Galileo goes to jail : and other myths about science and religion / edited by Ronald L. Numbers.
Material type:
TextPublication details: Cambridge, Mass. : Harvard University Press, 2009.Description: x, 302 p. ; 22 cmISBN: - 0674033272
- 9780674033276
| Item type | Home library | Collection | Call number | Materials specified | Status | Date due | Barcode | Item holds | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Adult Book
|
Main Library | NonFiction | 215 G158 | Available | 33111005643842 |
Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:
If we want nonscientists and opinion-makers in the press, the lab, and the pulpit to take a fresh look at the relationship between science and religion, Ronald Numbers suggests that we must first dispense with the hoary myths that have masqueraded too long as historical truths.
Until about the 1970s, the dominant narrative in the history of science had long been that of science triumphant, and science at war with religion. But a new generation of historians both of science and of the church began to examine episodes in the history of science and religion through the values and knowledge of the actors themselves. Now Ronald Numbers has recruited the leading scholars in this new history of science to puncture the myths, from Galileo's incarceration to Darwin's deathbed conversion to Einstein's belief in a personal God who "didn't play dice with the universe." The picture of science and religion at each other's throats persists in mainstream media and scholarly journals, but each chapter in Galileo Goes to Jail shows how much we have to gain by seeing beyond the myths.
Includes bibliographical references (p. [235]-284) and index.
That the rise of Christianity was responsible for the demise of ancient science / David C. Lindberg -- That the medieval Christian church suppressed the growth of science / Michael H. Shank -- That medieval Christians taught that the earth was flat / Lesley B. Cormack -- That medieval Islamic culture was inhospitable to science / Syed Nomanul Haq -- That the medieval church prohibited human dissection / Katharine Park -- That Copernicanism demoted humans from the center of the cosmos / Dennis R. Danielson -- That Giordano Bruno was the first martyr of modern science / Jole Shackelford -- That Galileo was imprisoned and tortured for advocating Copernicanism / Maurice A. Finocchiaro -- That Christianity gave birth to modern science / Noah J. Efron -- That the scienfitic revolution liberated science from religion / Margaret J. Osler -- That Catholics did not contribute to the scientific revolution / Lawrence M. Principe -- That René Descartes originated the mind-body distinction / Peter Harrison -- That Isaac Newton's mechanistic cosmology eliminated the need for God / Edward B. Davis -- That the church denounced anesthesia in childbirth on biblical grounds / Rennie B. Schoepflin -- That the theory of organic evolution is based on circular reasoning / Nicolaas A. Rupke -- That evolution destroyed Darwin's faith in Christianity : until he reconverted on his deathbed / James Moore -- That Huxley defeated Wilberforce in their debate over evolution and religion / David N. Livingstone -- That Darwin destroyed natural theology / Jon H. Roberts -- That Darwin and Haeckel were complicit in Nazi biology / Robert J. Richards -- That the Scopes trial ended in defeat for antievolutionism / Edward J. Larson -- That Einstein believed in a personal God / Matthew Stanley -- That Quantum physics demonstrated the doctrine of free will / Daniel Patrick Thurs -- That "intelligent design"
Ronald Numbers has recruited the leading scholars in this new history of science to puncture the myths, from Galileo's incarceration to Darwin's deathbed conversion to Einstein's belief in a personal God who "didn't play dice with the universe." The picture of science and religion at each other's throats persists in mainstream media and scholarly journals, but each chapter in Galileo Goes to Jail shows how much we have to gain by seeing beyond the myths. --from publisher description