So an alien walks into a museum...

Calculating God by Robert J. Sawyer

Daniel's review

rating: 4 of 5 stars

I completely lucked out when I found this rare find. Passing through the library to pick up some books my wife had reserved, I couldn't help but stop by the sci-fi/fantasy section to find something for myself, especially with it being spring break. For whatever reason, the title, or the cover, or something, appealed to me, and I took "Calculating God" home.

I was in for a treat. Winner of the Nebula Award, which is to science fiction what the Newberry is to children's literature, Robert Sawyer presents an interesting thought experiment: what if earth were discovered by an alien race, or rather, TWO alien races, and they informed us that, contrary to popular scientific belief, the universe and everything in it indicates that there is a god, a creator, a being greater than the laws of biology, physics, and chemistry, that this being had created the universe for a purpose, and we are all a part of that purpose.

What if?

The story itself is simple, and, as one reviewer put it, Sawyer is one of the more sympathetic sci-fi writers to the intelligent design community. An alien ship lands in front of the Royal Onterio Museum in Toronto and asks, not to "take me to your leader," but to "take me to a paleontologist." The paleontologist, of course, is an atheist, but confronted with his alien counterpart and investigating the concurrent histories of their races, begins a series of discussions about the laws of the universe. Are they mere coincidences, or is the alien correct: is there a creator behind it all?

Personally, I found the book intriguing, full of thought provoking dialogue, and creative in execution. The science is relevantly and well applied. While I am not myself a scientist, I have always found it interesting. The story avoids a complicated plot, but manages to deal with important questions as diverse as the purpose of life, the problem of pain, death, and loss of loved ones, all against a backdrop of the scientific laws upon which the universe depends.

Sawyer's main leaps, and creative license, is in a "fifth force" that he suggests is yet to be found by earth scientists, but as far as I know we have not yet found, as well as the successful development of a grand unifying theory of everything. I believe this refers to a theory that will explain both gravity (forces of the very big) and quantum mechanics (forces of the very small). Our present science has neither, but both conveniently move his story along.

If you enjoy this, you might also enjoy a book by the name "Finding Darwin's God" by Kenneth R. Miller, as well as "Consilience" and "The Diversity of Life" by Edward O. Wilson (though the three do not necessarily agree with each other).

View all Daniel's reviews.