Victor J. Stenger Knihy

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

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. In this comprehensive history of multiverse theory, 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 language. He 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, in the light of science, long-held beliefs will need to undergo major revision or otherwise face eventual extinction.

Tells the story of science's ideas - from its genesis to the 21st century. In this title, the author makes the case that the total absence of empirical facts and theoretical arguments to support the existence of any component to reality other than atoms and the void can be taken as proof beyond a reasonable doubt.

In the past few years a number of scientists have claimed that there is credible scientific evidence for the existence of God. In 1998 Newsweek went so far as to proclaim on its cover, "Science Finds God." Is this true? Are scientists close to solving the greatest of all mysteries? Physicist Victor J. Stenger delves into this fascinating question from a skeptical point of view in this lucid and engrossing presentation of the key scientific facts.Stenger critically reviews the attempts of many contemporary theologians and some scientists to resurrect failed natural theologies in new guises. Whether these involve updated arguments from design, "anthropic" coincidences, or modern forms of deism, Stenger clearly shows that nothing in modern science requires supernatural explanation. He offers naturalistic explanations for empirical observations that are frequently given theistic for example, that information in the universe implies an intelligent designer, that a universe with a beginning requires a Creator, and that the elegant laws of physics suggest a transcendent realm. He shows that alleged spiritual, nonmaterial phenomena do not lie beyond the experimental reach of physics.This thorough and careful consideration of scientific evidence covers much ground yet remains accessible and highly informative to the educated lay reader.