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A review by bioniclib
The Universe in a Single Atom by Dalai Lama XIV
4.0
As you might image from someone who reads physics books for fun, this book covered some mindbendingly complex stuff: the theory of relativity, quantum physics, The Big Bang, the concept of consciousness, and genetics.
For someone who has entered the Science Arena late and who gets his info from reading and conversing with the great minds of science, he has a marvelous handle on things. I think. I admit I was lost more than once. But that's ok, because while he talked a lot about science, the book was focused on the intersection of science and Buddhism.
Where science stresses 3rd person impartial observation, Buddhism stressed 1st person experiential reflection. And both methods come startlingly close to the same conclusions at times. Apart from that, The Dalai Lama says that Buddhist concern with the well-being of others can provide a tempering of the indisputably advantageous scientific advances yet do-things-because-we-can attitude. For example, genetic testing can now tell if a baby has things like Down Syndrome whilst still in the womb. If the parents aren't mentally or physically capable of parenting such a child, should they abort? The Dalai Lama says, what if you do and then science discovers a cure?
I've your interested in thinking about such things like that, by that I mean science guided by ethics, then this will be a good read. Just don 't be afraid if you get lost in certain chapters. He covers a wide array of scientific thought.
For someone who has entered the Science Arena late and who gets his info from reading and conversing with the great minds of science, he has a marvelous handle on things. I think. I admit I was lost more than once. But that's ok, because while he talked a lot about science, the book was focused on the intersection of science and Buddhism.
Where science stresses 3rd person impartial observation, Buddhism stressed 1st person experiential reflection. And both methods come startlingly close to the same conclusions at times. Apart from that, The Dalai Lama says that Buddhist concern with the well-being of others can provide a tempering of the indisputably advantageous scientific advances yet do-things-because-we-can attitude. For example, genetic testing can now tell if a baby has things like Down Syndrome whilst still in the womb. If the parents aren't mentally or physically capable of parenting such a child, should they abort? The Dalai Lama says, what if you do and then science discovers a cure?
I've your interested in thinking about such things like that, by that I mean science guided by ethics, then this will be a good read. Just don 't be afraid if you get lost in certain chapters. He covers a wide array of scientific thought.