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The Sky's Dark Labyrinth #3
The Day without Yesterday (Skys Dark Labyrinth Trilogy 3) by Stuart Clark
Europe is marching blindly into the First World War and Berlin is in a storm of nationalist marches and army recruitment. Albert Einstein anticipates the carnage to come when his university colleagues begin work on poison gas to 'shorten the war'. He is also struggling with the collapse of his marriage in the wake of an illicit affair. Increasingly isolated, Einstein finds his academic work sidelined with few people entertaining his outlandish new way of understanding the universe. Meanwhile, in the trenches of the western front, a devoutly religious young Belgian Georges Lemaitre vows to become both a physicist and a Catholic priest if he survives. When the war ends, Einstein does make his breakthrough and is thrust into the international limelight. Lemaitre confronts him with a startling that buried in the maths of the theory of relativity is a beginning of space and time, a moment when the universe came into existence - a day without yesterday. But can the priest be trusted? Or is he simply trying to foist a version of Biblical Genesis onto Einstein's now world famous theory.
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First published February 1, 2013
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About the author
Stuart Clark
20 books74 followersJournalist, award-winning author and broadcaster, Stuart Clark is a brilliant storyteller. Fiction or non-fiction, his work is written with conviction and with passion. In recent years, he has devoted his career to presenting the complex and dynamic world of astronomy to the general public.
His latest work is the pioneering trilogy The Sky's Dark Labyrinth. In the way that CJ Sansom's hugely successful Shardlake series marries crime writing with popular history, so The Sky's Dark Labyrinth trilogy blends gripping, original historical fiction with popular science.
Stuart holds a first-class honours degree and a phd in astrophysics. A Visiting Fellow at the University of Hertfordshire, he is a Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society and a former Vice Chair of the Association of British Science Writers. But it was his first work of narrative nonfiction, The Sun Kings, that established him as a popular science writer par excellence. Without fail the reviews, ranging from Nature to Bookslut.com, remarked on his exceptional storytelling ability and sheer verve of his writing. It was shortlisted by the Royal Society for their 2008 general science book prize, it won Italy's 2009 Montselice Prize for best scientific translation, and the Association of American Publishers 2007 Professional and Scholarly Publishing Award for Excellence in the Cosmology and Astronomy category.
Stuart is a regular contributor to national and international radio and television programmes and dvd productions. He frequently lectures throughout the UK and, increasingly, throughout the world.
His latest work is the pioneering trilogy The Sky's Dark Labyrinth. In the way that CJ Sansom's hugely successful Shardlake series marries crime writing with popular history, so The Sky's Dark Labyrinth trilogy blends gripping, original historical fiction with popular science.
Stuart holds a first-class honours degree and a phd in astrophysics. A Visiting Fellow at the University of Hertfordshire, he is a Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society and a former Vice Chair of the Association of British Science Writers. But it was his first work of narrative nonfiction, The Sun Kings, that established him as a popular science writer par excellence. Without fail the reviews, ranging from Nature to Bookslut.com, remarked on his exceptional storytelling ability and sheer verve of his writing. It was shortlisted by the Royal Society for their 2008 general science book prize, it won Italy's 2009 Montselice Prize for best scientific translation, and the Association of American Publishers 2007 Professional and Scholarly Publishing Award for Excellence in the Cosmology and Astronomy category.
Stuart is a regular contributor to national and international radio and television programmes and dvd productions. He frequently lectures throughout the UK and, increasingly, throughout the world.
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
June 24, 2019
The third and final volume of The Sky’s Dark Labyrinth. These historical novels are enthralling and can be read quite independently of each other since each novel is set at least two hundred years apart from each other. Though I have only read the last two volumes, there seems to be a structure common to them all. Clark is interested in setting the context of science, specifically astronomy and to this end he includes a lot of biographical material, explanations of key scientific ideas threaded into the narrative, the relationship between science and religion, some aspects of the relation between science and secular power, and historical background. A tall order indeed. In order to this, rather than concentrate on one protagonist, he tends to juggle two or three and touches upon a great many other historical figures.
The Day without Yesterday fell short of my expectations, but possibly because my expectations were so high after having read The Sensorium of God, in which Newton, Halley and Hooke vie for protagonism. The author also allows himself more freedom in filling in the numerous missing pieces, even if some of the pieces such as Newton’s alleged homosexuality are, well, a little too sensationalist -though thankfully restrained- for my taste. The Day without Yesterday’s focus is clearly on Einstein and his counterfigure Georges Lemaître, though interesting does not come across an adequate foil or complement, as Hooke is to Newton in the previous volume with Halley providing a key link between them. As in the previous volume, a disproportionate amount of the human interest angle is provided by sex life -in this case Einstein’s domestic dithering between his first and his second wife, as well as some coverage of his parental preoccupations and shortcomings. In the novel, as apparently in his life, all the aspects of Einstein’s private life play very second fiddle to his work.
At some point I did wonder why Lemaître, who was the originator of the Big Bang Theory was chosen as the counterfigure for Einstein. While true that nowadays he is generally as little appreciated as Robert Hooke, Hooke was an eminent and fascinating polymath. From a history of science viewpoint, it certainly would make much more sense to pit Einstein against, say, Niels Bohr. Bohr appears in the novel, and his part in the important controversy with Einstein about Quantum Theory is certainly not downplayed. However I have come to think that there are two reasons why Stuart preferred to focus more on Lemaître rather than Bohr. The first and foremost is that is is astronomy, not nuclear physics or the physics of matter, that is the center stage of the trilogy. The second is that the relation between Science and Religion is brought out much better by pitting Albert Einstein, an agnostic Jew, against the Abbé George Lemaître, a secular Catholic priest. For example Lemaître claims to Cardinal Mercier:
The Day without Yesterday fell short of my expectations, but possibly because my expectations were so high after having read The Sensorium of God, in which Newton, Halley and Hooke vie for protagonism. The author also allows himself more freedom in filling in the numerous missing pieces, even if some of the pieces such as Newton’s alleged homosexuality are, well, a little too sensationalist -though thankfully restrained- for my taste. The Day without Yesterday’s focus is clearly on Einstein and his counterfigure Georges Lemaître, though interesting does not come across an adequate foil or complement, as Hooke is to Newton in the previous volume with Halley providing a key link between them. As in the previous volume, a disproportionate amount of the human interest angle is provided by sex life -in this case Einstein’s domestic dithering between his first and his second wife, as well as some coverage of his parental preoccupations and shortcomings. In the novel, as apparently in his life, all the aspects of Einstein’s private life play very second fiddle to his work.
At some point I did wonder why Lemaître, who was the originator of the Big Bang Theory was chosen as the counterfigure for Einstein. While true that nowadays he is generally as little appreciated as Robert Hooke, Hooke was an eminent and fascinating polymath. From a history of science viewpoint, it certainly would make much more sense to pit Einstein against, say, Niels Bohr. Bohr appears in the novel, and his part in the important controversy with Einstein about Quantum Theory is certainly not downplayed. However I have come to think that there are two reasons why Stuart preferred to focus more on Lemaître rather than Bohr. The first and foremost is that is is astronomy, not nuclear physics or the physics of matter, that is the center stage of the trilogy. The second is that the relation between Science and Religion is brought out much better by pitting Albert Einstein, an agnostic Jew, against the Abbé George Lemaître, a secular Catholic priest. For example Lemaître claims to Cardinal Mercier:
’But I see the connections. I don’t think there’s much difference between difference between a mathematician’s infinity and the concept of eternity, for one thing. For another, in the book of Genesis it says that God created light and matter together and then Einstein discovered...’Clark makes the importance of Lemaître to the trilogy’s crucial exploration of the relationship between science and religion even clearer in the epilogue:
A twig-like finger waved him silent.
‘If there is a connection, then it is a coincidence and of no importance. The Bible does not teach us science. The most we can say is that occasionally one of the prophets made a lucky scientific guess […] Taking the Bible to be infallible science led to Galileo’s trial.’ Mercier shook his head. ‘A lamentable episode. We must never again have theology pitted against science.’
‘Can one believe in both?’
‘So long as one is clear about what each can do and what each requires. Your confusion comes from the fact that you conflate the two. Science requires mathematics and proof, religion requires belief and faith. Each of us must decide on the balance. There will be those who live their whole lives in doubt, looking for proof. That’s fine for a scientist trying to find the working of the universe around him, but for a soul in search of salvation it will lead to confusion. Even if you see Him in the starlight, it does’t mean you can find Him by measuring that light.’
At a private audience with the Pope a [Pious XII] a few months later Lemaître explained his position on keeping science and religion separate. This seems to have been the catalyst for decades of internal discussions at the Vatican that culminated in 1987 whn Pope John Paul II issued a letter to celebrate the 300th anniversary of Newton’s work on gravity. It stated: science can purify religion from error and superstition; religion can purify science from idolatry and false absolutes. Each can draw the other into a wider world, a world in which both can flourish.Another nagging sense of disappointment at the book ending in the early 1930s, before the Second World War, before the development of the atomic bomb and Einstein’s important and protests against its development also disappears once I realized that it would dilute astronomy as the heart of the book. By treating Lemaître as the counterfigure to Einstein, Stuart Clark was able to bring in the rivalry between two key twentieth century American astronomers, Harlow Shaply, at Harvard College Observatory and Edwin Hubble at the Mount Wilson Observatory and the relationship between observation and theory, a relationship that satisfyingly harks back to both the relationship between Kepler and Tycho Brahe and that between Newton, Halley, and Johannes Hevelius. This tongue in cheek dialogue between Lemaître and Hubble is a case in point. Lemaître is speaking:
’I thought you hated theory.’I still prefer the second volume of the trilogy, The Sensorium of God, to The Day without Yesterday, but they are both excellent, thoughtful, well-researched novels which I highly recommend to anyone with any interest in science.
Hubble’s face coloured briefly with the demonic glow of the pipe. ‘I do, but it doesn’t mean I’m not curious. Observations have a purity about them, whereas theories are always a matter of interpretation.’
Lemaître filled the dome with a belly laugh. ‘I think of it the opposite way around.’
October 14, 2020
A really good final book in what has turned out to be an intriguing trilogy of novels about famous scientists over the centuries. First Galileo and Kepler, then Newton, Hooke and Halley, and finally - in this volume - Einstein and the lesser known Georges Lemaitre (who was responsible for developing what became known as the Big Bang theory).
Stuart Clark may be one of the UK's leading astrophysicists, but in these books he has pretty convincingly turned his hand to fiction and - crucially - kept the story largely at the personal and political level. He gives us just enough of the science for us to understand what these men (and it is generally men) are driven by and what the significance of their life's work is.
In this book in particular, we get a gripping perspective of the run-up to World War I in Germany and the war years in Germany and Belgium especially, the growing antisemitism during the war and notably in the inter-war years, and of course Einstein's complicated personal life. And, for both men, but notably for the ordained Lemaitre, the interplay between science and religion. (Interestingly, while he himself do not see the two as incompatible, he is continually having to justify that stance to others.)
Over the series as a whole, the key takeaway is that science is rarely allowed to speak for itself. Religion and politics are always interrupting. That seems as true in Einstein's time (and today) as it was in Galileo's.
Stuart Clark may be one of the UK's leading astrophysicists, but in these books he has pretty convincingly turned his hand to fiction and - crucially - kept the story largely at the personal and political level. He gives us just enough of the science for us to understand what these men (and it is generally men) are driven by and what the significance of their life's work is.
In this book in particular, we get a gripping perspective of the run-up to World War I in Germany and the war years in Germany and Belgium especially, the growing antisemitism during the war and notably in the inter-war years, and of course Einstein's complicated personal life. And, for both men, but notably for the ordained Lemaitre, the interplay between science and religion. (Interestingly, while he himself do not see the two as incompatible, he is continually having to justify that stance to others.)
Over the series as a whole, the key takeaway is that science is rarely allowed to speak for itself. Religion and politics are always interrupting. That seems as true in Einstein's time (and today) as it was in Galileo's.
February 20, 2020
Read this in one sitting - engaging, interesting, and moving in equal measure.
December 20, 2021
Despite the small amount of science in the book, the story was well written and the story told was very interesting.
September 2, 2023
Well written, and full of personal details about Einstein and his very personal relationships, as well as his era in WWI Germany.
June 1, 2015
This work is the final book in Dr Stuart Clark's The Sky's Dark Labyrinth trilogy. The work primarily focused on the more familiar work of Albert Einstein and the less familiar George Lemaitre and also delves into their personal lives with a credible fictionalized account. Many other famous scientists of the time are worked into the plot including Max Planck, Arthur Eddington, Edmund Hubble,
The period covered is from World War I until the 1930's with the increasing rise of Naziism in Germany. Einstein's special and general theories of relativity are already behind him. Lamaitre realizes that embedded in the math of Einstein's theories is the notion that the universe is expanding implying that there is a beginning of time. Einstein refuses to believe this and also the young theory of Quantum Mechanics. He instead, dedicated the remainder of his life to searching for a grand unified theory to refute these notions, which of course he never found.
The exploration of Einstein's failed marriage and fraught personal life, simply show that like all of us, he is supremely human. I do believe that the smartest and most accomplished people in this world tend to sometimes be the most difficult people. Dr Clark's study of the character behind the genius is what really sets this work apart.
Definitely worth reading even to the non-technical person who cannot understand complicated math or physics.
The period covered is from World War I until the 1930's with the increasing rise of Naziism in Germany. Einstein's special and general theories of relativity are already behind him. Lamaitre realizes that embedded in the math of Einstein's theories is the notion that the universe is expanding implying that there is a beginning of time. Einstein refuses to believe this and also the young theory of Quantum Mechanics. He instead, dedicated the remainder of his life to searching for a grand unified theory to refute these notions, which of course he never found.
The exploration of Einstein's failed marriage and fraught personal life, simply show that like all of us, he is supremely human. I do believe that the smartest and most accomplished people in this world tend to sometimes be the most difficult people. Dr Clark's study of the character behind the genius is what really sets this work apart.
Definitely worth reading even to the non-technical person who cannot understand complicated math or physics.
February 26, 2013
A wonderful end to an incredibly enjoyable trilogy. I find myself hoping for a "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" style trilogy in five parts.
January 15, 2014
A brilliant trilogy.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews