Alan Lightman likes to look at things very closely. Lightman is a physicist at MIT and he’s written seven novels including the best-selling Einstein’s Dreams. Lightman calls himself a spiritual materialist. So what does that mean? It means you can find the spiritual within the realm of science. He doesn’t believe in the supernatural but he does believe in the wonders of nature. Lightman was also the host of the PBS television series Searching: Our Quest for Meaning in the Age of Science. Lightman’s latest book is called The Miraculous from the Material. It contains essays about the marvels of Mandarin fish and cosmic spectacles like the northern lights and the Rings of Saturn. We talk about whether AI will take over the planet and if looking at some earthly wonder is like having an out of body experience.