Most Americans believe they possess an immaterial soul that will survive the death of the body. In sharp contrast, the current scientific consensus rejects the traditional soul, although this conclusion is rarely discussed publicly. In this book, a cognitive scientist breaks the taboo and explains why modern science leads to this controversial conclusion. In doing so, the book reveals the truly astonishing scope and power of scientific inquiry, drawing on ideas from biology, psychology, neuroscience, philosophy, and the physical sciences.

Much more than chronicling the demise of the traditional soul, the book explores where soul beliefs come from, why they are so widespread culturally and historically, how cognitive science offers a naturalistic alternative to religious conceptions of mind, and how postulating the existence of a soul amounts to making a scientific claim.

Although the new scientific view of personhood departs radically from traditional religious conceptions, the author shows that a coherent, meaningful, and sensitive appreciation of what it means to be human remains intact. He argues that we do not lose anything by letting go of our soul beliefs and that we even have something to gain.

Throughout, the book takes a passionate stand for science and reason. It also offers a timely rejoinder to recent claims that science supports the existence of the soul and the afterlife.

Cosmologists have reasons to believe that the vast universe in which we live is just one of an endless number of other universes within a multiverse—a mind-boggling array that may extend indefinitely in space and endlessly in both the past and the future. Victor Stenger reviews the key developments in the history of science that led to the current consensus view of astrophysicists, taking pains to explain essential concepts and discoveries in accessible terminology. The author shows that science’s emerging understanding of the multiverse—consisting of trillions upon trillions of galaxies—is fully explicable in naturalistic terms with no need for supernatural forces to explain its origin or ongoing existence.

How can conceptions of God, traditional or otherwise, be squared with this new worldview? The author shows how long-held beliefs will need to undergo major revision or otherwise face eventual extinction.

In this history of atomism from Democritus, considered by many to be the father of modern science, to the recent discovery of the Higgs boson physicist Victor J. Stenger chronicles one of the most successful scientific hypotheses ever devised. Originating separately in both Greece and India, the concept of the atom persisted for centuries, despite often running afoul of conventional thinking. Until the 20th century, no direct evidence for atoms existed. Today it is possible to actually observe atoms using a Scanning Tunneling Microscope. In God and the Atom, Stenger makes the case that the total absence of empirical facts and theoretical

Looking at both historical and contemporary contexts, the author argues that religion has played a major role in suppressing scientific pursuit. Original.

Having already written several books analyzing scientific evidence for the existence of God, Stenger (philosophy, U. of Colorado) now fixes his mental microscope on the theory of intelligent design and the anthropic principles that have been proposed to support creationism. Previous courses in physics and calculus will make the cosmology, gravity, chemistry, physical parameter, and probability discussions easier to digest. Annotation ©2011 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Victor Stenger, fisico di fama internazionale, riaccende la polemica mai sopita tra fede e scienza, e smantella uno a uno i capisaldi delle più diffuse religioni del mondo. E possibile dimostrare scientificamente l'esistenza di un architetto divino? Quanto sono dimostrabili l'immortalità dell'anima o la veridicità delle profezie, pilastri di ogni credo religioso? Esclusivamente la religione può arrogarsi il titolo di guida spirituale dell'umanità? Sono solo alcune delle domande alle quali l'autore risponde affrontando il problema dell'esistenza di Dio alla stregua di una comune ipotesi scientifica. Prendendo in esame gli studi condotti da rispettabili istituti di ricerca sul potere della preghiera, gli scritti di filosofi che a lungo hanno meditato sul problema di Dio e i lavori di biologi, geologi e astronomi, Stenger conclude che tutti questi tentativi non sono stati in grado di dimostrarne l'esistenza: 'L'idea di Dio, che è vaga, fumosa, sfuggente, è più facile identificarla nel 'bisogno' che non in un'idea definita, come tenta di fare la Chiesa cattolica con il suo catechismo'. Introduzione di Cristopher Hitchens.

Stenger (philosophy, U. of Colorado and emeritus physics and astronomy, U. of Hawaii) describes how secularists have jumped on the anti-Islam hysteria generated after September 11 to take the offensive against religion generally, most often the Abrahamic monotheistic religions of the West. He discusses the folly faith, the sword of science, the design delusion, holy smoke, suffering and morality, the nature of nature, the nature of mind, the way of nature, and the future of atheism. Annotation ©2009 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

In God: The Failed Hypothesis (2007), Stenger (philosophy, U. of Colorado and emeritus physics and astronomy, U. of Hawaii) argued against the existence specifically of the Abrahamic deity, and only as conceived by the mass of believers, rather than trained theologians and apologists. Here he expands his salient to engage New Age believers in a god they claim is based on modern science. He first tackles quantum spirituality, which asserts that quantum mechanics has provided a connection between the human mind and the cosmos. Then he takes on quantum theology, which posits that quantum mechanics and chaos theory provide a place for God to act in the world without violating his own natural laws. Annotation ©2009 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Examines the proof of the existence of God in the light of contemporary science, and maintains that modern science can serve to demonstrate that God does not exist.

È possibile dimostrare l'esistenza o la non-esistenza di Dio attraverso la scienza? Quanto sono dimostrabili l'immortalità dell'anima o la veridicità delle profezie, pilastri di ogni credo religioso? Solo la religione può arrogarsi il titolo di guida spirituale dell'umanità? Queste e molte altre sono le domande che Stenger si pone e alle quali risponde con l'uso di una logica inesorabile e del metodo scientifico.

No post-modern pussy-footing for Stenger (emeritus, physics and astronomy, U. of Hawaii and adjunct, philosophy, U. of Colorado) as he subjects the notion of god and various derivative concepts to the cold logic of science. His perspectives include the illusion of design, the failures of revelation, the argument from evil, and living in the godless universe. Annotation ©2007 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Stenger (emeritus, physics and astronomy, U. of Hawaii-Manoa and philosophy, U. Colorado-Boulder) sets out the arguments of what he characterizes as tremendous advances in physics, astronomy, and cosmology during the 20th and early 21st centuries. He uses no mathematical detail in these chapters but includes supplements to each with mathematical explanations that should be comprehensible to readers with two years of college algebra and calculus. Annotation ©2007 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Offering a critical analysis of theories binding science to theology, Stenger argues that nothing in modern physics, biology, or cosmology requires supernatural explanation, and that those who claim evidence of an intelligent creator have made numerous scientific errors. Writing for a general audience, Stenger (physics, U. of Hawaii) discusses the origin and laws of the universe, offering naturalistic explanations for scientific observations that frequently are given theistic interpretations. The author's arguments are further supported by three short scientific appendices touching on Planck length, lifetimes of stars, and entropy. Annotation (c) Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

If you complained to Stenger (physics and astronomy, U. of Hawaii) that you had no time, he would shrug and say nothing does. He explains to educated lay readers that time is reversible and that the underlying reality of all phenomenon may have no beginning and no end. He argues that based on established principles of simplicity and symmetry, at its deepest level reality is literally timeless, and that many universes may exist with different structures and laws from this one. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

In this fascinating and accessible book, physicist Victor J. Stenger guides the lay reader through the key developments of quantum mechanics and the debate over its apparent paradoxes. In the process, he critically appraises recent metaphysical fads popularized by such authors as Deepak Chopra and Fritjof Capra. Dr. Stenger's knack for elucidating scientific ideas and controversies in language that the nonspecialist can comprehend opens up to the widest possible audience a wealth of information on the most important findings of contemporary physics.
Stenger makes it clear that current scientific hypotheses about the material nature of reality are all we need to explain the available evidence and that mystical notions say more about the human need to believe than about the fundamental makeup of the universe.

Stenger (physics, U. of Hawaii) critically examines theories of a transcendent reality in terms of what is currently known about matter at its most fundamental level. He offers a convincing rebuttal to those who attempt to link physics to mystical truths. Annotation copyright Book News, Inc. Portland, Or.