Roy R Gould - anyone read him?

[ollypenrice]

This book appeared 'up for grabs' on a reviewers' panel of which I'm a member. http://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog.php?isbn=9780674976078

Looking at the existing reviews and a gloss of the central hypothesis I rather fear it would drive me to distraction but another voice in my head tells me to give it a go. (I'm fascinated by the difficulty of not being anthropomorphic.)

So has anyone given this a go yet?

Olly

[andrew s]

Looking at the review it seems to be pure speculation. Not for me.

Regards Andrew 

[Stub Mandrel]

If this review is accurate, you might find it an uneasy read?

https://openlettersreview.com/open-letters-review/universe-in-creation-by-roy-r-gould

[Mr niall]

no - I just read the synopsis and it makes me feel a bit unwell. Much too much thought in there for me!

[JamesF]

After reading the review that Neil links to, my impression is that this is a book written with the purpose of selling a book.  One might buy the book and (perhaps correctly) point out that it is a complete load of tosh, but by then the author has got your money and you're worse off for the cost and the time spent reading it.

Of course that may be a completely unfair judgement.  The book may be well thought out and an interesting and compelling interpretation of our current understanding of the universe.  The only way to find out is to read it, and if it isn't then we're back to Point 1.

Perhaps we should be able to claim back the cost of rubbish books and the time taken to read them from the publishers?

James

[vlaiv]

Although I'm very interested in the idea of "Creationism", and here I don't mean what people usually mean by that term, but in lack of proper term (and there might be one and me just now knowing about it) - I sometimes refer to it by that name, this book sounds like dealing with other more general usage of term "Creationism" (the one you would normally associate that term) and I would skip it.

I would much rather read philosophical treatise on feasibility of the idea that there is a "creator" (and I must stress here this is not in religious context) - entity upon which action (I'm almost tempted to insert word willing, or that of a free will, before action - but I would not go there, as we don't really have a clear understanding what free will is) - self contained reality is brought in existence.

I've seen some of ideas in philosophy that touch on subtopics of this topic - Theory of forms by Plato, for example, or more modern idea that we live in a computer simulation.

[ollypenrice]

2 hours ago, Stub Mandrel said:

If this review is accurate, you might find it an uneasy read?

https://openlettersreview.com/open-letters-review/universe-in-creation-by-roy-r-gould

Yes, I'd read that myself, hence my doubts about bothering. These are growing!

Olly

PS In using this form of his name (Roy R Gould) I can't help wondering if he's cashing in on Stephen Jay Gould's caché?? What a cynic I am...

 

[Stub Mandrel]

1 minute ago, ollypenrice said:

Yes, I'd read that myself, hence my doubts about bothering. These are growing!

Olly

 

Maybe you should read it and give it a fair review for the greater good of humankind?

[ollypenrice]

1 minute ago, Stub Mandrel said:

Maybe you should read it and give it a fair review for the greater good of humankind?

Who, little me? I don't aspire to such grandeur!

?lly