The Hidden Face of God: Science Reveals the Ultimate Truth

Schroeder is a wonderful teacher. He sees the sublime in science and his prose is at times beautifully poetic. He delves in both the macrocosm as well as microcosm using both to show that there is an inherent design to the universe and the life within it. This is a book that is well suited to those who would run from the usual creationist palaver yet feel that all of the wonder we see in this universe has to be more than an accident.

Noted Israeli physicist Gerald Schroeder presents a compelling case that our universe is readily reducible to simply this -- an immaterial wisdom. "The solidity of iron is actually 99.9999999999999 percent startlingly vacuous space made to feel solid by ethereal fields of force having no material reality at all." And what is that tiny portion of an "atom" of matter that we describe as supposedly being "matter", that is, the quarks and electrons? They are incredibly precise (i.e., specified) packets of 'frozen' energy, highly tuned to interact with these highly tuned "ethereal fields." It seems that such objects are essentially intellectual constructs, as are all the "objects" of the so-called particle zoo. We call "something" a quark (or a photon, electron, etc) only because we can assign a certain behavior to "it". But what is "it"? Apart from saying that "it" is specified information, nobody knows. Within the quantum mechanical framework, these "objects" are essentially mathematical objects. As Einstein told us, what we call matter is merely condensed ("frozen") energy. And it turns out that energy is merely information. But what incredibly elegant information it is! (If it were not, neither people nor stars nor any "material" thing could exist). The materialist paradigm of our age is decidedly uneasy with the revelation that "matter" is but an elegant creation of a nonmaterial and extra cosmic entity. Why should we have an "Elegant Universe"? Philosophical pre-commitments seek a "blind" non-thing as an explanation, actually demanding a clumsy series of explanations other than the theist's Creator. (Interestingly, this approach is mislabeled "reductionism" and/or "positivism"!) "Consider the 'coincidences'" of nature's wisdom, asks Schroeder, and explanations other than a wise Creator "must seem a bit forced," even to the atheist.The only detraction that I will offer is that the author subscribes to a kind of 'process theology'. Overall, this may be a minor problem. Schroeder's central thesis is itself elegant (and modestly eloquent, and yes, obvious to anyone who isn't psychologically pre-committed to rejecting it out of hand).

As a physicist, I have been seduced by the awe and mystery (to borrow from "The Outer Limits") of quantum mechanics for years. Still, the esoteric nature of subatomic physics was never adequate to convince me of an intelligent design of the universe. Schroeder, however, has succeeded in convincing me of an underlying wisdom in nature through his eloquent description of the mind-boggling complexity of molecular biology. I came away from this book with a perplexing and contradictory sense of calm and breathlessness.Schroeder succeeds where others have failed; namely, he has convinced me that an honest and compelling argument can be made for the existence of God/Creator/universal intelligence without resorting to fundamentalist dogma or pseudo-science.Be warned: parts of the book are tedious; Schroeder admits this. If you are unwilling to put some thought behind the subject matter, then this book isn't for you. But if you're not afraid to think, then by all means read his book; your soul will thank you.

Gerald Schroeder, with his unusual background (expertise in biology and physics, and a very broad knowledge of world religions)is one of those rare people with the qualifications to write a book such as this. And it's a good thing, too, in an age where the empiricism of many scientists minimizes or eliminates the role of God in our universe. His main thesis--that science helps us uncover the hidden code in creation which clearly reveals that God is more than just a Creator--is demonstrated by his own experience and that of other scientists as well as by illustrations of God's plan inherent in the world around us. I've read this book twice and I will probably read it yet again. Along with Paul Davies's book The Mind of God, this book is a must for anyone wishing to explore the ways science can prove God's existence and plan.

I thought Maimonides "Guide to the Perplexed" would come close to letting me understand God... but it didn't.. only opened up even more perplexing problems with my observations of the universe and the religious view of "what it all means". Schroeder's book tied together many thoughts and concepts that have bothered me for many years and suddenly made it seem, as it should, that these are indications of the work of this universal "higher order". Schroeder's insight was the key to me understanding the relationships I knew where there in thermodynamics, quantum mechanics, and classical physics in trying to understand of God. The "conciousness" of a bunch of chemicals in the biological world had to be imbued by an influence, and that influence certainly couldn't have come from within the universe! Maybe after reading this book, it makes sense to reread some Kabalist works...