A well-crafted reflection on the place of religion in the physical world.
A wide-ranging discussion of the natural world from a dedicated but inquisitive theist.
The habits of the giant coconut crab, the workings of world religions, and the ebb and flow of the weather might seem about as disparate a group of assembled elements as possible. But seen through the author’s lens of interconnected ecosystems, the preceding topics and many more become a unified field of sound scholarly exploration, not to mention free-flowing musing. Dutifully recounting the science behind such notions before asking the inevitable question of why we believe in the things we believe in, the author confidently credits a supreme being presiding over the whole shebang. But the God born out of this reality’s Big Bang is not the meddling—some might say malevolent—deity of the Old Testament. According to the author, he can’t be, since “God’s interventions would change natural ecology and play havoc with the Butterfly Effect.” The last phenomena, as sci-fi fans know, postulates that even the flapping of a butterfly’s wings—or the absence of such flapping—has enormous consequences further down the chain of interconnected causality. Thus, the God described here is omnipresent and omnipotent, but he doesn’t intervene or answer prayers: “God does not tinker with anything on Earth.” This view, the author says, leaves the door wide open for science and theism to happily coexist. For instance, evolution isn’t a problem for the theistic writer if Charles Darwin’s theory just happens to be the Almighty’s way of getting things done. Ultimately, however, the lack of a coherent or compelling focus threatens to undermine the earnestness that resides within this constantly leapfrogging treatise. Those operating outside the restrictive lens of religious dogma won’t be inspired or especially challenged, but seen through a more accommodating lens, this God-fearing author’s exhortations could prove notably provocative and productive.
A well-crafted reflection on the place of religion in the physical world.Pub Date: Feb. 26, 2013
ISBN: 978-1481254137
Page Count: 222
Publisher: CreateSpace
Review Posted Online: Nov. 22, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2013
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
A quirky wonder of a book.
A Peabody Award–winning NPR science reporter chronicles the life of a turn-of-the-century scientist and how her quest led to significant revelations about the meaning of order, chaos, and her own existence.
Miller began doing research on David Starr Jordan (1851-1931) to understand how he had managed to carry on after the 1906 San Francisco earthquake destroyed his work. A taxonomist who is credited with discovering “a full fifth of fish known to man in his day,” Jordan had amassed an unparalleled collection of ichthyological specimens. Gathering up all the fish he could save, Jordan sewed the nameplates that had been on the destroyed jars directly onto the fish. His perseverance intrigued the author, who also discusses the struggles she underwent after her affair with a woman ended a heterosexual relationship. Born into an upstate New York farm family, Jordan attended Cornell and then became an itinerant scholar and field researcher until he landed at Indiana University, where his first ichthyological collection was destroyed by lightning. In between this catastrophe and others involving family members’ deaths, he reconstructed his collection. Later, he was appointed as the founding president of Stanford, where he evolved into a Machiavellian figure who trampled on colleagues and sang the praises of eugenics. Miller concludes that Jordan displayed the characteristics of someone who relied on “positive illusions” to rebound from disaster and that his stand on eugenics came from a belief in “a divine hierarchy from bacteria to humans that point[ed]…toward better.” Considering recent research that negates biological hierarchies, the author then suggests that Jordan’s beloved taxonomic category—fish—does not exist. Part biography, part science report, and part meditation on how the chaos that caused Miller’s existential misery could also bring self-acceptance and a loving wife, this unique book is an ingenious celebration of diversity and the mysterious order that underlies all existence.
A quirky wonder of a book.Pub Date: April 14, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-5011-6027-1
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Jan. 1, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2020
Jobs was an American original, and Isaacson's impeccably researched, vibrant biography—fully endorsed by his subject—does...
An unforgettable tale of a one-of-a-kind visionary.
With a unique ability to meld arts and technology and an uncanny understanding of consumers' desires, Apple founder Steve Jobs (1955–2011) played a major role in transforming not just computer technology, but a variety of industries. When Jobs died earlier this month, the outpouring of emotion from the general public was surprisingly intense. His creations, which he knew we wanted before we did, were more than mere tools; everything from the iPod to the MacBook Pro touched us on a gut level and became an integral part of our lives. This was why those of us who were hip to Steve Jobs the Inventor were so moved when he passed. However, those who had an in-depth knowledge of Steve Jobs the Businessman might not have taken such a nostalgic view of his life. According to acclaimed biographer and Aspen Institute CEO Isaacson (American Sketches: Great Leaders, Creative Thinkers, and a Heroes of a Hurricane, 2009, etc.) in this consistently engaging, warts-and-all biography, Jobs was not necessarily the most pleasant boss. We learn about Jobs' predilection for humiliating his co-workers into their best performances; his habit of profanely dismissing an underling's idea, only to claim it as his own later; and his ability to manipulate a situation with an evangelical, fact-mangling technique that friends and foes alike referred to as his "reality distortion field." But we also learn how—through his alternative education, his pilgrimage to India, a heap of acid trips and a fateful meeting with engineering genius Steve Wozniak—Jobs became Jobs and Apple became Apple. Though the narrative could have used a tighter edit in a few places, Isaacson's portrait of this complex, often unlikable genius is, to quote Jobs, insanely great.
Jobs was an American original, and Isaacson's impeccably researched, vibrant biography—fully endorsed by his subject—does his legacy proud.Pub Date: Oct. 24, 2011
ISBN: 978-1-4516-4853-9
Page Count: 448
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Oct. 27, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2011
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