens who died out and th. The structure of calculating god resembles a tent supported by two main poles. Any sciencefiction fans who were unaware that robert j. Jun 23, 2014 the book i choose to write about is calculating god by robert j sawyer. Finally, hollus takes the dying thomas off in the forhilnor ship to meet god. Im always excited to be exposed to new ideas, and one of the most interesting for me was the linguistic concepts articulated by evolutionary and cognitive psychologist steven pinker ive read some of his earlier popular work, like the language instinct and how the mind works, and another of which is waiting patiently to be read sawyer cites him as discussing consistency of metaphorical. Tom jericho, the human scientist with whom he ends up working, is convinced there is no god. An alien shuttle craft lands outside the royal ontario museum in toronto.
I have already written on sawyers calculating god and how it presentsin great detailthe teleological argument. The most he does is explains the modern rationale of atheism and undermines them with fiction. Nothing is outside the scope of science, he said firmly a position i did not, in fact, disagree with. But the book also proves to be very moving and characterdriven sf, as jerichoin the face of holluss convincing argumentsgrapples with his own bitter reasons for not believing in god. Yet this god is not at all amenable to the god of christianity or classical theism. Calculating god is a 2000 science fiction novel by robert j. An alien spaceship lands on the grounds of the royal ontario museum. Another great appeal of this novel is the believability of the. I think you humans apply too many adjectives to the creator. The appeal of calculating god is that the story is deceptively designed to be as simple as possible, creating a nice coating around the many deep questions embedded in the novel.
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