Driven by modernity conflicts abound between religion and science and democracy as they have been since Christianity came upon the scene 2000 years ago. A underlying reason for the conflicts is the fundamental difference in the acquisition of knowledge: religion from the-top down with knowledge given by God without errors, and science and governance from the-bottom up through messy trials and errors and more trials and errors with no gifts from supernatural powers. These two vastly different paths for learning can only lead to conflicting outcomes as history has indeed recorded. The depth and reach of past conflicts of Christianity with science and democracy are examined to uncover the specific truths (theories) underlying past conflicts. During the critical time of the formation of our democracy our Founding Fathers succeeded in building a bridge (approval by vote) between Christians (the majority) and the godless Constitution they wrote that could serve all of the people and prevent the strife of religious conflicts that had engulfed Europe. One of the Founders, Thomas Jefferson, codified for his personal guidance his accommodation between religion and government which he had used in his contributions to some of our country's founding documents. Jefferson's personal insight illuminates paths for us to follow to today for resolution of conflicts. The book evolved from a series of lectures on the conflicts between religion and science and government and discussions on possible resolutions with students of many different backgrounds over a three year period.

The search for a new foundation of the order of things, that characterizes the period between Descartes and Kant, is closely related to three questions: What is an animal? What is a human? What is a machine? The various answers that have been given to the questions occur in a field of dynamic interactions between theories of knowledge and of matter, experiments, observations, moral, theological and scientific claims, analogies, metaphors, imitations, and specific objects or artifacts. The main objective of this book is to retrace these interactions within different disciplinary, methodological and conceptual perspectives that reach from soul-body debates to models of organic molecules, fibre bodies and self-regulating clocks. Contributors are Tobias Cheung, Charles T. Wolfe, Ann Thomson, Hanns-Peter Neumann and Yvonne W bben. Originally published as Volume XV, Nos. 1-2 (2010) of Brill's journal "Early Science and Medicine."

Astronomical and astrological knowledge circulated in many ways in the ancient world: in the form of written texts and through oral communication; by the conscious assimilation of sought-after knowledge and the unconscious absorption of ideas to which scholars were exposed. The Circulation of Astronomical Knowledge in the Ancient World explores the ways in which astronomical knowledge circulated between different communities of scholars over time and space, and what was done with that knowledge when it was received. Examples are discussed from Mesopotamia, Egypt, the Greco-Roman world, India, and China.

Peter Anstey presents a thorough and innovative study of John Locke's views on the method and content of natural philosophy. Focusing on Locke's Essay concerning Human Understanding, but also drawing extensively from his other writings and manuscript remains, Anstey argues that Locke was an advocate of the Experimental Philosophy: the new approach to natural philosophy championed by Robert Boyle and the early Royal Society who were opposed to speculative philosophy.
On the question of method, Anstey shows how Locke's pessimism about the prospects for a demonstrative science of nature led him, in the Essay, to promote Francis Bacon's method of natural history, and to downplay the value of hypotheses and analogical reasoning in science. But, according to Anstey, Locke never abandoned the ideal of a demonstrative natural philosophy, for he believed that if we could discover the primary qualities of the tiny corpuscles that constitute material bodies, we could then establish a kind of corpuscular metric that would allow us a genuine science of nature. It was only after the publication of the Essay, however, that Locke came to realize that Newton's Principia provided a model for the role of demonstrative reasoning in science based on principles established upon observation, and this led him to make significant revisions to his views in the 1690s.
On the content of Locke's natural philosophy, it is argued that even though Locke adhered to the Experimental Philosophy, he was not averse to speculation about the corpuscular nature of matter. Anstey takes us into new terrain and new interpretations of Locke's thought in his explorations of his mercurialist transmutational chymistry, his theory of generation by seminal principles, and his conventionalism about species.

Why were the stars so important in Rome? Their literary presence far outweighs their role as a time-reckoning device, which was in any case superseded by the synchronization of the civil and solar years under Julius Caesar. One answer is their usefulness in symbolizing a universe built on "intelligent design." Predominantly in ancient literature, the stars are seen as the gods' graffiti in the ordered heaven. Moreover, particularly in the Roman world, divine and human governance came to be linked, with one striking manifestation of this connection being the predicted enjoyment of a celestial afterlife by emperors. Aratus' Phaenomena, which describes the layout of the heavens and their effect, through weather, on the lives of men, was an ideal text for expressing such relationships: its didactic style was both accessible and elegant, and it combined the stars with notions of divine and human order. In especially the late Republic extending until the age of Christian humanism, the impact of this poem on the literary environment is out of all proportion to its relatively modest size and the obscurity of its subject matter. It was translated into Latin many times between the first century BC and the Renaissance, and carried lasting influence outside its immediate genre. Aratus and the Astronomical Tradition answers the question of Aratus' popularity by looking at the poem in the light of Western cosmology. It argues that the Phaenomena is the ideal vehicle for the integration of astronomical 'data' into abstract cosmology, a defining feature of the Western tradition. This book embeds Aratus' text into a close network of textual interactions, beginning with the text itself and ending in the sixteenth century, with Copernicus. All conversations between the text and its successors experiment in some way with the balance between cosmology and information. The text was not an inert objet d'art, but a dynamic entity which took on colors often contradictory in the ongoing debate about the place and role of the stars in the world. In this debate Aratus plays a leading, but by no means lonely, role. With this study, students and scholars will have the capability to understand this mysterious poem's place in the unique development of Western cosmology.

Praise for "THE SPECIFIC DENSITY OF SCIENTISTS"

As an expert in understanding and defining the cult mentality, David Conn manages, through logic and his strong faith, to explain the inability, or the refusal, of many scientists to separate the spiritual self from the scientifically driven self (in other words, "to bifurcate"). This, he boldly says, is their real path to illumination, to Jesus Christ, the only source of Truth, the creator not only of science, but of the entire universe. Mr. Conn bolsters his case by way of an inarguable and mathematically proven truism. --"Lillian Carucio, author, Humility, A Lost Virtue and the Search for Truth"

In his latest book, "THE SPECIFIC DENSITY OF SCIENTISTS," Mr. Conn deals with the cult mentality that has invaded the realm of science and scientists. He explains four major concepts that the unbifurcated wing of science has either refused to consider or has fearfully and illogically swept aside.

He exposes the weakness of the unbifurcated scientists, their minions, and the growing majority of a general population who, having themselves been infused with unscientific scientism, see to it that their children, their students, their spouses, and their friends, are also steeped in it. This errant scientism is a mentality that people are unaware of, but that flows in and out of them in torrents through public institutions, workplaces, artistic expressions, and social networks until it reaches a remarkable status of being something that Everybody knows and believes

Four major concepts in "THE SPECIFIC DENSITY OF SCIENTISTS" were introduced in Mr. Conn s last book, the Christian science fiction novel, "LEDNORF S DILEMMA." One of these concepts, Grath s Paradox, is a Terminal Corruption Hypothesis. It is tenuous, at best, as analysts attempt to discern whether the United States has or has not reached the point of no return.

In this latest book, Mr. Conn says: If the point of no return has not been reached, the only hope for a healthy realignment lies with America s intellectual community and its general citizenry coming to understand that scientists and other intellectuals are wrong to think their brains and education give them special advantages in determining whether or not God exists and participates in the lives of His people. The masses, therefore, should no longer be swayed by scientists who have no special authority in these spiritual matters. It is critical that they pursue the one source of Truth with all their hearts, souls and minds.

David Conn was for ten years a lead analyst with Chevron s big environmental laboratory and then joined the Department of Defense as a Quality Control Representative, a liaison among several Naval and Air Force bases and the Defense Department, performing surveillance over chemicals and fuels and the occasional fueling of Air Force One.

Aside from "LEDNORF S DILEMMA," David Conn also co-authored "THE CULT THAT DIED" (G. P. Putnam's Sons, New York, 1980).

During the last decades of the twentieth century highly imaginative thought experiments were introduced in philosophy: Searle s Chinese room, variations on the Brain-in-a-vat, Thomson s violinist. At the same time historians of philosophy and science claimed the title of thought experiment for almost any argument: Descartes evil genius, Buridan s ass, Gyges ring. In the early 1990s a systematic debate began concerning the epistemological status of thought experiments. The essays in this volume are an outcome of this debate. They were guided by the idea that, since we cannot forge a strict definition of thought experiments, we should at least tame the contemporary wild usage of this notion by analysing thought experiments from various periods, and thus clarify how they work, what their limits are, and what their conceptualisation could be. "Medieval and Early Modern Science," 15

Galileo. Newton. Darwin. These giants are remembered for their great contributions to one of the most important phenomena in world history: science. But what is often forgotten is the profound influence on their lives and works of that other great phenomenon of Western Culture: Christianity. This book, the first volume in the Greenwood Guides to Science and Religion, explores the many ways in which religion—its ideas, attitudes, practices, and institutions—interacted with science from the beginnings of the Scientific Revolution to the end of the 19th century. Infused with the most up-to-date scholarship, the volume is aimed at the nonspecialist audience, explaining in clear language how inextricably linked science and religion have been during most of the last 500 years. While discussing how science and religion occasionally clashed, this volume also explores the positive interactions these two institutions have experienced during this seminal period in Western history. The Christian Humanism of the 16th century promoted the new, utilitarian approach to natural knowledge that distinguishes Modern from Medieval science. The Jesuits were instrumental in the development of the experimental and mathematical sciences during the Scientific Revolution. In the 17th century, the English Puritans advocated alchemical science and their opponents, liberal Anglicans, promoted a new, mechanistic approach to the sciences. The geological advances of the 19th century were often religiously motivated; the discoveries of biblical criticism of the same period were inspired by the science of the day. This volume includes a selection of primary source documents to help readers understand the arguments and beliefs of the people of the time, and an annotated bibliography to assist readers in finding further information on the topics.

The field of Asian studies is rapidly growing and the traditional study of Asian philosophy, art, language and literature is branching out into scientific realms. At the same time, there is a growing need to educate young people in science technology and mathematics (STEM). Reaching non-science majors with the basic principles of physics presents a particularly unique challenge. This work is designed to appeal to a range of students and presents scientific principles through the technology and inventions of ancient China. Detailed experiments are included which enable students to analyze ancient technology using modern laboratory techniques. Each experiment introduces the historical context and provides associated Chinese vocabulary. On the surface, these experiments involve recreating a Chinese technology. On a deeper level, we find connections to the scientific method and techniques of experimental analysis. Thus, an activity such as making paper, turns into a lesson on statistics and graphical analysis. Topics included in this volume cover one-dimensional motion, energy conservation, rotational equilibrium and elasticity. We also explore the nature of science and include an introduction to the Chinese language. Laboratory experiments include constructing a weighing balance and the stress-strain analysis of silk.

The Becker Technology Trilogy presents a thumbnail sketch of key events from the beginning of the Renaissance in Europe to the amazing air and space technologies of the 21st century. Mixed with equally startling cultural and political perspectives, events are presented in three companion volumes. Book 1, Eight Against The World: Warriors Of The Scientific Revolution, follows the close-knit lives of eight extraordinary men of science and technology - Gutenberg, Leonardo, Copernicus, Nostradamus, Brahe, Galilei, Kepler and Newton to the doorstep of the Industrial Revolution. These giants of the past, willing to endure heartbraking hardships, dedicated their lives to building the foundation of today's technological and scientific achievements. Book 2, A Season Of Madness: Life and Death In The 1960s, begins the author's participation in the emergence of new technologies as an eyewitness to the final two-thirds of the 20th century. Incredible events come to life as the background of the cultural disorders of the Civil Rights Movement, Cuban Missile Crisis, the Space Race for the Moon, 1967 Detroit Riot, and the Kent State University Massacre. Book 3, The Race For Technology: Conquering The High Frontier is an explanation of major science and technology events from about 1970 to the start of the 21st century. Global miracles of invention such as the Hubble Space Telescope, the Assault On Mars, Thames River Flood Barrier and Netherlands Ijsselmeer Project, satellites searching for the Chernobyl Disaster, the Armada To Halley's Comet, and the changing nature of hurricanes on our doorstep, are highlighted in terms of everyday cultural technology. The Trilogy is being published in 2007 and 2008- three must-read, exciting books you need to have on your own bookshelf to be alive and well in the 21st century.