Product Description

Is it possible for there to be a purpose in a Universe born in a Big Bang and filled with evolving life? Can the multiverse and superstring theories of cosmology be rendered consistent with an infinite intelligence? Might our human consciousness transcend physical matter? Is our existence and the life we live the means whereby God experiences God's own potential?

A remarkable discovery has gradually emerged in astrophysics over the past two decades and is now essentially undisputed: that certain key physical constants have just the right values to make life possible. Most scientists prefer to explain away this uniqueness, by claiming that a huge, perhaps infinite, number of universes must therefore exist, each with unique properties, each randomly different from the other, with ours only seemingly special because in a universe with different properties we would never have originated.

Haisch proposes the alternative that the special properties of our Universe reflect an underlying intelligence, one that is fully consistent with the Big Bang and Darwinian evolution. At this time both views are equally logical and equally beyond proof. However exceptional human experiences and accounts of mystics throughout the ages do suggest that we live in a purposeful Universe. Haisch speculates on what this purpose might be and what that purpose means for our lives.

This is not incompatible with science. Astrophysicist Sir James Jeans wrote that "the universe begins to look more like a great thought than like a great machine" and Sir Arthur Eddington, who proved that Einstein's general relativity was correct, wrote about "science and the unseen world." Cosmologist Sir Fred Hoyle called the Universe "an obvious fix."

Haisch also discusses the popular, but often misrepresented, topic of zero-point energy from the perspective of a multiyear NASA-funded study he led at Lockheed Martin.

"Part of the appeal of this book is that Dr. H. presents his hypothesis as a scientist, conditioned by decades in the halls of science. In particular there is no pulpit pounding insistence on his viewpoint. Rather he discusses topics such as creationism vs. evolution without the emotional upheaval of belief systems.

Of particular interest is his writing on the zero point field. I had been aware of the astounding discovery, where some scientists were able to derive Newton's second law of Physics, F=ma, by considering that inertia was simply the 'drag' encountered by mass in the zero point field. I first read of this in Lynn McTaggart's book the Field. This is astounding because (i) that basic law was thought to be a primary law of the Universe and thus not-derivable, (ii) it made the zero point field a basis of all matter (iii) the scientific community largely ignored this amazing discovery.

What I was not aware of was that Bernard was one of those responsible for this discovery! So if you are interested in the zero point field from someone with the scientific and metaphysical credentials - go no further.

So if you want to put your metaphysical conception of the universe on a more solid scientific basis, and/or have great discussions...get a little God Theory in your life."

-William Arntz, Executive Producer of "What the Bleep Do We Know," October 2007 BLEEPing Herald

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #18094 in Books
• Published on: 2006-05-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 157 pages

From Booklist
Physicist Haisch thinks "Let there be light" isn't just a randomly chosen phrase for the Creation. Indeed, he believes that in the mysteries of light rest clues to the deepest mysteries of the universe, something he calls God, though he doesn't mean by that word the personification that some believers prefer. A scientist who has worked in astrophysics and theoretical physics, Haisch has retained his wonder at the universe from childhood, as he describes in the affecting memoir with which the book begins. Many scientists find no tension between their profession and the profession of belief in divinity, but Haisch goes one step further by attempting to find a scientific explanation for the phenomenon generally called God. Light, that familiar but utterly mysterious force, is the key to such an understanding. Readable and engaging, Haisch will be embraced by those concerned with finding ways of reconciling science and religion. Patricia Monaghan
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Review
“Readable and engaging, Haisch will be embraced by those concerned with finding ways of reconciling science and religion.” --Booklist

“If you are interested in the zero point field from someone with the scientific and metaphysical credentials, go no further. . . . If you want to put your metaphysical conception of the universe on a more solid scientific basis and/or have great discussions . . . get a little God Theory in your life.” --William Arntz, Executive Producer of What the Bleep Do We Know?

“Whether our world will fall apart from the excesses of religious zeal or the blind stupidities of scientific materialism is a serious question. In this tour de force, a peerless scientist presents us with a way out.” --Larry Dossey, MD

“The God Theory makes important inroads toward the creation of a higher-order synthesis grounded in today’s most cutting-edge science.” --What Is Enlightment?

From the Inside Flap
In The God Theory, Bernard Haisch discards both scientific dogma and religious dogma and proposes a theory that provides purpose for our lives while at the same time is completely consistent with everything we have discovered about the universe and life on Earth. To wit, Newton was right — there is a God — and wrong — this is not merely a material world. Haisch proposes that science will explain God and God will explain science.

Customer Reviews

Glimmerings of a New Science of Consciousness and Spirituality
Bernard Haisch is an eminent astrophysicist who is a member of an increasingly large group of prominent scientists who are trying to bridge the seemingly impossible divide between the conventional Reductionist worldview, Creationism and Intelligent Design. For over a century it has seemed as if there is no possible way to reconcile the camps that seem to be totally at loggerheads with each other.

Haisch begins with two observations: First, what we often call the "Goldilocks Theory:" why is it that certain key physical constants have just the right values to make life possible. The term is also applied to describe the key zones around a sun - not too hot and not too cold - in which planets are conducive to the development of carbon-based life forms. The second starting point is a phrase that is found in many religious traditions around the world, from the Middle East to India and China: "Let there be light, and there was light." He believes that consciousness is our connection to God, who, or which, is the source of all consciousness. This infinite conscious intelligence has infinite potential, and its ideas become the laws of physics. In his view the purpose of the Universe is the transformation of potential into experience. So consciousness is the origin of matter, the laws of natures and of all the universes that may exist.

Bernard is the co-author of a remarkable theory about inertia: that it is the property of matter that gives it substance, and that this solid matter is sustained by an underlying sea of quantum light: the zero-point. It is good to remember that one of the most celebrated theories of all time - Einstein's theory of special relativity - is based on the properties of light. Bernard proposes that light, in the form of a universal electromagnetic zero-point field, creates and sustains the world of matter that fills space-time.

One of the immediate implications of these ideas is that we are all imbued with some splinter of God consciousness, that God is experiencing through us, that we have purpose and that our relationship should be one of partnership rather than domination or servility. A second implication is that we should live a life that allows the expression of this intelligence, because in that way we evolve, grow and achieve ultimate satisfaction and happiness. The brain is a filter rather than a creator of consciousness and it is possible to develop the brain so that more of this consciousness is able to manifest. This squares well with the recent data on neuroplasticity and the impact of meditation on the structure and function of the brain. These ideas are familiar to anyone who has studied Hindu, Buddhist or Taoist philosophy, or the writings of mystics and contemplatives who have described the universe as the "body of God." But it has rarely been expressed so clearly and placed in a scientific framework.

Bernard Haisch has unique qualifications for writing this book. He was born in postwar Germany but came to the United States as a three year-old child. He had a strict Catholic upbringing, and his mother wanted him to be a priest, and he attended a high school dedicated to preparing boys for the seminary. He did spend one year in the seminary before leaving to become an astronomer and astrophysicist. So the philosophical and spiritual interests were seeded early on, and in later years he began to study other religions and philosophical systems.

This is an extremely well written and entertaining book by someone who has a fine grasp of science and can explain his wok without dumbing it down. It is small in size and only just over 150 pages, including a short bibliography. It is an easy read, but the ideas, whether they are right or wrong, will likely stay with you for a long time to come.

This is an excellent book for anyone interested in consciousness, spirituality and the subtle systems of the body.

Highly recommended.

An Interesting Theory!

I believe that God exists -- it is only that I don't know what God actually is. Perhaps Mister Haisch has God pegged via his unique theory.

It's an interesting theory (a synthesis of science and spirtuality) in which the author believes that God is attempting to experience His full measure of potential "as God" by actualizing Himself through each human being within the physical realm. (We are His incarnations.)

Just a few random things in general about it:

He comes down hard against the materialism (the belief that reality consists of matter and energy and nothing else) and reductionism (the belief that complex things can be explained by examining their constituent parts only) of scientists who refuse to accomodate even the "possibility of the spiritual", but he's equally critical of the massive failings of religion.

He focuses on the "Zero-Point Field" -- A special light energy that is supposed to inhabit all of space as mandated by the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle. He explores the possibility that this background sea of quantum light existing throughout the universe (the zero-point field) is what makes matter the solid and stable stuff that it is. Anyway, it's about that kind of thing.

He proposes that "consciousness" gives rise to matter and not vice versa -- it is the primary stuff of reality shaping and directing matter by an "infinite intelligence" dreaming up an infinite variety of laws and physical constant values and then letting them play out in all their varities in this and other universes.

Though I don't embrace the "God Theory" outright I can't dismiss the idea out of hand because he makes a somewhat compelling case for it. It is as valid a possibility for explaining it all as anything else that has come before.

Mister Haisch does an excellent job in explaining scientific concepts so that the non-scientist can understand it well enough.

If you have a "scientific mindset" but can accomodate the possibilities of the "spiritual" or if you have a "spiritual mindset" but can accomodate the principles of science then you may find this theory at the very least an interesting one.

I have no negative comment about the book except that it is too short.

I hope I have been helpful to you.

A Major Contribution
THE GOD THEORY is a delightful romp through the labyrinths of philosophy, theology, and science by one of the outstanding astrophysicists of our day. Author Bernard Haisch throws a gauntlet at the feet of physicalistic science, which views consciousness as an evolutionary accident or as an epiphenomenon of the brain. For Haisch, consciousness is a fundamental, not derivative, aspect of the world. The philosophical and theological implications that flow from this approach, which is anchored in solid scientific reasoning, are majestic. This book is very smart, very literary, very thrilling--a fine read.

-- Larry Dossey, MD
Author: THE EXTRAORDINARY HEALING POWER OF ORDINARY THINGS