Why We Study the Universe

CIIS Professor Brian Swimme explores why trying to make sense of the universe is one of the oldest projects around and how these questions lead us to regularly reinvent what it means to be human. This talk is part of our Big Ideas at CIIS series.https://digitalcommons.ciis.edu/publicprograms/1016/thumbnail.jp

Manifesto for a Global Civilization

Explore the connection between the Universe and our Christian Spirituality with Matthew Fox and Dr. Brian Swimme in this dialogue of a vision to save the world for the beautiful. In a world of chaos, confusion and mistrust Matt Fox and Dr. Swimme show us a vision of hope which will enable us to center our experience of the here and now into redeeming the world.https://digitalcommons.ciis.edu/facultypublications/1065/thumbnail.jp

Creativity and Destruction

Recently as I was walking down a sidewalk here in the San Francisco Bay area, I happened to read the headlines of an atrocious act of war. Before my mind had a chance to think, I found myself swimming in images of a strike force that would eliminate the evil-doers. As soon as I did stop to reflect, I realized I had already become one of them. Deeply discouraged, I wished I could mark the occasion by bursting into tears. Unable to express my distress in that way, I began to wonder about my own cosmology concerning annihilation. Had I unconsciously demonized it? Had I unconsciously convinced myself annihilation needed to be eliminated? Our knowledge now extends from the BICEP-2 experiment concerning the first instants of the universe\u27s existence all the way to EO Wilson\u27s announcement that we are in a mass extinction event. Does this knowledge of fourteen billion years offer us insights into annihilation? Is it possible to imagine a more complex, more interesting, more scientific view of the relationship between creativity and destruction

The Universe Is a Green Dragon: A Cosmic Creation Story

Communicating his ideas in the form of a classical dialogue between a youth and a wise elder, cosmologist Brian Swimme crafts a fascinating exploration into the creativity suffusing the universe. His explication of the fundamental powers of the cosmos is mystical and ecstatic and points directly to the need to activate one’s own creative powers.https://digitalcommons.ciis.edu/facultypublications/1061/thumbnail.jp

The Universe Story : From the Primordial Flaring Forth to the Ecozoic Era--A Celebration of the Unfolding of the Cosmos

From the big bang to the present and into the next millenium, The Universe Story unites science and the humanities in a dramatic exploration of the unfolding of the universe, humanity\u27s evolving place in the cosmos, and the boundless possibilities for our future.https://digitalcommons.ciis.edu/facultypublications/1064/thumbnail.jp

Journey of the Universe

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\u27s 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\u27s 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. The film and the DVD series will be released in 2011. For more information, please consult the website, journeyoftheuniverse.org.https://digitalcommons.ciis.edu/facultypublications/1063/thumbnail.jp

The Hidden Heart of the Cosmos: Humanity and the New Story

Following the most recent scientific discoveries about the birth of the universe, this text shows how these new insights replace outmoded ways of seeing the world, bridging the chasm between science and spirituality, the physical realm and the soul. This book will help readers to grasp the larger significance of the human enterprise in this evolving universe.https://digitalcommons.ciis.edu/facultypublications/1062/thumbnail.jp

The Universe Story: From the Primordial Flaring Forth to the Ecozoic Era

Grounded in contemporary scientific understanding and inspired by the world\u27s great wisdom traditions, cosmologist Brian Swimme and cultural historian Thomas Berry meld the findings of contemporary science - cosmology, geology, biology, and sociology - with the human search for meaning. The resulting account articulates fifteen billion years of existence with awe, delight, and vision. Swimme and Berry remind us of the importance of story - story is the only way of providing, in our times, what the mythic stories of the universe provided for tribal peoples and for the earlier classical civilizations in their times. In a richly detailed narrative of epic sweep, they recount the unfolding of the universe, from the primordial flaring forth and the formation of galaxies and supernovas to the human emergence, classical civilizations, and imminent Ecozoic era. The Universe Story compellingly explores humanity\u27s place in the evolving cosmos and our ecological imperative. Crippling the Earth\u27s biodiversity, we are deciding what species will live or perish, we are determining the chemical structure of the soil and the air and the water, we are mapping out the areas of wilderness that will be allowed to function in their own natural modalities. This, Swimme and Berry remind us, is filled with risk and presumption, for the story of the Earth is also the story of the human. Honoring the special capacity of the human to enable the universe and the planet Earth to reflect on and to celebrate ... in our music and our art, our dance and our poetry, and in our religious rituals, Swimme and Berry urge that we honor the knowledge gained by centuries of scientific inquiry with reverence, entrancement, and a commitment to renewal. Such joyous commitment is essential, for there is eventually only one story, the story of the universe. Every form of being is integral with this comprehensive story. Nothing is itself without everything else. --Jacket.https://scholar.dominican.edu/cynthia-stokes-brown-books-big-history/1034/thumbnail.jp

A Walk Through Time: From Stardust to Us: The Evolution of Life on Earth

Imagine a walk where every step forward transports you a few million years in time. Just such a mind-expanding premise inspired this landmark book, developed from the acclaimed Walk Through Time exhibit on tour around the world. Here, in one volume, is the remarkable drama of the history of the universe and life on Earth. Travel from the furious blast of the Big Bang to the first pulse of life, and on through the rich pageant of life\u27s evolution from primordial microbes to the rise of Homo sapiens. Span 15 billion years to discover life\u27s greatest mysteries emerging. Over 130 beautiful four-color illustrations and an absorbing narrative highlight significant events and themes in Earth\u27s life story. The original exhibit itself is re-created as a timeline that runs throughout the book, pinpointing key stages in the evolutionary drama and where they fall in the vast sweep of time. --Jacket.https://scholar.dominican.edu/cynthia-stokes-brown-books-big-history/1027/thumbnail.jp