The Forbidden Universe: The Occult Origins of Science and the Search for the Mind of God

Provocateurs Picknett and Prince (The Templar Revelation) return with a fascinating examination of a period long before the Common Era where they find "legendary Egyptian sage" Hermes Trismegistus and the beginnings of Hermeticism. The Corpus Hermeticum (a group of surviving texts supposedly written by Trismegistus) influenced most of the great scientific minds through the ages%E2%80%94Ptolemy, Plato, Galileo, and Newton to name just a few. In examining Hermeticism, the authors discuss "time asymmetry" and other "violations of common sense," arguing that most physical processes "should be able to work in either direction." They argue in fascinating and erudite detail that the origins of consciousness not only built but also maintains the universe. Readers may well need to dust off their college physics and philosophy texts, but that's not too much to ask of a book that so thoroughly examines the origins of life, its possible occult origins, and "biological phenomena" that acts as "evidence for a creative force at work" in the universe. The answer is ultimately simple, and deftly explained, leaving readers open to decide for themselves. (Mar.)