Mauna Kea, a 13-thousand foot high peak in Hawaii, now stands as the spiritual center of the world, according to author Corey Powell. From the mountaintop, scientists position huge telescope mirrors to gather light from multi-billion year old stars, and their latest findings spur a “new step in the history of human spirituality,” which Powell calls sci-religion.

Albert Einstein's lifework and spiritual outlook make him “the founder and greatest prophet of sci-religion,” says Powell. Einstein “recognized the search for truth as an inherently spiritual endeavor... (with) common ground between the material and the mystical."

Powell describes how modern scientists, notably Saul Perlmutter and Brian Schmidt, find the universe expanding, rather than contracting from the pull of gravity (as previously thought). They account for the acceleration by the “stupendous discovery” of anti-gravity. This dark energy pervades the universe and it appears to be Einstein’s theorized cosmological constant. The universe looks full of empty space, but it actually seethes with potential energy and matter. Powell explains the interconnectedness of mass, matter, and energy revealed by quantum physics, and he explores the spiritual implications of the revelations. ( )