The first Latin American winner of the Templeton Prize, Marcelo Gleiser is a theoretical physicist and a professor of natural philosophy, physics, and astronomy at Dartmouth College. His work ranges from cosmology and applications of information theory to complex phenomena to history and philosophy of science and how science and culture interact. He is a Fellow of the American Physical Society, a recipient of the Presidential Faculty Fellows Award from the White House and National Science Foundation. Gleiser has authored five books and is the co-founder of 13.8, where he writes about science and culture with physicist Adam Frank. He is devoted to the public understanding of science and his books have been published in fifteen languages. A native of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, he lives in Hanover, New Hampshire.
"Marcelo Gleiser argues that the only hope we have of addressing
the current environmental crisis lies in rethinking our
relationship to history and to the entire cosmos. The Dawn of
a Mindful Universe is a work of great honesty and daring. Its
message couldn’t be more alarming, yet it is ultimately
optimistic." — Elizabeth Colbert, Pulitzer Prize-winning author
of The Sixth Extinction and Under a White Sky
“An extraordinary book. Marcelo Gleiser has brought together
cosmology, environmentalism, and spirituality in a personal and
poetic call to arms that is nothing short of breathtaking. Most of
the time I was smiling and nodding as I read it, and occasionally I
was moved to tears.” — William Egginton, author of The Rigor of
Angels, The Splintering of the American Mind, and The Man Who
Invented Fiction
"Marcelo Gleiser is precisely the kind of public intellectual our
culture urgently needs: a skilled communicator of complex
scientific ideas whose work is animated by a humane and humanistic
sensibility. The Dawn of a Mindful Universe, a
fascinating and often moving book, is guided by a profound sense of
civilizational urgency as it charts a path toward re-enchantment."
— Mark O’Connell, author of To Be a
Machine and Notes from an Apocalypse
"As James Russell Lowell once put it, ‘new occasions teach new
duties; time makes ancient good uncouth.’ We are at a novel and
fraught moment in our history as a species, and as this book
posits, getting through it will require rethinking who we are and
why we are here. Gleiser’s argument will send you off on
interesting and fruitful tangents of your own!" — Bill McKibben,
author of The Flag, the Cross, and the Station Wagon
"[A] brave, compelling book of great beauty and
urgency. ... Gleiser fully understands the transformative
power of science. Unlike many, however, he also sees how
worldviews that claim to speak for science have led humanity to the
brink of ruin through environmental destruction and the
desacralization of the world we communally inhabit. Dawn of a
Mindful Universe is a call for a deep reinvention of
ourselves in ways that don’t abandon the prosperity that science
has made possible but realigns our technological prowess
with a new moral stance treating Earth as a
sacred community whose fate is always our own." — Adam Frank,
astrophysicist
"Our future—and whether we have one—depends on us realizing that
Earth is the only truly sacred place. Everything flows from our
valuation of this miraculous only-known living planet. This book
provides that re-framing, that adjustment in attitude and
perspective that is so desperately needed now." — Carl Safina,
ecologist and author of Alfie and Me
"Marcelo Gleiser’s brilliant book is a major contribution to our
understanding of the evolution of the living Earth community. It is
a tour de force in activating allegiance to life’s complexity,
beauty, and continuity. At once erudite and eloquent, this luminous
work deserves to be widely read." — Mary Evelyn Tucker, co-author
of Journey of the Universe and co-director of the Yale Forum on
Religion and Ecology
"Dawn of a Mindful Universe is a surprisingly accessible
exploration of difficult and pressing topics that affect us
all. Author Marcelo Gleiser leads us on a thought-provoking
(re)assessment of humanity’s place in the cosmos—digging into our
deep past and looking at our collective future. At this historic
inflection point, such discussions are a vital part of larger
conversations on climate change, societal stability, and scientific
breakthrough. Gleiser’s work encourages us to create more mindful
interactions with our world, its cultures, and economies." —
Gregory W. Brown, co-executive producer of the planetarium
show God, Science, and Our Search for Meaning at the
Boston Museum of Science and composer of Missa Charles Darwin
"Marcelo Gleiser is an accomplished astrophysicist who writes with
the heart of a poet. In The Dawn of a Mindful Universe he
shines a sharp, critical light on some accepted scientific truisms
which have contributed to our dangerously unhealthy relationship
with the natural world. He shows how our explorations of the cosmos
have brought home the preciousness and uniqueness of our living
planetary home, and proposes a necessary re-engagement with the
sacred. It is a passionate and moving call for a scientifically
informed spiritual reawakening which can help us navigate and
transcend the traps we humans have set for ourselves." — David
Grinspoon, astrobiologist and award-winning author of Earth in
Human Hands
"A lively, deeply considered and deeply impassioned argument for
why our species' future must embrace biocentrism. Gleiser’s writing
and humanity shines in this tour de force of science and
scholarship." — Caleb Scharf, senior scientist for astrobiology at
NASA Ames and author of The Ascent of Information
"A passionate appeal for 'biocentric values that reflect our
spiritual reconnection with the Earth.'" — Kirkus Reviews
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