Green Space, Green Time: The Way of Science

By Connie Barlow

Book Overview

In a provocative book that is sure to be controversial, Connie Barlow puts forth a compelling case for breaching the barrier between science and religion-in effect, for a reunification of knowledge and meaning. Evolutionary biology, rendered as an Epic of Evolution, provides a powerful origin story appropriate for our times. Conservation biology, ecology, and Gaia theory all reveal how we fit in with the natural world; Barlow argues that they can not only inform our ethics but also expand our sense of meaning. In dozens of unusually candid conversations with leading scientists and philosophers, she presents an emerging view of a new meaning for science in our lives-and why this new meaning is crucial for our times. "Green Space, Green Time could well mark a turning point in humanity's troubled relationship with nature." -John Davis Editor, Wild Earth Magazine

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: B000GT9CEK
• ISBN13: 9780387947945
• Release Date: September 1997
• Publisher: Copernicus Books
• Length: 329 Pages
• Weight: 1.58 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.3" x 6.6" x 9.5"

Customer Reviews

Inspiration for Re-storying Experience

As someone who closely follows contemporary religious "revival" and "renewal," I welcome Barlow's guidance for those who sense a need to re-story experience in a way which honors and integrates science and wisdom. This kind of work, by authors like Barlow, and by individuals everywhere, is truly a recovery of our ability to repair the world in the deepest sense.

A much-needed synthesis of science and religion

Connie Barlow's Green Space, Green Time is a testimonial to the emerging bridge between science and religion. Writing primarily from the perspective of biology and ecology, Barlow predicts that a New Age religion is now in the process of forming, and that its underlying tenets will be the wonderful discoveries about evolution and ecology which science has provided. She acknowledges that previously science has not really provided an image of the meaningfulness of human life within the greater cosmos, and this has been a shortcoming. Humanity needs a story in order to achieve integration, to feed the human spirit. What better story, she asks, than the one which science provides us about where we all come from and why we (all beings) need to relate to each other in harmony? The book is well written and easily accessible to the non-scientific reader. Moreover, it celebrates the cooperation of a group of leading-edge scientists and inclusive religionists, in the form of conversations and dialogues with leading thinkers in both fields such as Edward Wilson, Ursula Goodenough, Brian Swimme, Loyal Rue, Lynn Margulis, James Lovelock, and Stephen Harding.

Interesting reading.

Interesting and enlightening. However, difficult to separate facts from faith.Similar to Tiplers' "Physics of immortality".Difficult to imagine that a tiny superficial layer of life is a major geologic force on a planet of 8000 miles in diameter.