Physicist Robert Sheldon on Wonder, Discovery, and The Story of Everything
By now, you’ve likely heard of the new documentary film The Story of Everything. It’s a cinematic exploration of the evidence for intelligent design in the cosmos, from the fine-tuning of the universe to the stunning engineering in every living cell. Today on ID The Future, we continue our series of interviews with the scientists and scholars featured in The Story of Everything. Host Andrew McDiarmid welcomes plasma physicist Dr. Robert Sheldon to the podcast to discuss his participation in the movie and talk about his work in physics and cosmology.
Robert Sheldon is a plasma physicist and former NASA researcher who has had a long career in academia studying satellite instrumentation, space plasma physics, comets, cosmology, nuclear propulsion, and science and faith issues. He has published over 60 papers and 4 books, including Laser Satellite Communication.
For Sheldon, a deep sense of wonder makes for better science. “I personally think that the more wonder you have, the better a scientist you make…when it gets old and stale, you’re not really having fun. You’re not doing the best science.” The wonder, says Sheldon, comes from taking part in the progressive, step-by-step story of scientific discovery and understanding how an intelligent designer put the cosmos together.
Sheldon goes on to discuss topics he broached in The Story of Everything, including the importance of astronomer Vesto Slipher’s work, the groundbreaking discoveries of Albert Einstein, and the dogged determination of physicist Fred Hoyle to get to the bottom of the secrets of carbon. Sheldon also talks about his three-volume book series The Long Ascent, his attempt to bring together modern scientific evidence from physics, cosmology, and biology to help readers better understand the text of Genesis 1-11 of the Hebrew Bible.
Dig Deeper
- If you haven’t seen The Story of Everything yet, you’re in for a treat! The documentary is now streaming on Amazon Prime and is available for purchase on Blu-ray and DVD. Click here for details.
- Check out Volume 1 of Sheldon’s book project The Long Ascent.