History of the Warfare of Science with Theology in Christendom

Andrew Dickson WhiteProject Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

Rating 4.0
Word count
2M words
Chapters
196

Tags

English Originals ReligionPopular Science Historical ReappraisalHistory of ScienceScience EnlightenmentKnowledge StruggleIntellectual EnlightenmentWestern ThoughtIdeological ConflictAcademic MonographIntellectual CommentaryScience and Religion

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.History of the Warfare of Science with Theology in Christendom by WhiteAuthor: White, Andrew Dickson, 1832-1918,Language: English, Class: BL: Philosophy, Psychology, Religion: Religion: General, Miscellaneous and Atheism, Release Date: Apr 1, 1996

Editor's review

White's History of the Warfare of Science with Theology in Christendom is a substantial work of intellectual history that traces the long process of friction and adjustment between scientific discovery and religious doctrine. Its value lies not in simply taking sides but in using a wealth of historical cases to show how the two sides clashed over specific issues: from geography to astronomy, from medicine to evolutionary theory, the conflicts were often not abstract opposition of ideas but disputes over the boundaries of knowledge and the right to interpret. The author's writing has a polemical tone and is rich in material; reading it conveys the typical attitude of nineteenth-century intellectuals toward the relationship between science and religion. For today's readers, the book is both a historical text for understanding the evolution of the science-religion relationship and a reminder to beware of simplifying complex history into a "conflict narrative." It suits readers with some patience who are willing to read slowly and verify as they go.

Who it's for

A good fit for

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Reading tips

  1. Read the table of contents and introduction first to grasp the book's theme-based structure, then start with chapters that interest you.
  2. Mark unfamiliar names and events as you go, and look up background materials together after finishing.
  3. Treat it as a historical text rather than contemporary polemical material, and note the author's own era and standpoint.
  4. You may read it alongside other works on the history of the science-religion relationship to form your own judgment.

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

Contents

  1. 1
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FAQ

Does this book argue that science and religion must inevitably conflict? The author's writing has a clear polemical bent, and the book is often classified as a representative work of the "conflict narrative." But what the book presents is a large number of specific historical cases; readers should regard it as historical material reflecting a particular era's standpoint rather than a final conclusion about the relationship between the two. Keeping a critical awareness while reading is more important.
Is the English original long, and is the reading threshold high? It is fairly long and involves a great many historical figures, place names, and details of the history of science; the English exposition is also rather formal. It suits readers with experience in reading English nonfiction who are willing to read slowly and verify. If you only want the gist, you can start with relevant Chinese introductory works.
What can general readers gain from this book? They can learn how scientific discoveries and religious explanations clashed in specific ways in history, understand the historical origins of the "conflict" idea itself, and practice distinguishing historical fact from standpoint when reading polemical works. It helps form more nuanced historical judgment.

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About the author

Andrew Dickson White Author · American · 1832–1918

Andrew Dickson White (1832–1918) was an American historian and educator, co-founder and first president of Cornell University, and later U.S. ambassador to Germany and Russia. Committed to scientific reason and academic freedom, he is best known for History of the Warfare of Science with Theology in Christendom, a wide-ranging study of the long tension between science and theology, and for The Warfare of Science. Six of his works are held here, including Fiat Money Inflation in France: How it Came, What it Brought, and How it Ended, a two-volume autobiography, and Records of the Spanish Inquisition, Translated from the Original Manuscripts. These works reflect his command of institutional, economic, and religious history, his rigorous style, and his reliance on primary sources. He was also the first president of the American Historical Association.