Cosmology and Buddhist Thought: A Conversation with Neil deGrasse Tyson

Ever have a prof who just loved to hear himself talk? Who was so supremely egotistical that he was in love with his own (specious) reasoning and assumed everyone else was, too? Yeah, that's this guy.I'm only sorry it cost Neil deGrasse Tyson an hour of his life (the time the author spent pontificating at him.) I cannot, in good conscience, call it an "interview". I only regret that it cost me four hours of my own life before I'd finally realized that it wasn't going to get any better. It became almost painful to read his obvious interview gaffes, one after another.What a disappointment for such a promising title! Two of my favorite subjects! It looked like the literary equivalent of that old Reese's commercial "Two great tastes that taste great together!" In a more competent writer's hands, this could have been really intriguing but by chapter four it was clear the guy only loved to hear himself talk and was only interested in showing off for Tyson (and frequently having to be corrected by Tyson because he'd gotten it wrong...again). What do we call it when a scientist enters into an experiment with an end result in mind, then attempts to "stack" the experiment to produce those results? That's right: bad science. The author started with a preconceived outcome in mind and then came his ham-fisted attempt to force the outcome of the interview to support his own preconceptions. That's what I call "bad writing."My takeaway: Go find books by Thich Nhat Hanh (whom the author frequently quotes in the beginning) and Neil deGrasse Tyson, and avoid any other books by this author. I had briefly thought "Now THAT would be the dialogue I'd love to read!" but quickly realized that wouldn't happen. Neither would feel the need.If I could assign "no stars" with an understood meaning of "don't waste your time," I would.

I don't even think anyone proofread this. There are missing words, incorrect grammar... And yea, I know 4th graders that would have done a better job. They'd at least use software to correct the errors. Waste of money and time. Luckily it was only 81 pages.

Wow, I expected some sort of rational discussion and thoughtful writing about Buddhism and science. What Freedman self published was a 1 hour conversation where the only sense came from deGrasse Tyson, who firmly knocked aside all of Freedman's attempts to find some special harmony between science and religion, in particular Buddhism.Worse still, the raw transcripts of the interview are pathetically transcribed, not well proof read, and not edited for flow.Worst of all, Freedman uses 32 of the books 80 pages as a soapbox for his various and incoherent ideas on many topics.

I loved reading this. It's good to find a book that will grab an atheist attention and this is it

Jerome Freedman is using a well respected man to sell his books. Shame on him.

Jerome ... Sorry Man ... Your interviewing skills would almost shame a 6th grader ... Love the Good Doctor but even he was ... What are you asking Jerry Baby?

Literally the best promotion for science out there. Terrible book by a Buddhist philosopher, it's almost like he didn't care.

I enjoyed Tyson's comments.

Dos capítulos de introducción a la cosmología y al budismo (no está mal para empezar), unos cuantos dedicados a la conversación conTyson, en donde el autor no consigue de ninguna forma que el astrofísico colabore en buscar conexiones entre budismo y cosmología, para finalizar con un capítulo dedicado a los temas más variados - cambio climático, seguridad alimentaría - en definitiva un libro que aprovecha la popularidad de Tyson y su prestigio para ofrecer un producto que mas bien parece un refrito hecho a toda prisa en vez de un libro.