I AM A PART OF INFINITY

Albert Einstein’s nonscientific ideas also hold an irresistible fascination.

The greatest scientist of modern times was not shy about discussing his personal philosophy; an occasional author has taken the bait, and Fox, a physician-scientist, adds an earnest, often revealing account in his first book. Einstein divided religious history into three phases. Fear dominated the first, with malevolent, unpredictable gods that humans tried to please with sacrifices. The second phase led to social and moral religions in which a humanized God “protects, disposes, rewards, and punishes.” All familiar creeds fall into this phase. While that was certainly an improvement, Einstein disagrees with theologians who proclaim this the climax of religious evolution. He denounced their “fairytales about creation,” emphasis on blind faith, failure to live up to their lofty ideals, and contempt for rival religions and free thought. Einstein promoted a third phase, which he called “cosmic religion,” in which individuals move beyond submission to an omniscient god or prophet to glory in an immense, rational, harmonious universe in which their destiny is to ponder its laws. This philosophy lacks a personal god or divine laws—and has little mass appeal. As Fox writes, “even now, prominent unbelievers like Richard Dawkins argue that Einstein’s pantheism is nothing more than ‘sexed-up atheism.’” On the rare occasion that Einstein explained himself to the general public (a 1930 article in the New York Times Magazine, a conference on science and religion a decade later), responses were hostile. Fox, though, backs his case that Einstein’s beliefs have a long, honorable history, offering first-rate summaries of the philosophies of, among others, Pythagoras, Plato, Lao-Tzu, Arthur Schopenhauer, and Mahatma Gandhi. “With an elegant simplicity,” he writes, “Einstein’s spirituality integrates the many interests of a versatile mind and the varied experiences of an extraordinary life. Whether we agree with his message or not, the cosmic religion represents the concentrated wisdom of a well-examined life.”

A thoughtful study of a brilliant mind’s approach to the divine.