The Hand of God: Thoughts and Images Reflecting the Spirit of the Universe - Softcover

Reagan, Michael

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1890151521 ISBN 13: 9781890151522

Publisher: Templeton Foundation Pr, 2001

Synopsis

The Hand of God combines inspiration for the mind and spirit by juxtaposing what Astronomy magazine has called "the most beautiful astrophotos ever taken" with illuminating words of scientists, poets, and theologians. Introduced by an essay from award-winning science writer Sharon Begley, this revised edition includes more than sixty new images and creates for the reader an unforgettable experience of the wonder of the universe. It was once believed that to look into the heavens was to look into the face of God. The first Hubble telescope images from space, which appeared in 1990, confirmed that sentiment in ways that are beyond imagination. These eerily luminous landscapes, splendid with color and motion, gave us a glimpse into the outermost reaches of the universe-a vast, unexplored realm where spiraling galaxies cartwheeled, nebulae shimmered, and stars were born. Dark clouds parted like gauzy curtains and allowed us to peer directly into the heart of a mystery. Since that time, more images have been captured on film that are simultaneously wondrous and troubling, restoring to our lives that very mystery that seems to be part of the human experience. Throughout history, scientists and theologians, artists and writers, poets, and philosophers have struggled eloquently to make sense of the universe and God's part in it. Together the images in The Hand of God and the accompanying reflections encourage a sense of awe and, perhaps, purpose in an age hostile to both. "We cannot take a single step toward heaven," French mystic Simone Weil once said. "If, however, we look heavenward for a long time, God comes and takes us up." Perhaps it is time to look up once again.

About this title

About the Author

Michael Reagan is the president and founder of Lionheart Books. Before that, he was the head of Turner Publishing, where he was responsible for a number of bestsellers such as Moonshot, Dinotopia, and Lady Cottington’s Pressed Fairy Book. He is a graduate of Georgia State University. He and his wife live in Atlanta, Georgia, with their three children.

Sharon Begley is an editor at Newsweek magazine and was previously the science editor of the Wall Street Journal. She has won the Aviation/Space Writer’s Association Premier Award, a Global Award for Media Excellence, and the Educational Press Association’s Distinguished Achievement Award.

From Library Journal

Founder of Lionheart Books, Reagan has produced the ideal smaller coffee-table book for the 21st century. The Hand of God combines dozens of dazzling images of starscapes and far planets captured by the Hubble telescope with reflections on the self, the stars, and the universe, from writers as various as Oscar Wilde, Albert Einstein, Annie Dillard, and Edward Taylor. To Reagan's credit, the writers selected are admirable, and the quotations from their works are well chosen, but the images alone are worth the price of admission and are as profound as the writings that surround them. Highly recommended.
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Edition details

• Publisher: Templeton Foundation Pr
• Publication date: 2001
• ISBN 10: 1890151521
• ISBN 13: 9781890151522
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 160