Reading:
I started reading this on February 3, 2005, and I finished reading
it on February 6, 2005.
Specs:
Clark, Arthur C, The Hammer of God,
published by Bantam Books, New York in 1993. This is from the
Johnson County Central Resource Library.
Overview:
This is a book about a dead comet (Kali) which is going to hit
Earth. The story is how the protagonist and a
ship designed for the purpose deflect the asteroid. In addition,
some religious fanatics called "the Reborn" from a combination
Christian and Islamic background, try to sabotage the effort, and
actually succeed in blowing up the first attempt. Fortunately an
alternative is found.
One important part of this book is that actual facts are
interspersed with the fiction. Arthur Clark says, anything dated in
the past really happened, and the future is fiction. He mentions the
discovery that the dinosaurs were killed by an asteroid, and that he
actually knew the people who suggested it.
Also, there were three hits or very near misses in the twentieth
century. First, Tunguska, Siberia, June 30,1908, then in 1947, at
Sikhote-Alim in the Soviet Union there was another hit, and on August
10, 1972, in Oregon there was a very near miss. The asteroid the
size of a house entered the atmosphere, but skipped out without
hitting the surface of the Earth.
(From other sources I know the 1908 hit was probably a "big
snowball" as the site has not yielded any rocks. That is, from the
pattern of trees being knocked down they know where it hit, but there
is not rock there, or at least none has been found yet.)
This book gives a very pessimistic view of religion.
Unfortunately, it is true for a lot of "religious people," but I
think, as often happens, it is a mistake to generalize it to all
religions. I like the Forbidden Planet
characterizations better. Religions and laws are there to keep
people from killing each other, and the people that pervert this are
a minority, and to be avoided.
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