Book report: The Universe Is a Green Dragon, by Brian Swimme
This is not the kind of book I would ordinarily choose to read. True, it's a non-fiction book about science, but it has a fanciful title, and I usually steer clear of things like that. I have a low tolerance for pop versions of science. When I hear phrases like "quantum healing" or "personal energy" or "laws of attraction", my eyes start rolling automatically. But, my pastor's wife lent me this book, knowing I'm a science person, so I felt obliged to at least look at it. I'm glad I did.
The author knows a lot of science, which was a pleasant surprise from the beginning. And he makes it clear from the start that the title is a metaphor. Whew. When authors don't know that their theme is a metaphor, and think it's real, that's when they lose me.
But, far more important than those considerations, this guy has some amazing perspectives on science. His theme seems to be that, based on all we now know about science (including the big bang and evolution theories), we can be looking at the world, at nature, and at ourselves, differently. This is the kind of book where you read two pages, then have to put it down for a week to think about what you just read. It took me over a year to get through it. When I was about halfway through, I realized that I should have been taking notes, so I went back to the beginning and started all over again.
I came away with over a dozen insights from this book. Here's one, just so you have an idea of his ideas: matter is memory. Suppose you pick up a rock. That rock contains a record of everything that has happened to it, over billions of years. Like ourselves, and everything around us, its atoms were formed in a supernova – an exploding star – billions of years ago. More recently, that rock embodies volcanic eruptions, sediments coalescing at the bottom of ancient oceans, upheavals, glaciers, and a hundred other events in earth's history. All in an ordinary rock. And every other piece of matter is similar, including us. My own body has the visible record of the day I jumped off my bike and skidded a yard on my knees, the day I got bit by a dog, the day I had heart surgery, and the time I played goalie without a mask. Matter is memory.
I have already appropriated some of his ideas to use in my story about people with super powers. How Newton's idea of universal gravitation implies a relationship between us and every other thing in the universe, a relationship that a character might fictionally negotiate to allow her to fly, for example.
So, who would like this kind of book? I think that some people who like science would, but only if they understand that science is a metaphor, and must be taken with a grain of salt. People who believe that science is literally true – who believe that there really are photons and electrons, for example – might find this book disturbing to their beliefs. They might not like the idea that gazing at the moon changes you – and the moon – for example.
I also think that people who enjoy fantasy or new ways of looking at things would like this book. You don't have to know much science to read it – he tells you everything you need to know to get his messages. However, the "anything is possible" folks might not like it either. The universe does have rules, as it turns out. It's what's possible within those rules that is amazing.
Bottom line: If you're interested in new perspectives on the universe you live in, you might give this a try. In small doses.
This is not the kind of book I would ordinarily choose to read. True, it's a non-fiction book about science, but it has a fanciful title, and I usually steer clear of things like that. I have a low tolerance for pop versions of science. When I hear phrases like "quantum healing" or "personal energy" or "laws of attraction", my eyes start rolling automatically. But, my pastor's wife lent me this book, knowing I'm a science person, so I felt obliged to at least look at it. I'm glad I did.
The author knows a lot of science, which was a pleasant surprise from the beginning. And he makes it clear from the start that the title is a metaphor. Whew. When authors don't know that their theme is a metaphor, and think it's real, that's when they lose me.
But, far more important than those considerations, this guy has some amazing perspectives on science. His theme seems to be that, based on all we now know about science (including the big bang and evolution theories), we can be looking at the world, at nature, and at ourselves, differently. This is the kind of book where you read two pages, then have to put it down for a week to think about what you just read. It took me over a year to get through it. When I was about halfway through, I realized that I should have been taking notes, so I went back to the beginning and started all over again.
I came away with over a dozen insights from this book. Here's one, just so you have an idea of his ideas: matter is memory. Suppose you pick up a rock. That rock contains a record of everything that has happened to it, over billions of years. Like ourselves, and everything around us, its atoms were formed in a supernova – an exploding star – billions of years ago. More recently, that rock embodies volcanic eruptions, sediments coalescing at the bottom of ancient oceans, upheavals, glaciers, and a hundred other events in earth's history. All in an ordinary rock. And every other piece of matter is similar, including us. My own body has the visible record of the day I jumped off my bike and skidded a yard on my knees, the day I got bit by a dog, the day I had heart surgery, and the time I played goalie without a mask. Matter is memory.
I have already appropriated some of his ideas to use in my story about people with super powers. How Newton's idea of universal gravitation implies a relationship between us and every other thing in the universe, a relationship that a character might fictionally negotiate to allow her to fly, for example.
So, who would like this kind of book? I think that some people who like science would, but only if they understand that science is a metaphor, and must be taken with a grain of salt. People who believe that science is literally true – who believe that there really are photons and electrons, for example – might find this book disturbing to their beliefs. They might not like the idea that gazing at the moon changes you – and the moon – for example.
I also think that people who enjoy fantasy or new ways of looking at things would like this book. You don't have to know much science to read it – he tells you everything you need to know to get his messages. However, the "anything is possible" folks might not like it either. The universe does have rules, as it turns out. It's what's possible within those rules that is amazing.
Bottom line: If you're interested in new perspectives on the universe you live in, you might give this a try. In small doses.
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