La Pensée de Dieu by Igor and Grichka Bogdanov. 2012, Paris : Bernard Grasset.
This is an English forum so why write a short review of a French book, whose title translates as “The Thought of God”?
The reason is that if one has just a modest knowledge of French vocabulary, never mind that one is next to nil in grammar and conversation then this book might be within reach. After all it is only 350 pages printed in a very readable type size, in fact there will be space to add translations of some words if needed. Originally I bought it as a souvenir in the airport when leaving France, but after attempting to read the first chapter I had to read more. The language is sparkling, full of questions, a beautiful sense of wonder, and with the few technical terms well explained. So what is it all about?
The book begins with a quote of Albert Einstein from 1920 “…. that which I wish to know is the thought of God”. From there it continues with an introduction to the whole concept of physics being related to mathematics. In this context Max Tegmark, professor of physics at MIT is quoted as saying: “The “outer” physical reality within which we live rests on a mathematical structure which is outside time. That means in a well defined sense that the Universe is mathematical: … (page 17).
Then the authors describe the developments in mathematics that have led to the theories of the big bang and theories of what was before the big bang where their position is that it was pure information.
The greater part of the book is devoted to the lives of great mathematicians, with plenty of delightful biographical details regarding their childhood as well as the incidents and the interactions with others that led them to develop their theories, and in some cases also to connect mathematics with physics. Reading about these interactions exemplifies that “Networking works”.
This is an English forum so why write a short review of a French book, whose title translates as “The Thought of God”?
The reason is that if one has just a modest knowledge of French vocabulary, never mind that one is next to nil in grammar and conversation then this book might be within reach. After all it is only 350 pages printed in a very readable type size, in fact there will be space to add translations of some words if needed. Originally I bought it as a souvenir in the airport when leaving France, but after attempting to read the first chapter I had to read more. The language is sparkling, full of questions, a beautiful sense of wonder, and with the few technical terms well explained. So what is it all about?
The book begins with a quote of Albert Einstein from 1920 “…. that which I wish to know is the thought of God”. From there it continues with an introduction to the whole concept of physics being related to mathematics. In this context Max Tegmark, professor of physics at MIT is quoted as saying: “The “outer” physical reality within which we live rests on a mathematical structure which is outside time. That means in a well defined sense that the Universe is mathematical: … (page 17).
Then the authors describe the developments in mathematics that have led to the theories of the big bang and theories of what was before the big bang where their position is that it was pure information.
The greater part of the book is devoted to the lives of great mathematicians, with plenty of delightful biographical details regarding their childhood as well as the incidents and the interactions with others that led them to develop their theories, and in some cases also to connect mathematics with physics. Reading about these interactions exemplifies that “Networking works”.
