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Grasp: Making Sense of Science and Spirituality
We are all trying to grasp the answers to the big questions. Why are we here? How did we get here, and just what is our place in this vast and mysterious ‘here’ we call the universe? Is there a meaning to it all? Where do we go for answers, amidst the tangle of our networked lives? Some of us seek answers in science, while others seek answers in philosophy or religion or history. Does either science or religion have all the answers to the big questions we have, or does one contradict the other? In Making Sense of Science and Religion, Jim Trainor draws upon his experience as a professional physicist and as a church pastor to tackle these issues and show how modern science supports the search for truth through religious faith. Grasp leads you deep into the heart of the matter, even if you have no background in either science or religion. Grasp explores the intersection of modern physics with the claims of an ancient Judeo-Christian faith, bringing together the thoughts of great scientific and religious thinkers with the real-life stories of people who have grasped for the truth.
176 pages, Paperback
First published December 2, 2010
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About the author
Jim Trainor
12 books3 followersJim Trainor is the author of six books. He is a Ph.D. physicist, formerly Deputy Division Director for Physics for the nation’s largest physics department (Los Alamos National Laboratory), and an ordained Episcopal priest.
Jim wrote his first novel when he was five. It was a mystery story with a surprise ending, well at least as surprising as a five-year-old mind can conjure up. It was written in pencil and was three pages long. His mother kept it among her treasures until her dying day.
It would be many years later before he would write his second novel. Jim grew up in the megalopolis of Los Angeles, went to college there, lived there until he was almost thirty. By then he'd had gotten his doctorate in physics (Univ. of California) – a far cry from novel writing, well maybe – and headed off to his first real job at the Argonne National Laboratory, near Chicago. Over the next two decades he lived in the world of experimental physics, and his profession would take him back to California, then to Los Alamos, New Mexico. For several years he served as deputy division leader for physics at Los Alamos. His love for writing found its way into over sixty scientific articles in physics journals.
Things were going well in Jim's physics career, but then he was called into ordained ministry and studied to become an Episcopal priest. As he served in parishes in New Mexico, Texas and Wisconsin, he was often asked how someone trained in a field so rational, analytical and solid as physics could embrace something so intuitive, fuzzy and ancient as religion. For years, he had already been pondering that question, and the answer can be found in his first book, a nonfiction work: Grasp:Making Sense of Science and Spirituality (2010).
Now he's written five novels (not including that masterpiece when he was five). His latest novel is 68 (2018), in which Ed Turner arrives at his fiftieth high-school reunion to discover that everyone there believes he died fifty years ago. He's also the author of The Mountain Goat (2017), a road trip on the dangerous highway of love. Up North (2014), a thriller with a theme of redemption, is set in the north woods of northern Wisconsin. The Sand People (2013), a novel set in Maui, deals with issues afflicting many lives and points to the ultimate victory of hope over failure. Waverly's Universe (2012), a novel, was an award winner in the 2012 ForeWord Reviews Book of the Year Award.
Another interesting thing happened to Jim during those years at Los Alamos. He met his wife Mary. Today they live on a small wooded lake in central Wisconsin, where Jim enjoys kayaking, fishing and outdoor photography. They have three grown children.
Jim's website is www.JimTrainorAuthor.com
Jim wrote his first novel when he was five. It was a mystery story with a surprise ending, well at least as surprising as a five-year-old mind can conjure up. It was written in pencil and was three pages long. His mother kept it among her treasures until her dying day.
It would be many years later before he would write his second novel. Jim grew up in the megalopolis of Los Angeles, went to college there, lived there until he was almost thirty. By then he'd had gotten his doctorate in physics (Univ. of California) – a far cry from novel writing, well maybe – and headed off to his first real job at the Argonne National Laboratory, near Chicago. Over the next two decades he lived in the world of experimental physics, and his profession would take him back to California, then to Los Alamos, New Mexico. For several years he served as deputy division leader for physics at Los Alamos. His love for writing found its way into over sixty scientific articles in physics journals.
Things were going well in Jim's physics career, but then he was called into ordained ministry and studied to become an Episcopal priest. As he served in parishes in New Mexico, Texas and Wisconsin, he was often asked how someone trained in a field so rational, analytical and solid as physics could embrace something so intuitive, fuzzy and ancient as religion. For years, he had already been pondering that question, and the answer can be found in his first book, a nonfiction work: Grasp:Making Sense of Science and Spirituality (2010).
Now he's written five novels (not including that masterpiece when he was five). His latest novel is 68 (2018), in which Ed Turner arrives at his fiftieth high-school reunion to discover that everyone there believes he died fifty years ago. He's also the author of The Mountain Goat (2017), a road trip on the dangerous highway of love. Up North (2014), a thriller with a theme of redemption, is set in the north woods of northern Wisconsin. The Sand People (2013), a novel set in Maui, deals with issues afflicting many lives and points to the ultimate victory of hope over failure. Waverly's Universe (2012), a novel, was an award winner in the 2012 ForeWord Reviews Book of the Year Award.
Another interesting thing happened to Jim during those years at Los Alamos. He met his wife Mary. Today they live on a small wooded lake in central Wisconsin, where Jim enjoys kayaking, fishing and outdoor photography. They have three grown children.
Jim's website is www.JimTrainorAuthor.com
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
July 30, 2014
This is the second of Trainor's books I have reviewed but the first non-fiction effort. A good resource for all seekers confused by the intersection of science and faith. A longer review appears at www.cloquetriverpress.com.
Mark
Mark
Displaying 1 of 1 review