How the Universe Works
A Sense of Beauty
Sol Weiss is Chief of Divisions of the Family Practice at Encino-Tarzana Medical Center in Los Angeles. In his spare time he’s written three books. According to the author his first book Unlocking the Secret of Life explained the origin of all living things in the universe. The second book We Are Inevitable We Are Forever provided a model of the universe as a computer-like information system. This last book in the trilogy attempts to resolve science questions about the beginning of the universe as well as more emotional uncertainties concerning love and death.
The book is organized in the manner of a slide show or PowerPoint demonstration. The right-hand pages all contain illustrations and the left-hand pages the text that was perhaps read out loud in the lecture. Both sides of the page are equally indeterminate. Beginning with the very first illustration a fireworks display over an urban bridge and the title “A Supernova” the author attempts an explanation of the event using self-references to his first books. He claims that at the end of this new book we should be able to answer the question: “Can the light of this supernova explosion impact us no matter how dim the light may be?” This reader’s question is: why is that important and what does it have to do with fireworks?
Doctor Weiss goes on to say that his book through its simple illustrations and texts will provide even “young teenagers” with the knowledge they need to understand universal natural laws. But the “natural laws” he has in mind turn out to be “reincarnation prodigy and love” rather than conservation or thermodynamics.
Using television shows as talking points Weiss shimmies between definitions and anecdotal evidence of reincarnation and prodigy. He then abandons the project and sets off to talk about random phenomena like dark matter the size of atoms pixilation quality in the human eye bosons etc. Statements of the author’s facts—“Time is not a factor in the microworld…” “We are not alone…” “The universe is a closed and integrated system of energy…”—are mixed with information like—the speed of light is 186000 mph and Einstein published his Theory of Special Relativity in 1905. While the relationship between these two kinds of statements may be clear to the author to the reader it sounds a lot like a parent who says “it’s true because I say so.” The dual nature of photons is difficult to understand just because the author knows the year when photons got their name.
The last half of the book is taken up with an explanation of the author’s concept of a system he calls “Quantum Mechanical Information” or QMI. Based on ideas that include “quantum bits saturates (sic) the Universe” and “distance and time are not a factor” Weiss draws the conclusion that the purpose of the “bits” is “Blessed memory and honorable insight.” This memory quality of QMI is responsible for human reproduction: “There are seven billion people on this planet to verify this activity…” The purpose quality on the other hand explains prodigy and reincarnation.
Early in the book Weiss writes “Science is the search for truth. Science relies upon the facts experience and accurate testing… Once we have the correct facts then definitions can be produced for clearer understanding of events.” Unfortunately facts based on experience and accurate testing are missing from this book and therefore so is knowledge about the universe or much of anything else.
Reviewed by
Heather Shaw
Disclosure: This article is not an endorsement, but a review. The publisher of this book provided free copies of the book and paid a small fee to have their book reviewed by a professional reviewer. Foreword Reviews and Clarion Reviews make no guarantee that the publisher will receive a positive review. Foreword Magazine, Inc. is disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.
