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A review by mrbear
Origin by Dan Brown
4.0
I enjoyed this book quite a bit, and would recommend it highly to fans of either science, Dan Brown, or lazy but interesting reads.
Cons: The mystery wasn't that interesting or developed. I guessed a fair bit of where the story was going before it happened. Thankfully, this wasn't that important, since unlike many of Dan Brown's books, the topic is more central than the story.
Pros: I learned a lot about recent advances in Big Bang science (and some older stuff I'd never heard of since I'm not current on my science knowledge). The ideas are interesting. Some of the perspectives on science vs religion are well stated (including some of the stuff from the religions perspective, particularly about how religion and philosophy can be complementary to science, particularly if religious people can recognize the potentially crucial role of religion in tempering reckless scientific advancement.
Overall, it's hard to describe all my thoughts about the book. I'll conclude with just my favorite quote, which sums up the sort of high level discourse about science, religion, and their roles in the future that Dan Brown addresses in this book:
"It is very obvious to me," Bena said as they walked, "that there is only one way Christianity will survive the coming age of science. We must stop rejecting the discoveries of science. We must stop denouncing provable facts. We must become a spiritual partner of science, using our vast experience-millennia of philosophy, personal inquiry, meditation, soul-searching-to help humanity build a moral framework and ensure that the coming technologies will unify, illuminate, and raise us up... rather than destroy us."
Cons: The mystery wasn't that interesting or developed. I guessed a fair bit of where the story was going before it happened. Thankfully, this wasn't that important, since unlike many of Dan Brown's books, the topic is more central than the story.
Pros: I learned a lot about recent advances in Big Bang science (and some older stuff I'd never heard of since I'm not current on my science knowledge). The ideas are interesting. Some of the perspectives on science vs religion are well stated (including some of the stuff from the religions perspective, particularly about how religion and philosophy can be complementary to science, particularly if religious people can recognize the potentially crucial role of religion in tempering reckless scientific advancement.
Overall, it's hard to describe all my thoughts about the book. I'll conclude with just my favorite quote, which sums up the sort of high level discourse about science, religion, and their roles in the future that Dan Brown addresses in this book:
"It is very obvious to me," Bena said as they walked, "that there is only one way Christianity will survive the coming age of science. We must stop rejecting the discoveries of science. We must stop denouncing provable facts. We must become a spiritual partner of science, using our vast experience-millennia of philosophy, personal inquiry, meditation, soul-searching-to help humanity build a moral framework and ensure that the coming technologies will unify, illuminate, and raise us up... rather than destroy us."