God's Mechanics Book Review

A review of the book God's Mechanics: How Scientists and Engineers Make Sense of Religion, and the author, Guy Consolmagno

Before I talk about the book I want to write a little about my history with the author leading up to reading the book.

My first experience with Br. Guy Consolmagno was at an annual fundraising event for Kopernik Observatory in Vestal, NY a couple years ago.  He was the special lecturer for the event and even gave two lectures over the course of the night.

Brother Guy's first lecture was given after a nice meal at the Polish Center for local politicians and  other supporters of the Kopernik Observatory.  In his talk, Br. Guy explained that he was a Jesuit priest who was also an astronomer at the Vatican in Rome.  It seems that when most people think of the Catholic Church and Astronomy they think of Galileo, and assume the Church must still have problems with science.  The fact that the Church has an observatory and scientists doing real science, and that it even takes part in the International Astronomical Union (IAU) is certainly a surprise to most people.  His talk centered around the work at the Observatory and how Catholic theology supports a love of the physical universe and the study of science.  He advertised the book he helped put together of photography from the Vatican Observatory called The Heaven's Proclaim.  

His second lecture, given a little later at the Kopernik Observatory was about the decision of the IAU to change Pluto's standing from a planet to a dwarf planet.  This is certainly an interesting topic, and since he was actually one of the scientists involved in the decision, he had a lot of great information to share.  Interestingly, he did not vote to have Pluto characterized as a dwarf planet, but he accepts the decision and teaches people about the debate with evidence for both sides of the argument.  At the end of the lecture, as Br. Guy was getting ready to head out I stopped him to introduce myself.  And to my surprise, he actually visited me at my museum soon after.

Spending an hour or so with Br. Guy was an inspiring experience I'll always appreciate.  I showed him the planetarium, gave him a tour of the museum, and talked with him about science, art, and religion.  He took a look at our private meteorite collection (his expertise) and told me all kinds of things about them I hadn't know.   I felt so honored (and still do) that he took the time to visit with me while he was in the area.  I hope that some day I can be in a position like his, and make a difference in someone's career and life like has done with mine.  During the last couple years I've checked in occasionally online to listen to him on youtube or read reviews of his work on amazon.com.  A bought his book, God's Mechanics a while ago, but I finally recently took the time to read it.

God's Mechanics book review

God's Mechanics is about Br. Guy's personal journey to try to understand what purpose religion has for "techies," and to illustrate some of the ways religion works for him.  By "techie" he mostly means science and technology geeks, and includes himself in the group.  If that premise excited you, than this is really a good read.  If that premise doesn't strike you as interesting, than the book wont either.  Thankfully for me, this is exactly the kind of book I've been looking for.  It is smart and humorous, manages to stay interesting through all 230 pages, and deals with a topic I think is important.

The book is set up loosely like this.  Br. Guy talks about religion and his theories on what a religion is and how someone with a "techie" way of thinking might understand and participate in it.  He interviews scientists of different ages and backgrounds and discusses the role of religion in their lives.   As the book goes on he starts to realize that generalizing "techies" thoughts on religion is a lot more complicated than he thought.  But he makes some good attempts to find patterns and explain them to the reader.  Br. Guy then spends the last part of the book using himself as an example of how a techie thinks about religion.  I really enjoyed reading about his own thoughts, and admired his honesty in admitting he was biased toward Catholicism.  I suppose he could have been more sensitive to other religions by leaving out his feelings towards them, but then we wouldn't have really gotten to see an honest look at his thought process.

One of my favorite things about this book is how Br. Guy effortlessly uses scientific examples in explaining his thoughts on religious experiences.  Here is an example: "...as quantum physics has emphasized, any attempt to make a measurement invariably alters the thing being measured.  If, by presenting yourself to be judged by the standards of your religion, you try to twist yourself into a shape that perhaps is easier to measure but is no longer you, you've defeated the reason to have a religion."  It's statements like that one which really impress me.   If that line get's you excited, too, than please take the time to give his book a try.