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Journey of the Universe Hardcover – June 28, 2011

4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars 265 ratings

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An epic story of the emergence of the universe and of the community of life, with a new vision for how we might bring forth a vibrant Earth Community

Today we know what no previous generation knew: the history of the universe and of the unfolding of life on Earth. Through the astonishing combined achievements of natural scientists worldwide, we now have a detailed account of how galaxies and stars, planets and living organisms, human beings and human consciousness came to be. And yet . . . we thirst for answers to questions that have haunted humanity from the very beginning. What is our place in the 14-billion-year history of the universe? What roles do we play in Earth's history? How do we connect with the intricate web of life on Earth?

In Journey of the Universe Brian Thomas Swimme and Mary Evelyn Tucker tell the epic story of the universe from an inspired new perspective, weaving the findings of modern science together with enduring wisdom found in the humanistic traditions of the West, China, India, and indigenous peoples. The authors explore cosmic evolution as a profoundly wondrous process based on creativity, connection, and interdependence, and they envision an unprecedented opportunity for the world's people to address the daunting ecological and social challenges of our times.

Journey of the Universe transforms how we understand our origins and envision our future. Though a little book, it tells a big story—one that inspires hope for a way in which Earth and its human civilizations could flourish together.

This book is part of a larger project that includes a documentary film, an educational DVD series, and a website. For more information, please consult the website, journeyoftheuniverse.org.

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Editorial Reviews

Review

"The book is simply written and easy to read—more like Kipling's Just So Stories than Being and Time—and you may or may not be convinced by Swimme and Tucker's interpretations of modern cosmology and evolutionary history. But it's a fascinating game to play. More theology of physics, please!"—Josh Rothman, Boston Globe (Brainiac blog)

"What’s most striking about Swimme and Tucker’s work is a simple but beautiful assumption: a cosmological orientation opens the human mind to wonder, gratitude, humility, and creativity."—Mitchell Thomashow,
Orion

"Strikingly, . . . the co-authors managed to fit 14 billion years of grandeur along with humanity’s most fundamental questions into small spaces. . . . Perfectly tailored for classroom use . . . offering a common ground for discussion among people of myriad points of view."—Julianne Lutz Warren, Journal of Environmental Studies and Science

"In their new book,
Journey of the Universe, Brian Swimme and Mary Evelyn Tucker invite us into the scientific story of the Universe, imbuing it with all the passion and purpose of a great religious myth. Their 'invitation into grandeur' carries us into the heart of a story that Homer would have loved to tell—the story of how life began, evolved, and turned into you and me."—Carter Phipps, EnlightenNext

"This highly descriptive text is a poetic expression of the authors’ view of biological and physical sciences."—
Choice

Journey of the Universe (the film) has been nominated for an Emmy for the West Coast (winner will be announced 9 June)

"For those of us enmeshed in symbolic consciousness, this is just the story we need to hear, loud and clear. It helps us understand how we happened to be here, and, more important, why."—Bill McKibben, author of Eaarth: Making a Life on a Tough New Planet and The End of Nature



"This is a wonderful, highly readable account of the history of the universe from the Big Bang through the present moment. . . . There is blockbuster potential in Journey of the Universe, and I recommend it with great enthusiasm."—Thomas Lovejoy, University Professor in Environmental Science and Policy, George Mason University



"Journey of the Universe is eloquent, accessible, and powerful, and conveys a sense of wonder ranging from the cosmos to the microcosm—in itself a considerable achievement. This is one of the most compelling and inspiring works I've read in a long time."—David W. Orr, Oberlin College



"This cosmic saga offers a compelling vision of the grand adventure in which we humans are taking part."—Scott Russell Sanders, author of
A Conservationist Manifesto

"The sense of deep time and space that
Journey of the Universe establishes is the greatly needed context for students, who do not always appreciate the present predicament and the role of humanity in the world. It puts us in perspective—and conveys wonder that Earth and life are here in the first place and how amazing it is to be in what is apparently one of the most creative nooks in the universe. Also wonderful is the scientific narrative spine and to ask over and over—ok, what does it mean for us?"—Julianne Lutz Warren, author of Aldo Leopold’s Odyssey

About the Author

Brian Thomas Swimme is a professor at the California Institute of Integral Studies in San Francisco. Mary Evelyn Tucker is senior lecturer and research scholar at the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies and Yale Divinity School. She is co-founder and co-director of the Forum on Religion and Ecology at Yale.

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ 0300171900
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Yale University Press; First Edition (June 28, 2011)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 192 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 9780300171907
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0300171907
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 12 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5 x 0.81 x 7.75 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars 265 ratings

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Customer reviews

4.6 out of 5 stars
265 global ratings

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Customers say

Customers find the book provides a meaningful perspective of life in the context of time, space, and this planet. They describe it as excellent, amazing, and worth reading. Readers praise the clear, enjoyable writing style as poetic and heartfelt. The book is described as beautiful and a pure jewel. It's easy to read and hard to put down, making it a fine introduction for junior high school students.

AI-generated from the text of customer reviews

43 customers mention "Enlightenedness"43 positive0 negative

Customers appreciate the book's perspective on life. They find it insightful and helpful for understanding human destiny. Readers describe it as a life-changing read for those who value their spiritual foundation. The book is described as philosophical, intriguing, and inspiring.

"...Perhaps a new thing will be a clearer sense of human destiny as "[b]ecoming a form of human being that is as natural to the universe as the stars or..." Read more

"...It is a remarkable acomplishment both for its scope and its artistry...." Read more

"...We read this in our men's reading group at our church -- good discussion simulator." Read more

"...The idea that we and all of life came from stardust is intriguing and exciting...." Read more

24 customers mention "Readability"24 positive0 negative

Customers find the book easy to read. They appreciate its engaging content and writing style. The book is described as a valuable addition to the TV series, with quality writing and an enjoyable reading experience.

"...It is a remarkable acomplishment both for its scope and its artistry...." Read more

"Brian Swimme's _Journey of the Universe_ is by far the best book I have read in a decade! I have given copies of this book to countless people...." Read more

"...A bit light on Aboriginal thought, but overall this is a good read and draws in the seeker to go even deeper into the science...." Read more

"...of the Universe in just 120 pages : what a beautiful and stunning accomplishment !..." Read more

23 customers mention "Writing style"23 positive0 negative

Customers appreciate the book's writing style. They find it clear, enjoyable, and poetic. The writing provides a meaningful context for living in a complex global world. It is easy to read and informative, providing a concise accompaniment to the video that explains and illuminates the link between the Big Bang and the universe. Readers describe the book as a labor of love, with explosive metaphors.

"This is a very readable explanation of the un-explainable for non scientists (and most scientists) and especially for those who know still think..." Read more

"...In essence 'Journey of the Universe' in clear, poetic prose reminds us - ever so elegantly - of how we got here (on an ever-so-bumpy ride at times)..." Read more

"...It gives great data in a way that is understandable to the layman. It is not iconoclastic and pejorative towards the reader...." Read more

"...It almost has a poetic feel to it as the story is told as a continuing unfolding of the Universe with life on Earth being a part of the bigger story...." Read more

12 customers mention "Beauty"12 positive0 negative

Customers find the book beautifully written and clearly presented. They describe it as a small book that tells a big story, with a wonderful image of the universe recreation and a marvelous presentation of our current knowledge.

"...This book and its accompanying, gorgeous film have changed my life personally--giving me an orienting story complex and vastly more than capacious..." Read more

"...It is a remarkable acomplishment both for its scope and its artistry...." Read more

"...The last half of the book paints a wonderful image of the 'recreation' of our planet in a cycle of destruction and recreation several times in its..." Read more

"...to tell the history of the Universe in just 120 pages : what a beautiful and stunning accomplishment !..." Read more

6 customers mention "Reading level"6 positive0 negative

Customers enjoy the book's reading level. They say it's a good introduction for junior high school or high school students. Readers appreciate the writing style as inviting and enjoyable.

"...This open style of writing is welcome and inviting. It is a great place to start a journey of understanding Cosmology...." Read more

"This is a book that should be required reading for all of our children...." Read more

"...It is both prose and poetry. Reading it slowly, savoring it, I have the sense that every sentence has been crafted from the heart...." Read more

"...It was required reading for his freshman year at college and apparently will be integrated into his courses." Read more

3 customers mention "Ease of use"3 positive0 negative

Customers find the book easy to read and engaging. They say it's hard to put down and keeps them thinking and discussing with others.

"This book reads quickly and easily for one that tackles the questions of existence and destiny...." Read more

"...It's hard to set down and keeps me thinking and discussing with others." Read more

"...used a kendel for class reading before, but this made it easier and quicker to get through." Read more

Top reviews from the United States

  • Reviewed in the United States on November 7, 2011
    We live in a time when dark uncertainty extends so far as to make some people doubt that there is any sense in being hopeful about a good future for life, including thriving humanity. Indeed, as a professor teaching environmental studies to undergraduates at a major research university,I have looked for ways to encourage authentic hope along with the burden of truth. How can I teach the reality that people, mostly members of Western civilization, have altered the world in ways that have reversed billions-of-years-old trends--now diminishing the diversity, complexity, and fertility of Earth--in a way that still holds up the possibilities of being beautifully human? Journey of the Universe plaits scientific knowledge together with wise insights from the world's diverse cultures about the unfolding natural world and humans within it. It tells a story of creativity arising out of such tensions as despair and hope. From the "seething disequilibrium" between gravity and nuclear fusion within stars that keeps them shimmering in the sky to the ways bowerbird survival depends on females both chosing and rejecting mates to the ways human wonder draws us sometimes toward danger at the same time fear repels us leading to new inventions that allow us to experience the depths of things, the universe story shows that in the midst of destruction we have grounds for believing that something new and promising can emerge. Perhaps a new thing will be a clearer sense of human destiny as "[b]ecoming a form of human being that is as natural to the universe as the stars or the oceans; knowing how we belong and where we belong so that we enhance the flourishing of the Earth community." This book and its accompanying, gorgeous film have changed my life personally--giving me an orienting story complex and vastly more than capacious enough to hold both the data in my mind and the passions in my soul. I have used it in class for the first time this term and it is clear that it provides an open space for the myriad cultures and worldviews of my students to explore questions of life, death, and meaning. To quote one of them who spoke for many others--"I LOVE this book."
    6 people found this helpful
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  • Reviewed in the United States on July 26, 2011
    It was about 15 years ago that I discovered "The Universe Story" by Brian Swimme and Thomas Berry. It was of those books that forever changed me, my perspective. Like the current book, "Journey of the Universe", it presented the story of the universe from inception to now in 300 pages. "Journey of the Universe" remarkably shrinks the presentation to 117 pages and gives the very essence of how we came into being and where we are in the great chain of being. It is a remarkable acomplishment both for its scope and its artistry. I would like to focus only on one point, but in my opinion, this point is at the heart of human transformation. It answers the question "what changes everything". And the "answer" is that you (and I and everything else) is in fact the universe manifesing in a particular form. The rose in the particular form of a flower, the golden retriever in the particur form of a dog and you (and I) in the particular form of a human. To fully penetrate this mystery does in fact change everything.
    33 people found this helpful
    Report
  • Reviewed in the United States on June 29, 2016
    This is a very readable explanation of the un-explainable for non scientists (and most scientists) and especially for those who know still think God is a person or a being. I can now grasp the wonder of the random universe created by the dynamic tension between energy forces and self organizing particles and waves of energy. The last half of the book paints a wonderful image of the 'recreation' of our planet in a cycle of destruction and recreation several times in its 4 billion year history. I cannot comprehend the immensity of the universe or the sense of time but I can see the the egg image of the earth with its thin layers of crust and molten center constantly changing and producing new life. We read this in our men's reading group at our church -- good discussion simulator.
    3 people found this helpful
    Report
  • Reviewed in the United States on July 28, 2013
    Brian Swimme's _Journey of the Universe_ is by far the best book I have read in a decade! I have given copies of this book to countless people. Swimme is both a physicist and a poet. His book shows the great wonder of how the universe was created and how it is forever changing. He also notes that there are more galaxies within our universe than we can imagine. He has helped me to regain the wonder I felt as a child exploring the life around me with my field geologist father. The idea that we and all of life came from stardust is intriguing and exciting. For those of a spiritual nature, one gets the idea from Swimme that there is a guiding Intelligence that is part of the mystery that man will probably never completely understand. I appreciated this thought coming from a scientist.
    4 people found this helpful
    Report
  • Reviewed in the United States on July 4, 2013
    Very readable account of cosmic evolution. This books lays out the deep nestedness of everything. A bit light on Aboriginal thought, but overall this is a good read and draws in the seeker to go even deeper into the science. The bibliography is excellent! Old notions of god and religion evaporate like mist when considering the far more expansive notions of spirituality evoked in this book. This effort adds to energy of moving beyond the simplistic dualism of our western (Euro/Near-East oriented) culture and it's stilted perspectives of humans in nature.

    Highly recommended!

    Kyle Gardner, author, Momentary Threshold
    2 people found this helpful
    Report

Top reviews from other countries

  • Mr. Philip R. Hyne
    5.0 out of 5 stars Across the universe in time, in space, and in an armchair.
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 17, 2015
    A fascinating but easily read story of how the universe developed - and is still developing. Even for a non-scientist like me it makes good reading - quite the best explanations I've come across in a long time.
  • Don Smith
    5.0 out of 5 stars Small Book - Big Story - Even Bigger Message!
    Reviewed in Canada on June 15, 2011
    Having just completed this wonderful short (117 pages) book, I am awestruck at the ability of the authors to tell "The Journey of the Universe" in so few pages and yet evoke a deep new awareness of what it means to be human within the Earth Community and Universe today.

    I have read Swimme's previous books and much of Thomas Berry's writings and perhaps the best way to describe this book is as a distillation and re-focusing of the best of this previous work. Although not as involved as "The Universe Story" by Berry/Swimme, it brilliantly captures its essence and expounds insights without bogging down in detail. I was amazed at the writing style which is so concise and informative and packs deep and thought-provoking insights into every paragraph. Yet it is a joy to read and what I would call an "easy read" probably requiring not much more than 2-3 hours! The collaboration of Mary Evelyn Tucker (editor of Thomas Berry's later books of essays) and Brian Swimme has created a book which could (and should!) well become one of the most widely read in the English-speaking world.

    Although the authors outline the cosmological history of our Universe it never bogs down in scientific jargon and always keeps the reader firmly focused on what this all means for us today. They do, however, paint an awe-inspiring picture of the Universe out of which we have emerged and the cosmological forces which have shaped this emergence.

    The essential focus of the book is not at all scientific in nature - most of it is concerned with subtly raising our awareness of the human species' place or role within Earth Community now that we understand all that modern cosmology has revealed. Note that this is subtle. Nowhere do the authors present a dogmatic or ideological agenda for what humans should now do. The book is first and foremost an awareness-raising exercise using only the most established mainstream science and cultural history.

    Yet, once you read the book, if you are like me, you will be stunned with the breadth and depth of what this awareness means for our personal, national and cultural lives. It is indeed quite brilliant that the authors leave so much to our own conscience and discernment without beating us over the head with their own conclusions. The wisdom contained in this book needs to be disseminated and discussed much like the sacred scriptures of the world's religions.

    This book is written at a level which kids in their early teens could easily assimilate. It would be my hope the "Journey of the Universe" would become a standard part of school curriculum across the globe. Everyone should read this amazing book.

    Highly recommended.
  • GE Mitchell
    5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 6, 2014
    Riveting
  • Derry A. Mc Donell
    5.0 out of 5 stars An Epistle for the 21st Century
    Reviewed in Canada on February 25, 2013
    Albert Einstein contended that, at their best, science and religion are not at odds, but totally complementary, mutually supportive and moreover, that Mankind needs both to make sense of Creation. Citing the explosive discoveries recently revealed by modern science (especially in astronomy) and coupling them with an expansive, unified vision of the human experience, Journey of the Universe vividly and profoundly demonstrates Einstein's argument. This is an important book that could and should be read and discussed by anyone with a sense of wonder, or who has ever asked himself "Why are we here?" Recommended for reading in conjunction with Hubble's Universe, by Terence Dickinson.
  • xskyx
    4.0 out of 5 stars it is well written and easily understood for non scientists
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on July 7, 2015
    Fascinating book, it is well written and easily understood for non scientists!
    I am very much enjoying this book