So, what does Stephen Hawking's The Grand Design tell us about God? - By Peter Galison - Slate Magazine

Religious conflict rolls across the Middle East, Southeast Asia, and Central Asia. A tiny, loony sect threatens to burn the Quran, and the world's leaders respond. You might not think there could possibly be any room in the headlines for a debate about the divine stirred up by a mere physics book. Think again. Several weeks ago, the London Times devoted much of its front page to heralding just that: "Hawking: God did not create Universe: The Big Bang was inevitable consequence of laws of physics, says Britain's most eminent scientist." In a high-profile flurry of attention that any author would envy, the archbishop of Canterbury, Britain's chief rabbi, and the chair of interfaith relations of the Muslim Council of Britain have all locked arms against Stephen Hawking's anti-God fluctuation in his new book.

via slate.com

Carl Sagan - "A Glorious Dawn" Featuring Stephen Hawking - Symphony of Science

Carl Sagan - 'A Glorious Dawn' ft Stephen Hawking (Cosmos Remixed) from Levo75 on Vimeo.

"The size and age of the Cosmos are beyond ordinary human understanding. Lost somewhere between immensity and eternity is our tiny planetary home. In a cosmic perspective, most human concerns seem insignificant, even petty. And yet our species is young and curious and brave and shows much promise. In the last few millennia we have made the most astonishing and unexpected discoveries about the Cosmos and our place within it, explorations that are exhilarating to consider. They remind us that humans have evolved to wonder, that understanding is a joy, that knowledge is prerequisite to survival. I believe our future depends powerfully on how well we understand this Cosmos in which we float like a mote of dust in the morning sky."
- Carl Sagan, Cosmos (1980)

Lyrics:

[Sagan]
If you wish to make an apple pie from scratch
You must first invent the universe

Space is filled with a network of wormholes
You might emerge somewhere else in space
Some when-else in time

The sky calls to us
If we do not destroy ourselves
We will one day venture to the stars

A still more glorious dawn awaits
Not a sunrise, but a galaxy rise
A morning filled with 400 billion suns
The rising of the milky way

The Cosmos is full beyond measure of elegant truths
Of exquisite interrelationships 
Of the awesome machinery of nature

I believe our future depends powerfully 
On how well we understand this cosmos
In which we float like a mote of dust
In the morning sky

But the brain does much more than just recollect
It inter-compares, it synthesizes, it analyzes 
it generates abstractions

The simplest thought like the concept of the number one 
Has an elaborate logical underpinning
The brain has it's own language
For testing the structure and consistency of the world

[Hawking]
For thousands of years
People have wondered about the universe
Did it stretch out forever
Or was there a limit

From the big bang to black holes
From dark matter to a possible big crunch
Our image of the universe today
Is full of strange sounding ideas

[Sagan}
How lucky we are to live in this time
The first moment in human history 
When we are in fact visiting other worlds

The surface of the earth is the shore of the cosmic ocean
Recently we've waded a little way out
And the water seems inviting
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Watch Cosmos for free on Hulu:
hulu.com/​cosmos

 

 

 

 

 

Carl Sagan's Cosmos Episode 1: The Shores of the Cosmic Ocean - Watch more Videos at Vodpod.

 "For the first time, we have the power to decide the fate of our planet and ourselves. This is a time of great danger, but our species is young, and curious, and brave. It shows much promise."

 - Carl Sagan, Cosmos (1980)

 

via symphonyofscience.com

“The Cosmos is all that is or ever was or ever will be. Our feeblest contemplations of the Cosmos stir us — there is a tingling in the spine, a catch in the voice, a faint sensation of a distant memory, as if we were falling from a great height. We know we are approaching the greatest of mysteries.

The size and age of the Cosmos are beyond ordinary human understanding. Lost somewhere between immensity and eternity is our tiny planetary home. In a cosmic perspective, most human concerns seem insignificant, even petty. And yet our species is young and curious and brave and shows much promise. In the last few millennia we have made the most astonishing and unexpected discoveries about the Cosmos and our place within it, explorations that are exhilarating to consider. They remind us that humans have evolved to wonder, that understanding is a joy, that knowledge is prerequisite to survival. I believe our future depends powerfully on how well we understand this Cosmos in which we float like a mote of dust in the morning sky.

Imagination will often carry us to worlds that never were. But without it we go nowhere.”
- Carl Sagan, Cosmos (1980)