The contemporary debate over the scientific worth and educational merits of intelligent design has carried the assumption that this recent challenge to the scientific mainstream is in stark contrast with evolutionary biology. Assumptions are, of course, powerful agents of thought, often even more forceful than articulated ideas. And there is much truth in this particular…
It is always an inspiration to read Freeman Dyson. I have learned much from his science, and still more from his deft ability to cross disciplinary fields, his literary flair, and of course, his readiness to consider religious questions in his cosmology. Witness his excellent essay, “The Varieties of Human Experience,” in the September issue…
A century ago, James maintained an interest in different disciplinary fields even as they had begun their historical swing toward the specialization that our current transdisciplinary initiatives are designed to remedy. As I have followed William James through his inspirations from many fields, including the natural sciences, religion, psychology, and the humanities, I suggest that…
Counter-Revisionism in the History of American Science and ReligionBOOK REVIEW OF: When All the Gods Trembled: Darwinism, Scopes and American Intellectuals By Paul K. Conkin Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 1998 Pp. xi + 185. $24.95. ISBN: 0-8476-9063-6 Contents: Preface Introduction: Christian Cosmologies Chapter 1: What Darwin Wrought Chapter 2: Evangelicals, Fundamentalists, and Modernists Chapter…