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Many people believe that during the Middle Ages Christianity was
actively hostile toward science (then known as natural philosophy)
and impeded its progress. This comprehensive survey of science and
religion during the period between the lives of Aristotle and
Copernicus demonstrates how this was not the case. Medieval
theologians were not hostile to learning natural philosophy, but
embraced it. Had they had not done so, the science that developed
during the Scientific Revolution would not--and could not--have
occurred. Students and lay readers will learn how the roots of much
of the scientific culture of today originated with the religious
thinkers of the Middle Ages. Science and Religion, 400 B.C. to A.D.
1550 thoroughly covers the relationship between science and
religion in the medieval period, and provides many resources for
the student or lay reader: Discusses how the influx of Greek and
Arabic science in the 12th and 13th centuries-- especially the
works of Aristotle in logic and natural philosophy--dramatically
changed how science was viewed in Western Europe. Demonstrates how
medieval universities and their teachers disseminated a positive
attitude toward rational inquiry and made it possible for Western
Europe to become oriented toward science. Includes primary
documents that allow the reader to see how important scholars of
the period understood the relationship of science and religion.
Provides an annotated bibliography of the most important works on
science and religion in the Middle Ages, helping students to study
the topic in more detail. BL
This book is a collection of some of the papers that were presented
during a NATO Advanced Research Workshop (ARW) on "Intelligent
Systems: Safety, Reliability and Maintainability Issues" that was
held in Kusadasi, Turkey during August 24- 28, 1992. Attendance at
this workshop was mainly by invitation only, drawing people
internationally representing industry, government and the academic
community. Many of the participants were internationally recognized
leaders in the topic of the workshop. The purpose of the ARW was to
bring together a highly distinguished group of people with the
express purpose of debating where the issues of safety, reliability
and maintainability place direct and tangible constraints on the
development of intelligent systems. As a consequence, one of the
major debating points in the ARW was the definition of
intelligence, intelligent behaviour and their relation to complex
dynamic systems. Two major conclusions evolved from the ARW are: 1.
A continued need exists to develop formal, theoretical frameworks
for the architecture of such systems, together with a reflection on
the concept of intelligence. 2. There is a need to focus greater
attention to the role that the human play in controlling
intelligent systems. The workshop began by considering the typical
features of an intelligent system. The complexity associated with
multi-resolutional architectures was then discussed, leading to the
identification of a necessity for the use of a combinatorial
synthesis/approach. This was followed by a session on human
interface issues.
Originally published in 1987, this important synthesis represented
the first effort by modern scholars to convey the variety of ways
in which medieval scientists and natural philosophers used
mathematics and mathematical modes of thought to describe natural
phenomena. Eleven distinguished historians of science contributed
original essays on the application of mathematics to natural
philosophy, astronomy, cosmology, optics and medicine. The book is
a fitting tribute to Professor Marshall Clagett of The Institute
for Advanced Study, Princeton, for his significant contributions to
the history of medieval science.
This book is a collection of some of the papers that were presented
during a NATO Advanced Research Workshop (ARW) on "Intelligent
Systems: Safety, Reliability and Maintainability Issues" that was
held in Kusadasi, Turkey during August 24- 28, 1992. Attendance at
this workshop was mainly by invitation only, drawing people
internationally representing industry, government and the academic
community. Many of the participants were internationally recognized
leaders in the topic of the workshop. The purpose of the ARW was to
bring together a highly distinguished group of people with the
express purpose of debating where the issues of safety, reliability
and maintainability place direct and tangible constraints on the
development of intelligent systems. As a consequence, one of the
major debating points in the ARW was the definition of
intelligence, intelligent behaviour and their relation to complex
dynamic systems. Two major conclusions evolved from the ARW are: 1.
A continued need exists to develop formal, theoretical frameworks
for the architecture of such systems, together with a reflection on
the concept of intelligence. 2. There is a need to focus greater
attention to the role that the human play in controlling
intelligent systems. The workshop began by considering the typical
features of an intelligent system. The complexity associated with
multi-resolutional architectures was then discussed, leading to the
identification of a necessity for the use of a combinatorial
synthesis/approach. This was followed by a session on human
interface issues.
The primary objective of this study is to provide a description of
the major ideas about void space within and beyond the world that
were formulated between the fourteenth and early eighteenth
centuries. The second part of the book - on infinite, extracosmic
void space - is of special significance. The significance of
Professor Grant's account is twofold: it provides a comprehensive
and detailed description of the scholastic Aristotelian arguments
for and against the existence of void space; and it presents (again
for the first time) an analysis of the possible influence of
scholastic ideas and arguments on the interpretations of space
proposed by the nonscholastic authors who made the Scientific
Revolution possible. The concluding chapter of the book is unique
in not only describing the conceptualizations of space proposed by
the makers of the Scientific Revolution, but in assessing the role
of readily available scholastic ideas on the conception of space
adopted for the Newtonian world.
Natural philosophy encompassed all natural phenomena of the
physical world. It sought to discover the physical causes of all
natural effects and was little concerned with mathematics. By
contrast, the exact mathematical sciences were narrowly confined to
various computations that did not involve physical causes,
functioning totally independently of natural philosophy. Although
this began slowly to change in the late Middle Ages, a much more
thoroughgoing union of natural philosophy and mathematics occurred
in the seventeenth century and thereby made the Scientific
Revolution possible. The title of Isaac Newton's great work, The
Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy, perfectly reflects
the new relationship. Natural philosophy became the 'Great Mother
of the Sciences', which by the nineteenth century had nourished the
manifold chemical, physical, and biological sciences to maturity,
thus enabling them to leave the 'Great Mother' and emerge as the
multiplicity of independent sciences we know today.
Natural philosophy encompassed all natural phenomena of the
physical world. It sought to discover the physical causes of all
natural effects and was little concerned with mathematics. By
contrast, the exact mathematical sciences were narrowly confined to
various computations that did not involve physical causes,
functioning totally independently of natural philosophy. Although
this began slowly to change in the late Middle Ages, a much more
thoroughgoing union of natural philosophy and mathematics occurred
in the seventeenth century and thereby made the Scientific
Revolution possible. The title of Isaac Newton's great work, The
Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy, perfectly reflects
the new relationship. Natural philosophy became the 'Great Mother
of the Sciences', which by the nineteenth century had nourished the
manifold chemical, physical, and biological sciences to maturity,
thus enabling them to leave the 'Great Mother' and emerge as the
multiplicity of independent sciences we know today.
The Age of Reason associated with the names of Descartes, Newton, Hobbes, and the French philosophers, actually began in the universities that first emerged in the late Middle Ages (1100 to 1600) when the first large scale institutionalization of reason in the history of civilization occurred. This study shows how reason was used in the university subjects of logic, natural philosophy, and theology, and to a much lesser extent in medicine and law. The final chapter describes how the Middle Ages acquired an undeserved reputation as an age of superstition, barbarism, and unreason.
Contrary to prevailing opinion, the roots of modern science were planted in the ancient and medieval worlds long before the Scientific Revolution of the seventeenth century. Indeed, that revolution would have been inconceivable without the cumulative antecedent efforts of three great civilizations: Greek, Islamic, and Latin. With the scientific riches it derived by translation from Greco-Islamic sources in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, the Christian Latin civilization of Western Europe began the last leg of the intellectual journey that culminated in a scientific revolution that transformed the world. The factors that produced this unique achievement are found in the way Christianity developed in the West, and in the invention of the university in 1200. A reference for historians of science or those interested in medieval history, this volume illustrates the developments and discoveries that culminated in the Scientific Revolution.
The primary objective of this study is to provide a description of
the major ideas about void space within and beyond the world that
were formulated between the fourteenth and early eighteenth
centuries. The second part of the book - on infinite, extracosmic
void space - is of special significance. The significance of
Professor Grant's account is twofold: it provides a comprehensive
and detailed description of the scholastic Aristotelian arguments
for and against the existence of void space; and it presents (again
for the first time) an analysis of the possible influence of
scholastic ideas and arguments on the interpretations of space
proposed by the nonscholastic authors who made the Scientific
Revolution possible. The concluding chapter of the book is unique
in not only describing the conceptualizations of space proposed by
the makers of the Scientific Revolution, but in assessing the role
of readily available scholastic ideas on the conception of space
adopted for the Newtonian world.
First published by Wiley in 1971. This book offers a concise presentation of selected topics in physics and cosmology which illustrate medieval comprehension and criticism of Aristotelian physical science. A discussion of why Aristotelian science remained dominant between the thirteenth and sixteenth centuries is also included.
Are advances in technology working for us or against us? When our
phones become our keys to access everything, will our lives be more
convenient or more at the mercy of whoever can hack into our
devices? Will self-driving cars help us maximize our time and get
to our destination safely, or will they erode the autonomy and
freedom we feel when we drive ourselves? What happens if the
government, in the name of public health, gains access to the data
in our handy fitness trackers and uses it to reward or limit us? In
Neuromined, technology investor Robert Grant and prolific author
Michael Ashley team up to explore questions such as these. Each
chapter imagines a near-future surveillance dystopia through a
riveting fictional tale and provides a companion analysis
connecting the story to our present reality. Entertaining and
provoking, this book shows readers how the technology that has
promised a lifetime of convenience has also constrained a public's
individual options and agency. But all hope is not lost.
Neuromined, at its core, demonstrates how technology, when viewed
through a different ethos and used by a conscientious public, can
instead provide greater autonomy and greater access to liberation.
The Age of Reason associated with the names of Descartes, Newton, Hobbes, and the French philosophers, actually began in the universities that first emerged in the late Middle Ages (1100 to 1600) when the first large scale institutionalization of reason in the history of civilization occurred. This study shows how reason was used in the university subjects of logic, natural philosophy, and theology, and to a much lesser extent in medicine and law. The final chapter describes how the Middle Ages acquired an undeserved reputation as an age of superstition, barbarism, and unreason.
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