Calculating God

Author - Robert J. Sawyer ... [Goo?] [Posters]

This Mass Market Paperback Book item from Tor Science Fiction was reviewed on 11-Sep-2008.

Search ISBN:0812580354 offer from Abebooks or used books from Alibris. Calculating God Reference Book. Classifications : Sawyer, Robert J. ( S ) Authors, A-Z Science Fiction & Fantasy Subjects Books General Science Fiction Science Fiction & Fantasy Subjects Books Space Opera Science Fiction Science Fiction & Fantasy Sub . Click the following link to view the cover of Calculating God.

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1) Mass Market Paperback Book Calculating God by Tor Science Fiction. There were moments in this book, which I listened to via audio while working out, when I turned it off to think about some of the ideas posed. I can´t recall the last book that made me think like this. But, on to the review for those of you thinking of buying:

I am a big SciFi fan, so the fact that this is hardcore SciFi, not pop SciFi, was fine with me. If you are looking for more of an action-oriented plot or an edge-of-your seat thriller, you probably should look elsewhere.

That said, the story line was engaging and there is a very human element to the story. In other words, it does not lack for plot. Many of the philosophical exchanges will take you right back to your college years, and you will care about what happens to the characters.

Contrary to many of the knee-jerk reviews here, I did not read any personal bias from the author toward one way of thinking or another. In fact, I personally believe he ticked quite a few people off by taking fair shots at all sides. He also did not present intelligent design in the light that we typically think of.

Overall, it was a great book and if you can handle having your beliefs poked at (regardless of where you fall), it´s well worth your time (and $$$).¤

2) Mass Market Paperback Book Calculating God by Tor Science Fiction. A story of an alien visit by aliens looking for evidence of God. A very interesting, engaging and though provoking piece that really argues for Intelligent Design. By the end of the book, they have found positive proof of the existence of God and set out to pay him a visit. Looks at the Fermi Paradox with fresh eyes.

Though I don´t agree with much of it, I really liked the SF premise, and I really liked the aliens. Thought they came across as well developed species and cultures. The Intelligent Design / Creationism was fun and it was the first thing I´ve read that got me to consider the possibility. I still find myself in the "not-bloody-likely, and if so it was aliens not gods" camp...but at least now I know where its coming from and have a fair idea of why smart people are enticed by this idea.
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3) Mass Market Paperback Book Calculating God by Tor Science Fiction. The premise of Calculating God is to turn the intelligent design/evolution debate on its head. An alien walks into a museum one day and asks to speak with a paleontologist, whom he later informs that the goal of all science is to find God, because it is obvious that the universe is created. What has led him to earth is his search for extinction events. It seems that the three known intelligent species, including Terrans, have all experienced extinction events at precisely the same time, thus indicating to the alien that there must be some higher intelligence involved, which he calls God.

Although the story has a very interesting premise, it does not remain true to itself. It is supposed to be an examination of the scientific evidence for god, whether god should be included within the realm of science, and a meditation on the nature of faith and proof. Instead, the author radically alters the arguments by having the alien make numerous assertions about what is known about physical sciences.

The aliens have discovered a grand, unified, physical theory, and its implications eradicate evolutionists´ claims about the origin of life and the anthropic principle. According to the aliens, there is no multiverse and there were only eight, previous, expansion-contraction phases to the universe. Thus, the likelihood of our universe´s physical constants perfectly support our type of life is astronomically improbable.

Including the evidence about simultaneous extinction events, and you have nearly indisputable evidence that God exists, but that evidence is not present in "our reality", but this does not restrain the author from chiding Carl Sagan, Stephen Gould, or the scientists behind the Miller-Urey experiment. Instead, we get page after page of attacks against these scientists, using the all too common "intellectual arrogance" argument. As a biochemist, it saddened me to see the author resort to such cheap shots.

Couched within all of these screeds against evolution, is the personal dilemma of the paleontologist who is dying from cancer. This naturally causes him to question god and raises theodicy issues, which are ham-handedly "resolved" by the author´s less-than-interesting ending, which matches the poor logic of the book.

The god of this novel is not a god of religion, in that, it is most probably an entity that survived that last contraction of the universe, and now needs intelligent life to build a "starchild" that will allow it to survive the next contraction. The book fails again to be consistent by having too many paradoxes with god´s behavior. It is unwilling to communicate with individuals or by any normal means of communication, yet it will suddenly appear to stop a tragic event. If it is so powerful that it can tear open space-time, why not simply communicate with its creations?

The author also mildly backhands the desire to live forever, as if it somehow is a glitch that undermines the true plan of god. He denigrates those societies who uploaded into virtual reality to live forever as undermining god and living in a fantasy, yet he is guilty of the exact same thing. Instead of confronting the questions of science and religion; theodicy; and faith and belief; he has created a farsical world with all the right answers to promote a belief in intelligent design and a benevolent god.

Overall, this book is best left on the shelf. There are far better nonfiction books that tackle these subjects, and reading to understand the characters´ perspectives is not rewarding, because they are unbelievable and constrained from exploring by the author´s intellectual crutches. This book is deeply disappointing.¤

4) Mass Market Paperback Book Calculating God by Tor Science Fiction. I enjoyed this book for a number of reasons. I thought it was well-written, had well-paced humor, and a good stroll for the brain. I did find that some of the plot twists (no spoilers now) were a bit too convenient to be appreciated...like the ending. But the story is interesting, and the characters are interesting. I´m not a professional scientist, so I found the science in here intriguing enough to want to learn more about it. I wouldn´t consider this a must read, but it´s an interesting perspective as an atheist battles his non-faith. I also think this book covers areas that many writers might be afraid to write down. This is a pretty short book too. I´ve got to give Sawyer props for writing something he knew his readers in the scientific community might bash on...and I think that´s the mark of a great fiction writer: Fearless and refreshing honesty, with a fun adventure.¤

5) Mass Market Paperback Book Calculating God by Tor Science Fiction. Usually, if I sense an alien coming, I run. In movies or books, anyway. Beasties with six legs and eyes on wands, flying saucers and such... not my thing. But good writing, in any genre, is always my thing. There is so much to learn and understand in solid reality that I wish no escapism, the latter wasting precious real time for matters of value and substance ... but when science fiction keeps enough of its six legs firmly planted in issues we face in substantiated reality, even as it waves its eye wands into the unknown ... then my interest is won.

Robert J. Sawyer is a familiar name to me, even without being a sci fi fan. The title, "Calculating God," locked into my lifelong fascination with the spiritual realm. I was intrigued to know how a sci fi writer of acclaim would approach the concept of God, that is, faith, grounded in a world of science, however speculative: he does it well and convincingly.

Hollus, aforementioned six-legged alien with waving eye wands, comes to Earth to research, well, life itself. And all that the concept of life and living encompasses. She enters a museum to find a paleontologist, thus meeting Tom Jericho, scientist who is facing the afterlife, like it or not, as a newly diagnosed cancer patient. The two have an ongoing dialogue about God and faith, which pretty much sums up the entire premise of this story, with few sidelines. Surprise! For it is the alien who believes in God, the human being who so mightily resists, even as he contemplates his fast approaching mortality.

I could complain that various scenes and plot twists in this book leave me unconvinced. I have a hard time buying the idea that people would accept so quickly and easily, almost to the point of being oblivious, an alien moving so casually among them, even if mostly in hologram form. The vandalism in the museum by religious fundamentalists is on shaky ground, potentially unnecessary, but with more solid plotting, might have been developed into a fascinating tangent of exploring religious fervor when it goes too far. Sawyer missed his mark here for what might have added a fine nuance to the story.

Yet, regardless, I found myself recommending this book to others even before I had finished it. Several times, the author brings out points in this dialogue on faith that made me "a-ha!" aloud in my reading, wondering, why had I never thought of that? He makes arguments, via Hollus, favoring the idea of intelligent design, that for all the proven evolution of one species over time in a myriad of ways and forms, never has science shown one species evolving into another species. A dog can, over time, become a great many other breeds of dog, but he will never become a bird. And this, after all, is the premise on which the idea of evolution is, must be, built. Cell becomes fish becomes reptile becomes primate becomes man... you know the lineage. Science has gaps in this area, requiring faith.

What Sawyer so masterfully brings to light in this story is that it is science that requires many leaps of faith ... *not* believing in God. Perhaps, in fact, much more so. With his alien voice, in various examinations of one scientific premise after another, he argues that God is rooted in science, that is, well substantiated in many forms of solid evidence, while the [godless] science we accept in the contemporary world is actually standing on the clay feet of irrational faith.

Fascinating.

The literary value of this book, in terms of style and form, for me, is on the weak side. Its value as invitation for lively discussion, its courageous groundbreaking of the usual storylines of more typical sci fi fare, deserves high praise. Science fiction fan or not -- recommended reading.


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6) Mass Market Paperback Book Calculating God by Tor Science Fiction.

7) Mass Market Paperback Book Calculating God by Tor Science Fiction. Creationists rarely find sympathy in the ranks of science fiction authors--or fans, for that matter. And while Robert J. Sawyer doesn´t exactly make peace with evangelicals on the issue, Calculating God has to be one of the more thoughtful and sympathetic SF portrayals you´ll find of religion and intelligent design. But that should come as no surprise from this crafty Canadian: in the Nebula Award-winning Terminal Experiment, Sawyer speculated on what would happen if hard evidence were ever found for the human soul; in Calculating God, he turns science on its head again when earth is invaded by theists from outer space.

The book starts out like the setup for some punny science fiction joke: An alien walks into a museum and asks if he can see a paleontologist. But the arachnid ET hasn´t come aboard a rowboat with the Pope and Stephen Hawking (although His Holiness does request an audience later). Landing at the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto, the spacefarer (named Hollus) asks to compare notes on mass extinctions with resident dino-scientist Thomas Jericho. A shocked Jericho finds that not only does life exist on other planets, but that every civilization in the galaxy has experienced extinction events at precisely the same time. Armed with that disconcerting information (and a little help from a grand unifying theory), the alien informs Jericho, almost dismissively, that "the primary goal of modern science is to discover why God has behaved as he has and to determine his methods."

Inventive, fast-paced, and alternately funny and touching, Calculating God sneaks in a well-researched survey of evolution science, exobiology, and philosophy amidst the banter between Hollus and Jericho. But the book also proves to be very moving and character-driven SF, as Jericho--in the face of Hollus´s convincing arguments--grapples with his own bitter reasons for not believing in God. --Paul Hughes¤

Page Updated: Robert N. Goolsby, 9-Oct-2008, 08125803549780812580358, 050-440-460-540-W0B-2EB-8

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