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9781538489741

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Deceptively brilliant, Alan Lightman's prose is so simple and graceful that it can be easy to miss the quiet, deep sophistication of his approach to the fraught topic of science and religion. -- Professor Edward J. Hall, chair, department of philosophy, Harvard University [Lightman] weaves the writings of poets, scientists, and religious scholars as he explores the boundaries of the known (and unknown) world...Both believers and nonbelievers will find much to ponder in this discussion of science and religion, which reads like a soothing meditation. -- Library Journal These personal and historical essays on religion, science, and religion-and-science are assembled to draw the reader ever deeper in...An illuminating, deeply human book. -- Booklist From Newton and Galileo to Einstein and Aristotle, from St. Augustine and the Buddha to contemporary theological thought, Lightman presents a distilled but comprehensive survey of the search for meaning. -- Kirkus Reviews Lightman mesmerizes in this collection of essays that explores the connections between scientific ideas and the wider world....More philosophy of science than hard science, this is a volume meant for savoring. -- Publishers Weekly (starred review) Lightman gives us vast, complicated subjects in lucid, engaging prose. -- Politics & Prose Contemplative, elegant, and open-minded...an engaging companion to understanding our longing for connection with the infinite. -- Post and Courier (Charleston, South Carolina) Demonstrates Lightman's ability to make the most abstract notions accessible to all. No background is needed in physics, philosophy, religion, or any other field to fully understand every step of the wide-ranging intellectual trek. -- Washington Post Science needs its poets, and Alan Lightman is the perfect amalgam of scientist and humanist...Searching for Stars on an Island in Maine is an elegant and moving paean to...the search for something deeper in the materialist worldview of the scientist. -- New York Times Book Review Lightman is to be admired for his willingness to take off his scientist's hat and plunge into preoccupations most of his peers would strenuously avoid, some for fear of ridicule. Once again, this deft wordsmith has effortlessly straddled the divide between the hardest of the hard sciences and the nebulous world of existential doubts and longings. -- Nature A delightful collection of essays...His elegant and evocative prose draws in the reader, and I felt as if I were strolling alongside the author. -- Wall Street Journal This interesting work is adroitly narrated by Bronson Pinchot, whose soft voice and deliberate pacing match the text perfectly-it is almost as if one is having a conversation with the author about things both physical and spiritual... Pinchot's confident, soft delivery and intonation deliberately engage listeners and hold their attention throughout. -- AudioFile

[Lightman] weaves the writings of poets, scientists, and religious scholars as he explores the boundaries of the known (and unknown) world...Both believers and nonbelievers will find much to ponder in this discussion of science and religion, which reads like a soothing meditation. -- Library Journal A delightful collection of essays...His elegant and evocative prose draws in the reader, and I felt as if I were strolling alongside the author. -- Wall Street Journal Contemplative, elegant, and open-minded...an engaging companion to understanding our longing for connection with the infinite. -- Post and Courier (Charleston, South Carolina) Deceptively brilliant, Alan Lightman's prose is so simple and graceful that it can be easy to miss the quiet, deep sophistication of his approach to the fraught topic of science and religion. -- Professor Edward J. Hall, chair, department of philosophy, Harvard University Demonstrates Lightman's ability to make the most abstract notions accessible to all. No background is needed in physics, philosophy, religion, or any other field to fully understand every step of the wide-ranging intellectual trek. -- Washington Post From Newton and Galileo to Einstein and Aristotle, from St. Augustine and the Buddha to contemporary theological thought, Lightman presents a distilled but comprehensive survey of the search for meaning. -- Kirkus Reviews Lightman gives us vast, complicated subjects in lucid, engaging prose. -- Politics & Prose Lightman is to be admired for his willingness to take off his scientist's hat and plunge into preoccupations most of his peers would strenuously avoid, some for fear of ridicule. Once again, this deft wordsmith has effortlessly straddled the divide between the hardest of the hard sciences and the nebulous world of existential doubts and longings. -- Nature Lightman mesmerizes in this collection of essays that explores the connections between scientific ideas and the wider world....More philosophy of science than hard science, this is a volume meant for savoring. -- Publishers Weekly (starred review) Science needs its poets, and Alan Lightman is the perfect amalgam of scientist and humanist...Searching for Stars on an Island in Maine is an elegant and moving paean to...the search for something deeper in the materialist worldview of the scientist. -- New York Times Book Review These personal and historical essays on religion, science, and religion-and-science are assembled to draw the reader ever deeper in...An illuminating, deeply human book. -- Booklist This interesting work is adroitly narrated by Bronson Pinchot, whose soft voice and deliberate pacing match the text perfectly-it is almost as if one is having a conversation with the author about things both physical and spiritual... Pinchot's confident, soft delivery and intonation deliberately engage listeners and hold their attention throughout. -- AudioFile

Author Information

Alan Lightman, an active research scientist in astronomy and physics, has taught at both Harvard and MIT. His novels include Einstein's Dreams, which was a New York Times and international bestseller; Good Benito; The Diagnosis, which was a finalist for the 2000 National Book Award; and Reunion. His essays have appeared in the New York Review of Books, New York Times, Nature, Atlantic Monthly, and the New Yorker. Bronson Pinchot, an Audie Award-winning narrator and Audible's Narrator of the Year for 2010, received his education at Yale University, which filled out what he had already received at his mother's knee in the all-important areas of Shakespeare, Greek art and architecture, and the Italian Renaissance. He restores Greek Revival buildings and appears in television, film, and on stage whenever the pilasters and entablatures overwhelm him.

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