Angels and Demons (Robert Langdon's First Adventure)
by Dan Brown
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Book Summary Information
Author: Dan BrownEdition: Mass Market Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Published)
Published: 2000
ISBN: N/A
Publisher: Pocket Books Fiction
Book Reviews of Angels and Demons (Robert Langdon's First Adventure)
Book Review: About the "physics" in there -- absolutely laugh out loud hilarious!
Summary: 2 Stars
I found a couple of Dan Brown's books in a give-away pile, so I decided to give them a try. Usually I don't read popular fiction. These books remind me of why.
Yes, they were "page-turners" -- especially since the hero NEVER gets any sleep! But the errors of fact are hard for me to overlook. Maybe I know too much, for instance that a "codex" is NOT a scroll but is that new-fangled FLAT kind of book, whereas in Dan Brown's book these "codexes" are rolled up. Guess it's that the word has an "ancient" SOUND to it. Ooooh -- "Codex!" Yep, the flat kind of book that came into use a couple thousand years ago.
But the real goldmine of fall-down-funny humor for me came when he starts talking about "physics!" He goes on for page after page of the most amazing utter nonsense, incompatible with every known theory of reality, as well as with itself!
I laughed! I cried! I scrawled derisive notes in the margins!
Not content with murdering the whole swathes of science concepts, he mis-characterizes the book of Genesis, too, in order to make his plot premise work.
His character says "The Bible, of course, states that God created the universe...God said 'Let there be light,' and everything we see appeared out of a vast emptiness. Unfortunately, one of the fundamental laws of physics states that matter cannot be created out of nothing."
Unfortunately for Mr. Brown's premise, what Genesis actually says is that God took an existing chaotic state and made it orderly, dividing the waters above and below, dividing light and dark, and so on. (I trust you can look it up if you're interested.)
His attempts at physics are breathtakingly wrongheaded. Even confusion does not save him from contradicting himself on page after page. He equates "particle beams" with "extreme energy densities" with "NOTHING." His scientist character posits "Without waring, inside the accelerator tube, at this point of highly focused energy, particles of matter began appearing out of nowhere."
(I guess it's a little late to let Mr. Brown in on that Einstein thing that matter and energy are fungible. That "E=MC2" equation? That's what it was talking about, Energy is equivalent to mass times the speed of light squared.)
His scientist goes on exclaiming, "Matter, blossoming out of nothing. ...He proved not only that matter can be created from nothing, but that the Big Bang and genesis can be explained simply by accepting the presence of an enormous source of energy." "You mean God?" his main character asks.
Scientist says, "Science and religion support he same truth -- pure energy is the father of creation."
Main character again: "...your father created matter...out of nothing?" "Yes."
OK, so if energy is equivalent to "nothing" and if God is also equivalent to "enormous energy" then God is also equivalent to NOTHING.
I really don't know, between his physics and his theology, whether religious people or scientists should be the more offended.
Summary of Angels and Demons (Robert Langdon's First Adventure)
Pocket Book Fiction Paperback, copyright 2000 with 569+ pages. Before The Da Vinci Code was broken the world lay at the mercy of Angels and Demons - Robert Langdon's first adventure.Literature & Fiction Books
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