Book Review: The Gods Themselves, by Isaac Asimov

Final Opinion: Loved it! 9/10


The Gods Themselves by Isaac Asimov is an absolutely amazing book. I read it because I heard that it was the best one of Asimov's novels, and I wasn't disappointed. It won the Nebula Award for Best Novel in 1972, and the Hugo Award for Best Novel in 1973. The author himself was a professor of biochemistry at Boston University, so this book frequently draws on his extensive scientific knowledge by going in-depth into technical details and scientific theory. I was pretty proud of myself that I was able to follow most of the reasoning, but the author explains them so well and illustrates his points with such wonderful examples that I think most people without a background in science would be able to keep up as well.

Anyhow... This book begins with how some aliens in a parallel universe initiate an exchange of matter with our universe. Due to the different physical laws of our universe and theirs, this action results in limitless energy for both universes. Some arrogant prick of a scientist named Hallum stumbles upon this, and manages to develop the Electron Pump (with a lot of alien help), thus providing the earth with cheap, clean, and abundant energy. As a result, he becomes rich and powerful. A young physicist, Lamont, realizes that the side effect of the Electron Pump is that the sun will eventually blow up, but no one will back him up due to Hallum's influence in politics and the scientific community. The book also covers the struggles of an alien from the parallel world, Dua, who realizes the eventual fate of our universe and tries to put a stop to the pump as well. Eventually, the matter is resolved by another scientist, Denison, who proposes tapping into a third parallel universe that would balance out the effects of the  first parallel universe.

The novel is separated into three parts. Part 2 was my absolute favorite part of the whole book. It is a phenomenal piece of writing, and Asimov's talent and creativity really shine through in this piece. It gives a little more background on the pump from the aliens' point of view, and covers their social structure and life cycle which is exceptionally fascinating. I am totally in awe of the author for even being able to imagine this, and I can't help but gush about his ingenuity. The aliens are fantastic creatures and not your typical run-of-the-mill humanoids like in most scifi. To illustrate, the aliens consist of the Soft Ones and the Hard Ones. The Soft Ones have weird, gas-like forms and are divided into three groups: Rationals, Emotionals, and Parentals which correspond to left, middle, and right. Each alien family consists of a Rational, an Emotional, and a Parental with very defined roles. The Rational's purpose is to learn, the Parental's purpose is to bear and care for offspring, and the Emotional's purpose is to serve as the middleman to allow the transfer of seed from the Rational to the Parental during mating (or melting, according to the aliens). Once each alien trio finishes having one or two sets of three offspring, they melt together and form a single much denser and much more solid form called a Hard One. Asimov goes into a lot more detail than my description. My mind was simply blown when I read this section. Even Asimov himself stated that Part 2 was his "biggest and most effective over-my-head writing ever produced."

What I felt I could relate to the most in this novel was its depiction of scientific discovery and the human ego. Both are very much intertwined, as I think one of the main conflicts in this novel is the struggle between the human ego and scientific advancement. I feel that this theme is very relevant to the scientific community of today. In today's society, politics play a huge role in science, and great ideas are frequently crushed or ignored if they conflict with large corporations or political interests. More often than not, scientific discoveries are guided by popular opinion and pre-existing biases as well. Usually, it is also the more sensational scientific discoveries that get pushed to publication, despite questionable evidence and shoddy experimental technique, which shows that scientific research is very much a political game. Furthermore, the peer review system for scientific papers is not exactly fool proof, as there is no way for peers to verify the experimental methods themselves, and results that are not reproducible in other labs are often attributed to experimental error. Second-rate papers are also frequently pushed to publication due to pressure from employers or sponsors. As a result, bullshit papers are published on a regular basis.

In addition, scientists can be so petty, which brings me to one of the main points of this book. Scientists, though often depicted as apostles of pure logic and reason, are still susceptible to human vices such as pettiness and selfishness. As shown by Hallum in the novel, scientists who have made ground-breaking discoveries (more often than not due to serendipity) are hailed as noble and wise human beings, when in reality, some of them are arrogant, full-of-shit assholes. Unfortunately, due to their influences, promising careers are ruined as well as the reputations of entire institutions. Ugly fights also erupt over the assignment of due credit. And sadly enough, scientists often put their egos before the welfare of humanity. They lose sight of the idea that scientific discovery is not about fame and glory, but the advancement of mankind for a better future. This is illustrated by Hallum, who not only refuses to acknowledge that the aliens were the real brains behind the electron pump, but also that the electron pump may eventually lead to the destruction of humanity. The main reason for this is his monstrous ego, which also leads him to destroy Lamont's career after the tiniest of affronts. It is also worthwhile to note that this whole book would not have happened if Hallum had not been motivated by his desire to get back at Denison for a snide remark. However, Lamont and Denison also display this quality to some extent as well. At the end of Part 1, when Lamont is frustrated by the lack of support for his warnings of imminent doom, he is more upset by the possibility that he will never be proven right than the fact that mankind will be destroyed. In Part 3, Denison also admits that he would find the look on Hallum's face much more satisfying than any fame and glory. All in all, I found this depiction of scientists as people who are mainly motivated by the desire to stick it to each other very amusing. It also made me wonder if Asimov was channeling his own frustrations with the scientific community into this novel as well. I'm sure universities have their fair share of rivalries between faculty members.

Overall, I thought it was a great book. It had a lot of great commentary about hubris, scientific research, and maybe even racism (this is how I interpreted the part about "Lunarites" and "Earthies"). The plot was also really engaging because Asimov is very good at piquing your curiosity. Even though nothing in terms of action or suspense really happens, this novel is still highly intriguing. The scientific babble made it all the better for me, because not only did it add on an extra degree of credibility to the story, it also correlated a lot with what I've been learning in my thermodynamics class. Though Asimov was a biochemist, he seems to have a good grasp of physics. This novel gave me a lot of food for thought and really got me thinking about all the possibilities that science holds. Asimov expertly stretches the bounds of imagination, and I believe this is a novel that scientists and English majors alike would love. I think I will definitely check out his other books in the future.