O Fim da Terra e do Céu: O Apocalipse na Ciência e na Religião

by Marcelo Gleiser

Aborda a compreensão dos fenômenos cósmicos pelas religiões e a influência das idéias apocalípticas sobre o pensamento científico. Utiliza de recursos ficcionais para explicar conceitos científicos, leva-nos a compreensão da extinção dos dinossauros ou nos aproxima de partículas elementares como os quarks e léptons assim como dos buracos negros e das "anãs brancas" que brilham no céu.

Genres: Science, Astronomy, Nonfiction, Religion, Philosophy, History

335 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2001

Reviews

[Cade · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF—not as described on the tin. I got one section of doom theology, and then it was astronomy 101. Now, don’t get me wrong, I love astronomy, but if I wanted to read this kind, I’d pick up something else. I wanted apocalyptic theology tied in much more.

[Cherrry · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a good read if you are interested in both astronomy and world religions. It took me by surprise at first, how Gleiser decided to organize the way he presented the contents, but it works well in his favor. He spends the first section of the book discussing why the skies are important in most religions, and how they are incorporated into prophecies. This section drawled on a little bit for me, as the second half focused on prophecies of death, pain and hell. The rest of Gleiser’s sections incorporate more of the physics behind astronomical references in religious scenarios.

I really enjoyed the way he described the physics portions in the book. It is compiled in a way that is easy to understand, and you are not required to have a bachelors in physics to understand the concepts he goes over. He also explains the religions he mentions with as much detail, so if you don’t know a lot on these topics, you don’t have to do a whole research project.

I’d say that the most confusing part of this book was when Gleiser used storytelling to help explain certain ideas. The storytelling was definitely intriguing, but he did not transition you into it. It always took a couple sentences to release that he was telling a fictional narrative, instead of the scientific one that covers most of the book.

[Steve Wiggins · Rating 4 out of 5]

At the time I'm writing this there was a recent media scare about the end of the world. These come about periodically, so if you don't recall this most recent one wait a few months and another will come along. Marcelo Gleiser is a scientist who writes for non-scientists. As an astrophysicist he knows quite a bit about the heavens. Unusual for a scientist, he doesn't dismiss religion as a fantasy. He suggests humility in the search for knowledge. That alone makes him worth reading.

This particular book begins with the idea of the end of the world. It is ancient, and it is an idea that developed in religions. Basing his work on the idea that people have always feared the end of all things, he moves into the scientific exploration of the universe and what might actually happen to end life on earth. He discusses the comet or asteroid that destroyed the dinosaurs and the likelihood of another impact that could wipe out life as we know it. The scientific view of the end of the world is a bit scarier than the religious one.

Pushing further, beyond the comets and asteroids, Gleiser considers the life cycle of stars. Our own sun will, eventually, burn out. The discussion gets a bit technical in this part of the book, but press on. If a comet or asteroid doesn't get us, the heat death of the universe will. Religion in the face of all of this is not to be dismissed with a laugh. It is a serious attempt to find a home in an uncertain universe that we're only beginning to understand. If more scientists wrote like Gleiser there might be meaningful dialogue between the many areas of human knowledge and experience.

For those interested, I've written a bit more about this book here: Sects and Violence in the Ancient World.

[Kate · Rating 3 out of 5]

There were some nicely instructive sections. I was especially grateful for the explanation of Einstein's Theory of Relativity.

There were also some debatable and perhaps just wrong attributions of biblical passages and dates.

He was as neutral as he could be, but bias can't help but come in, we are each such, after all. I commend his effort.

The writing was largely pleasant, but occasionally offputting.

I would consider reading more of his books.

[Daniel Sanguinetti · Rating 5 out of 5]

The first piece of non-fiction that really spoke to me. I learned a lot of information on the formation of stars straight down to the changes in chemical composition that occurs throughout different stars life cycles. I also learned of the relationship between religious beliefs and astrological observations.

[Stuart · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book explores the quest of prophets and astronomers to explain the strange phenomena of our skies—from the apocalypse foretold in Revelations to modern science’s ongoing identification of multiple cataclysmic threats, including the impact of comets and asteroids on earthly life, the likelihood of future collisions, the meaning of solar eclipses and the death of stars, the implications of black holes for time travel, and the ultimate fate of the universe and time. The author’s focus is on how these events have spawned both religious and scientific explanations or interpretations. His book is really about explaining how the world works. He does not believe that science is generally about dismissing God from the narrative, but rather that science has a spiritual dimension “in the sense of how it connects us with something bigger than we are.”

[Osama · Rating 3 out of 5]

aight

[William · Rating 3 out of 5]

Semi scientific inquiry into the apocalypse.

[Naomi · Rating 2 out of 5]

A textbook on cosmology.

[Danillo Corvalan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Muito bom mas no último capítulo tem física pesada, pelo menos para mim que sou leigo no assunto

[Jessie B. · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting look at the connections between apocalyptic myth and astronomy.