Big
Bang or No Bang? Science, Religion and Philosophy by Finngeir
Hiorth.
Lima:
EFA, 2001, pp. 174 (Spanish version of the original one in English by Human-Etisk
Forbund
St.
Olavsgt. 27, N-0166 Oslo, Norway, 2000. Web page: www..human.no.
E-mail:
info@human.no).
This
book offers a philosophical analysis and critique of some cosmological
problems. "Cosmology" can be defined as a discipline dealing with the origin,
evolution, and large-scale structure of the universe. The present book
mainly deals with big bang cosmology and alternatives, and the origin and
possible creation of the universe. It does so by presenting and analyzing
a number of publications written by contemporary cosmologists.
The
publications have been written by scientists and science writers such as
Hannes Alfv‚n, Halton C. Arp, Roberta Brawer, Geoffrey Burbidge, Stuart
Clark, Anthony Fairall, Alan Guth, Stephen Hawking, Craig J. Hogan, Fred
Hoyle, Christopher R. Kitchin, Marc LachiŠze-Rey, Alan Lightman, Jayant
V. Narlikar, Felix Pirani, Matts Roos, Michael Rowan-Robinson, Joseph Silk,
and Steven Weinberg. These authors mainly present major results and ideas
of contemporary cosmology, although some also discuss problems of religion
and philosophy.
Other
authors whose writings have been analyzed, pay more attention to questions
of religion or philosophy. Some of these authors are scientists or science
writers, whereas others are theologians or philosophers. These authors
include persons like William Lane Craig, Paul Davies, Willem B. Drees,
George F. R. Ellis, Timothy Ferris, Robert Jastrow, Stanley L. Jaki, John
Leslie, Ted Peters, Quentin Smith, and Victor J. Stenger.
Big
Bang or No Bang?, gives a thorough introduction to some aspects of
contemporary cosmology from a philosophical point of view. The author has
been a lecturer of philosophy at the University of Oslo. He is a convinced
atheist and has published books dealing with the German philosopher Leibniz,
the Scottish philosopher David Hume, the linguist Noam Chomsky, and with
topics like atheism, ethics, humanism, materialism, metaphysics, and values.
His last book is Studying Religion, also published by Human-Etisk
Forbund in 2000.
Contents
Preface 4,
Hawking about the Universe and God 8,
Felix Pirani on the Universe 12,
Steven Weinberg 17, Christopher R. Kitchin 22,
Signals from far away 24,
Stuart Clark 28, Halton C. Arp 29,
Redshift 34, Plasma Cosmology 37,
Dark Matter 39, More on the Big Bang Theory 40,
Event Horizon 41,
Alan Guth, Inflation, and Andrei Linde 41,
Steady State and Quasi Steady State 45,
Expansion 46,
The Origin of the Universe, Creation 49,
Large-Scale Structures 50,
Craig J. Hogan on Big Bang Theory 52,
Jayant V. Narlikar 57,
Burbidge, Hoyle, and Narlikar, and Andreas Albrecht 60,
Pecker, Silk, and Narlikar 63,
Matts Roos 67,
Fred Hoyle 70,
Marc LachiŠze-Rey 73,
Michael Rowan-Robinson 75,
Alan Lightman and Roberta Brawer 80,
Timothy Ferris on God and Cosmology 90,
Paul Davies on God and Cosmology 93,
Victor J. Stenger: No Design 95,
Theism, Atheism, and Big Bang Cosmology 99,
Stanley L. Jaki on God and Cosmology 99,
Theology and Cosmology 100,
Robert Jastrow 106,
George F. R. Ellis,
Philosophy and Cosmology 110,
Summaries and Comments 117,
Final Remarks 133,
Literature 136-142.
Other books by Finngeir Hiorth published by EDICIONES DE
-Introduction
to Atheism
-Introduction
to Humanism
-Ethics
for atheists
-Values
-Studying
Religion
Back to the PERUVIAN INSTITUTE OF APPLIED PHILOSOPHY main page