The Wonder of the World: A Journey from Modern Science to the Mind of God [Hardcover]

Varghese, an impresario of science-religion dialogues who is perhaps best known as co-editor of Cosmos, Bios, Theos, uses scientific insights to build a broad, if somewhat uneven, case for theistic belief. Although Varghese is obviously familiar with contemporary science and its interpreters, he highlights four thinkers of the premodern era: Avicenna (Ibn-Sina), Aquinas, Maimonides and Madhvacharya. Although each figure represents a different philosophical/religious tradition, their worldviews coincide at many essential points. But more importantly, Varghese argues, their vision of an orderly and intelligible universe was the "Matrix" required for the development of modern science. If theism provided the first foundations of science, then the naturalistic or skeptical perspective assumed in scientific circles today might be exposed as unnecessary or even self-defeating. These arguments have been made before, at least where the first three figures are concerned; but Varghese's discussion of Madhvacharya and the theistic school of Hinduism he represents adds a distinctive note. Unfortunately, readers interested in Varghese's distinctive insights must wade through the book's somewhat sprawling construction and competing organizational themes. Several sections of the book are set up as an online dialogue between "Geek" and "Guru," a device that succeeds at points but becomes somewhat stilted as the book unfolds. Geek poses a few hardball questions just where Guru has effective answers; but on the whole he is a soft opponent, never pressing an advantage and often too yielding to Guru's arguments to come across as a convincing skeptic.
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The Wonder of the World: A Journey from Modern Science to the Mind of God is an inquiry into those every day experiences and "facts of life" that are as mystifying as they are obvious and ordinary. From commonplace phenomena like language and reproduction to such enigmas as energy, life, consciousness, mind and the laws of nature. Science brings us face to face with magic and mystery. The world is nothing less than a wonderland. This book is a dialogue between an atheist scientist ("Geek") and a theist ("Guru") with a special featuring of the "matrix of modern science" where we see that in contrast to the often assumed conflict between religion and science, "the womb of modern science" converged in a fascinating and historical way through the 4 greatest thinkers of the Hindu, Jewish, Christian and Moslem religions.Great questions with great answers: What did the pioneers and prophets of science think about God? What happened before the Big Bang? Is there a supra-scientific Theory of Everything?

Roy Abraham Varghese resides in a Dallas suburb. He has established himself as one of the world's leading authors on the subject of God and Science and has participated in international events on the subject at the UN and distinguished events worldwide. Previous books have recieved international acclaim and awards including the prestigious Templeton prize.