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A Frmula de Deus
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Wikipedia article
'A Frmula de Deus' (God's Formula), in English 'The Einstein Enigma', is the fourth novel written by the Portuguese journalist and writer Jos Rodrigues dos Santos, published in 2006 in Portugal. It was the best-selling novel in Portugal in 2006, selling 100,000 copies.
The novel narrates a quest for the scientific proof of the existence of god by a Portuguese professor, Toms Noronha, based on a formula developed by Albert Einstein himself. The adventure takes place in Iran, Tibet and Portugal, with the involvement of the CIA. The book presents an innovative view about the origins of the universe, based on recent physics theories.
Story
It is the spring of 1951. Just off a small street in Princeton, NJ, an unidentified man stands hidden, carefully monitoring an unfolding scene. A police-escorted motorcade stops at a small, unremarkable house while an old man with a shock of white hair jumps out of the lead car. As he ambles up the walkway, a man of around the same agealso sporting wild white hairdescends from the porch and warmly greets him. The observer lurking in the shadows is CIA fellow operatives are also close by, recording the conversation taking place inside the house between newly arrived Israeli Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion and his host, the word-renowned scientist Albert Einstein. The subject of their conversation: nuclear weapons and the existence of God.
World-famous cryptanalyst Toms Noronha is waiting on the front steps of the Egyptian Museum in Cairo when an attractive, dark-haired woman approaches and invites him to lunch in the Moslem quarter. Her name is Ariana Pakravan. She is Iranian and during the course of their lunch hires Toms to decipher a cryptogram hidden in an unknown document that has been recently discovered in Iran and is at present being kept under heavy security in Tehran. The document turns out to be a manuscript written by Albert Einstein, and its content may prove so extraordinary that it's likely to shake the world. The manuscript's title is, simply, Die Gottesformel. The Einstein Enigma.
Before Toms leaves for Tehran, however, the American cultural attach in Lisbon invites him for a meeting at the US Embassy. There, the cryptanalyst meets with two CIA operatives who warn him that the manuscript in question is in fact Einstein's recipe for an easily produced atomic bomb, commissioned many years ago by Israeli Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion. Iran cannot be allowed to develop such a weapon: Toms is assigned the mission of co-operating with the Iranians in order to ascertain the precise content of the manuscript and report back his findings.
Once in Tehran, Toms finds that the manuscript, written in German, is filled with enigmatic riddles. The first is a strange and dark poem written in English:
:'Die Gottesformel'
:'Terra if fin'
:'De terrors tight'
:'Sabbath fore'
:'Christ nite'
:
:'See sign'
:'!ya ovqo'
As Toms begins to decipher the rest of the manuscript, he finds that it contains much more than he had bargained for - something beyond his imagination. The enigma surrounding Einstein's ultimate legacy places Toms on a dangerous collision course with a nuclear crisis involving Iran. But, more importantly, it puts him on the trail of the greatest mystery of all: 'The scientific proof of God's existence.'
The Einstein Enigma is a story of love and treason, and a quest for a fundamental truth. It is a fast-paced, compelling adventure that takes Toms and Ariana, together with the reader on a breathtaking pursuit from Cairo to Lhasa, from Princeton to Tehran, and from Coimbra to Shigatse.
Along the way, The Einstein Enigma offers up a mystic fusion of science and religion, a meeting of Einstein and God in an unforgettable spiritual search that reaches its climax with the stunning revelation of the greatest and most elusive secret of the universe.
The design of existence.
Based on the most advanced findings in physics, cosmology and mathematics, this latest Jos Rodrigues dos Santos novel takes us on a surprising and amazing trip to the beginning of time, the essence of the universe, and the very meaning of life.
In an entertaining way, readers will discover true scientific data hidden in each of the major spiritual texts, from the Jewish Cabbala, to the Judeo-Christian Bible, the Hindu Vedas and Upanishads, the Buddhist Avatamsaka sutra and Prajnaparamita, and the Taoist Tao Te Ching. Even more remarkable perhaps, readers are introduced in a lively, popular fashion to a number of scientific concepts, including Relativity, Quantum Mechanics, Chaos Theory, the Incompleteness Theorems, the second law of thermodynamics and the Anthropic Principle.
The Einstein Enigma.
The great journey is about to begin.
Characters
'Toms Noronha': protagonist of the trilogy, Toms is a professor of history at the Universidade Nova de Lisboa and a cryptanalyst, divorced for about five years. He is hired by Ariana Pakravan on behalf of the Iranian Ministry of Science to decipher Die Gottesformel, Einstein's document that thematizes the existence of God. He is later forced to spy on the Iranians for the CIA, as he wants the CIA and Iran, they think Die Gottesformel gives the formula for creating an easy, cheap and destructive nuclear bomb like never before. Furthermore, he ends up falling in love with Ariana.
'Ariana Pakravan': nuclear physicist working for the Iranian Ministry of Science. She helps Toms to decipher Einstein's manuscript and even betrays her country to save the Portuguese. Despite being in love with him, Ariana resists Toms' advances due to the strict Iranian laws and the cultural difference between her and him.
'Frank Bellamy': directs the CIA's Directorate of Operations. Thinking that the Iranians are trying to manufacture a new nuclear weapon, he forces Toms to play a double game, helping the Iranians, but revealing all the information to the American agency.
'Manuel Noronha': Toms' father, has lung cancer due to smoking. Despite dying from the disease in the end, Manuel, a professor of mathematics at the University of Coimbra, proves to be an important help in the investigation of Toms, with whom he never had such a close relationship as it should have been between father and son.
'Lus Rocha': assistant to Professor Augusto Siza, who collaborated with Einstein in the creation of Die Gottesformel and was kidnapped by the Iranians, helps Toms in interpreting the results of the investigation into the manuscript.
References
Category:2006 novels
Category:21st-century Portuguese novels
Category:Philosophical novels
Category:Novels set in Portugal
Category:Novels set in Iran
Category:Novels set in Tibet
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