The Fire in the Equations: Science Religion & Search For God

by Kitty Ferguson

“ In this beautifully and intelligently written book, Ferguson not only reports on some of the intellectual tremors jolting the world of thinking women and men, but also considers the basic questions with penetrating analysis, yet at a very readable level. . . . An excellent book.” — Choice Heralded for its readability and scholarship, The Fire in the Equations offers a fascinating discussion of scientific discoveries and their impact on our beliefs. The book’s title is derived from Dr. Stephen Hawking’s pondering, “What is it that breathes fire into the equations and makes a universe for them to describe?” Originally published in the U.S. in 1995, it provides an excursion through new theories of quantum physics and cosmology, ranging from the nature of time, the big bang, the “unreasonable effectiveness” of mathematics, laws of nature, and their possible relation to God, chaos theory, black holes, Heisenberg’s uncertainty principle, particle physics, Darwin's theory of evolution, and the role of God in all these equations. It even raises such questions as “how God might answer prayers” from the point of view of physics. While she gives no absolute answers, Kitty Ferguson takes the reader through a world of paradoxes and improbabilities, explaining how believing in a pre-determined universe and free will as a theory of human behavior is possible. She concludes that what we know about science doesn't necessarily make God inevitable, but does not rule God out either.

Genres: Science, Nonfiction, Religion, Philosophy, Popular Science, History, Physics

320 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1994

About the author

Kitty Ferguson, a former professional musician with a life long interest in science, is an independent scholar and lecturer who lives in Cambridge, England, and South Carolina.

Reviews

[rebecca · Rating 2 out of 5]

Somewhat made me lose grip on reality

[Amber Odom · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very fair account of science and religion. She does an excellent job of explaining scientific concepts in an easy to understand way. She lends a sympathetic ear to religion. She is neither forcibly "pro-science" or "pro-religion" just pro truth, in whatever form that may take. Things did get a bit mucky through a lot of the second half of the book- the arguements felt very repetitive and/or more vague, but she pulls through and finishes strong the last chapter or two. She also does an excellent job of bringing up tough questions- questions of science, of God, of truth, of self.

[Cathy Graham · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a struggle! Not for any lack on Ferguson's part, but my own sad lack of knowledge of physics. For most of the book, especially towards the end I found it a very balanced argument that science and religion do not, by definition, exclude the other. I enjoyed the first chapters a lot (for enjoyed, read "understood") and the section on chaos theory, but there was a section in the middle that I found very hard going despite her best attempts to make the science easy. Despite that, I enjoyed the book overall and would like to read her book on my hero, Hawking.

[Doug · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent, non-fundamentalist treatment of science and religion.

[Hurcenblaki · Rating 2 out of 5]

The book inspired some interesting thoughts but towards the end it started to feel like a documentary that keeps repeating itself while only asking questions and not really answering any.

[Angus Mcfarlane · Rating 5 out of 5]

I left this book on the shelf for a while before reading it, expecting it to be heavy on the maths and astro-physics. Whilst not shirking the heavy stuff, Ferguson manages to illustrate the principles in relatively simle terms to make the subject matter simple enough to be digestible for non-specialists. The book is also broad in scope, discussing many of the theological arguments for God and 'scientific' (materialist might be a better word here) dispensing with the need for a creator.



The conclusion reached early on and maintained to the end is that we are not able to prove or disprove God's existence one way or the other. As far as first cause goes, the materialist options of 'mathematical consistency' and 'the universe itself' do not currently rule out or rule in the presence of a divine creator, nor is it likely they will ever be able to do so. Is an interventionist God contradictory to the natural (non-miraculous) of things? The probabalistic nature of a chaotic universe gives sufficient scope for intervention without shredding the fabric of underlying law and order.



Ferguson takes on the 'evolution = no God' argument of the likes of Richard Dawkins and concludes that while evolution removes the 'need for God' in producing complex systems, the apparent 'inevitability' of evolution allows scope for a God to set the wheels in motion, confident that intelligence of some kind would eventually seek him out. Paley's watchmaker is merely pushed back further, but not eliminated (but again not confirmed either).



The book is not really defending either 'side', nor even agnosticism as such. Rather, it is suggested that the arguments all generally boil down to 'post-hoc' positions to rationalise a belief arrived at through some other means. It therefore becomes a question of whether believers of whatever 'faith' are sincere in their experience of a personal God, or the openness to it.

[Joseph]

(1) the first part provides some very interesting mental experiment, i.e. how do we describe objective reality, i.e. from (a) our common sense perspective (2) perspective as per physics or (3) perspective in our mind's eye.

tbc

[Carmen Rodríguez · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great intro to physics, religion, and scientific theory. Great questioning method, really enjoyed reading it. Link to my summary and commentary on my blog: http://carmenrodrigueza.wordpress.com...

[Ronald Tardelly,s.x.]

Kitty nous propose une intéressant lecture sur le plan dialogue entre théologie et science..

[Shawn Minihan · Rating 3 out of 5]

More about physics then about god.