Science and Religion in the Anglo-American Periodical Press, 1860–1900: A Failed Reconciliation

2019 ◽  
Vol 88 (1) ◽  
pp. 120-149
Author(s):  
James C. Ungureanu

Historians of science and religion usually trace the origins of the “conflict thesis,” the notion that science and religion have been in perennial “conflict” or “warfare,” to the historical narratives of John William Draper (1811–1882) and Andrew Dickson White (1832–1918). While Draper and White have been designated cofounders of the conflict thesis, there has been little research on how contemporaries responded to their narratives. This paper examines the early reception of these narratives by considering the extensive commentary they received in British and American periodicals from 1856 to 1900. Sampling a selection of this material suggests that while many rejected Draper and White's interpretation of the past, many others agreed with them in affirming that theological dogmatism came into conflict with the advance of human knowledge. This essay also suggests that Draper and White may have had a more nuanced position about the history of science and religion than has been contended by modern scholars. Whatever their intentions, however, their historical narratives had the unintended consequence of creating in the minds of their contemporaries and later generations the belief that science and religion have been and are at war.

2015 ◽  
Vol 5 ◽  
pp. 155-230 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrzej Kompa

In a nutshell: 1. I believe that Ekloge Chronographias of George Syncellus and Chronographia of Theophanes the Confessor should be treated as a single project, undertaken in turn by two authors; 2. There are important stylistic differences between the two parts, noticeable in the fragments, in which the authors deliver some editorial remarks or disclose their personal opinions; from a wider selection of such phrases, references to the past or future such as ‘as I have mentioned/as I said/as have been said/as we demonstrated above, etc.’, being diverse and individual, are especially helpful. 3. This observation is of great use not only for the texts analysed here, it may be used to confirm authorship of many other texts. 4. As for George and Theophanes, the TLG search of such structures in all extant classical Greek and Byzantine output confirms the statement nr 1, with clauses like ὡς προέφην/καθὼς καὶ προέφην/ὡς προέφημεν/καθὼς προέφημεν both rare in the whole preserved corpus, and relatively often used by the author of Chronographia. The style of the proemium of Chronographia fits the rest of the work and differs from Ekloge Chronographias. 5. Precise analysis of a wider group of similar clauses shows that Ekloge Chronographias and Chronographia were written by two different authors; Chronographia was created by one author, distinctive and independent, no matter how reproductive at the same time he was. I see no convincing arguments not to call this author Theophanes. Some later and partial editiorial interventions to Chronographia, conceivable (rubrics?) and in some instances even certain, do not challenge this view. 6. Only a few entries from the initial parts of Chronographia fit more the George’s work; their style and content bear much more similarities with Ekloge (in AM 5796, 5814, 5818, 5827, 5828). These paragraphs, George’s aphormai, probably in form of loose notes, were inserted to Chronographia by its author the same way as he used his sources for the subsequent parts; they did not reach beyond the times of Constantine I. 7. I do not dismiss the message of the proemium to the Chronographia as it is much more credible than the discussion, sometimes hypercritical, on the vitae and the scraps of the Confessor’s biography. I see no reason not to believe that the idea established and developed by George was then taken over by his friend; the differences result from the independent work of the former and then of the latter, presumably with only rudimentary guidance at the beginning. 8. The ‘genuine friendship’, the crucial relation between the two authors is still the most useful key to understand the history of the tripartita – therefore, I analyse it in the final part of the paper.


1998 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 423-430
Author(s):  
T. H. Barrett

The publication of two volumes of collected papers by Nathan Sivin is an event that should be welcomed by every centre where Chinese studies are taken seriously. For all his considerable reputation in a difficult area of specialized research namely the history of Chinese science, he has never sought to capitalize on his status as a specialist to “blind us with science”, but rather has written with an eye to broader problems, problems of concern at least to anyone professionally interested in the Chinese element in human experience, and (one would hope) many more besides. The spread of his concerns has meant in the past that many smaller college libraries have not possessed the periodicals and conference volumes in which his work has appeared, so this set of republished papers serves a useful function in itself. But in the second of these volumes in particular we find a number of previously unpublished works, including one of over seventy pages on a topic of considerable importance. Rather than leave this unexpected bounty simply for college librarians to acquire in order to make good existing gaps (and to have on the record the full Sivin bibliography to 1995 which may be found in the second volume), there would seem to be every reason to draw the attention of a broader number of readers to the appearance of important work which has existed for a while in draft form, but which has not been made generally available until now.


2015 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
pp. 89-116 ◽  
Author(s):  
José Luis Blas Arroyo ◽  
Javier Vellón Lahoz

AbstractBased on a corpus of ego-documents (private letters, diaries, memoirs) from the 19th and the first half of the 20th centuries, this paper presents a variationist comparative study to determine the fate of the modal periphrasishaber de + infinitive in the history of modern Spanish. Detailed analysis of the envelope of variation enables us to show that, despite an abrupt decline in the selection ofhaber derelative totener que, both ‘to have to’, grammatical environments that favor its use remain in the mid-20th century. Many of the factor groups and the hierarchy of constraints during this period are similar to those that operated in previous periods. Nevertheless, a generalized decrease in the explanatory power of these factor groups, as well as some divergent patterns within several of these groups are also observed, mainly as a result of the fact thathaber de + infinitive is increasingly relegated to some restricted areas of the grammar and lexicon. Based on these results, some theoretical implications for changing rates and constraints in language change and grammaticalization are discussed.


2017 ◽  
Vol 29 (1) ◽  
pp. 102
Author(s):  
Mikael Strömberg

The article’s primary aim is to discuss the function of turning points and continuity within historiography. That a historical narrative, produced at a certain time and place, influence the way the historian shapes and develops the argument is problematized by an emphasis on the complex relationship between turning points and continuity as colligatory concepts within an argumentative framework. Aided by a number of examples from three historical narratives on operetta, the article stresses the importance of creating new narratives about the past. Two specific examples from the history of operetta, the birth of the genre and the role of music, are used to illustrate the need to revise not only the use of source material and the narrative strategy used, but also how the argument proposed by the historian gathers strength. The interpretation of turning points and continuity as colligatory concepts illustrate the need to revise earlier historical narratives when trying to counteract the repetitiveness of history.


Author(s):  
Filipe Silva de Oliveira ◽  
Edson José Wartha

ResumoHistória da Ciência e Ensino de Ciências são áreas do conhecimento com possibilidades de interface anunciadas e investigadas na atualidade, desse modo, produzindo conhecimento a comunidade de pesquisa interessada em encontrar caminhos didáticos para a sala de aula. Por meio de Narrativas Históricas (NHs), Estudo de Caso e sistematicamente Sequências Didáticas, essa interface tem sido desenvolvida. O estudo de textos históricos de divulgação científica auxilia a compreender a divulgação do conhecimento científico para o público comum no passado, acredita-se ser possível o uso desses textos na construção de materiais didáticos como Narrativas Históricas (NHs) e Estudo de Caso. Neste artigo discutimos características enunciadas em textos de divulgação científica escritos por um divulgador da ciência brasileiro, relacionando essas características na construção de Narrativas Históricas que venham a utilizar os textos desse divulgador. As características são conteúdo temático, composição do enunciado e estilo verbal. Essas características auxiliam na compreensão dos textos desse divulgador no processo de construção das Narrativas Históricas.Palavras-chave: Ensino de Ciências. História da Ciência. Divulgação Científica. Narrativa Histórica. AbstractHistory of Science and Science Teaching are areas of knowledge with possibilities of interface announced and investigated today, thus, producing knowledge to the research community interested in finding didactic paths for the classroom.  Through Historical Narratives (NHs) Case Study and systematically Instructional Sequences, this interface been developed. The study of historical texts of scientific popularization assist to understand the popularization scientific knowledge to the common public in the past, it is believed that the use of these is possible in the construction of instruction materials such as Historical Narratives (NHs) and Case Study. In this paper we discuss characteristics stated in scientific popularization texts written by a Brazilian science disseminator, relating these characteristics in the construction of Historical Narratives that come to use the texts of disseminator. Features are thematic content, statement composition and verbal style. These characteristics assist in the understand of the texts of this disseminator in the process of construction the Historical Narratives.Keywords: Science Teaching. History of Science. Scientific Popularization. Historical Narrative.


2016 ◽  
Vol 16 (3) ◽  
pp. 65
Author(s):  
Stanisława Bartosiewicz

The reflections included in this paper show the imperfections of human knowledge when it comes to predicting the socio-economic situation of a modern democratic state, and their consequences resulting in that those who develop the forecast have to direct their attention to the following issues in their exploration:a)       list of important features characterizing well-being of the state and its citizens’ condition;b)      credibility of the information on the value of the selected characteristics (data);c)      adequate methods outlining the history of how those characteristics were shaped in the past (trends);d)     methods of shaping causal relationships between these characteristics;effective methods of forecasting socio-economic situation in future.


Author(s):  
Julie-Marie Strange

This article assesses the usefulness of shifting notions of ‘good death’ and discusses the reasons for histories of death pitching science and religion in opposition. It examines the key actors in death scenarios, probing the material culture surrounding death, disposal, and mourning and, more recently, exploring histories of emotion in relation to dying and bereavement. It demonstrates the complex relationship between social and professional organizations, individuals and families. The history of death suggests a linear chronology whereby a sacred and community-centred culture eventually gave way to a privatized and sanitized culture of death. This article explores the legitimacy of this chronology and its implications for understanding attitudes to death in the past.


1999 ◽  
Vol 190 ◽  
pp. 443-444
Author(s):  
M.R. de Oliveria ◽  
H. Dottori ◽  
E. Bica

The study of star cluster pairs in the Magellanic Clouds (MCs) has been explored extensively in the past years (Bhatia & Hatzidimitriou 1988; Rodrigues et al. 1994; de Oliveira et al. 1998). The evolution of these pairs can provide fundamental insight into the past history of cluster formation in the MCs.We have selected MC clusters (Bica & Schmitt 1995; Bica et al. 1998) with morphologies resembling those of the present models. The images in this selection of pairs were obtained from the Digital Sky Survey (DSS). We have also performed N-body simulations of star cluster encounters under different initial conditions, with the total number of particles per simulation ranging from 1024 to 20480.


PEDIATRICS ◽  
1966 ◽  
Vol 38 (2) ◽  
pp. 185-193
Author(s):  
Walton K. T. Shim ◽  
Orvar Swenson

Fifty infants less than 1 year old with Hirschsprung's disease were treated at Children's Memorial Hospital in the past 6 years. Thirty-two of the 35 barium enema studies yielded "diagnostic" roentgenographic studies, and 3 were "negative" for Hirschsprung's disease. Fourteen of the 50 infants had a history of diarrhea. Enterocolitis in infants may be extremely rapid in onset and progression. It should be vigorously treated with rectal irrigations and intravenous fluids. Nineteen patients (38%) had aganglionic segments extending above the rectosigmoid colon, and eight (16%) were aganglionic proximal to the splenic flexure. This includes three patients with aganglionosis of the entire colon and one that was aganglionic from the jejunum to anus. Emphasis is placed on an aggressive combined attack by pediatrician, radiologist, pathologist, and surgeon to diagnose and prepare the sick infant as early as possible for colostomy or definitive abdominal-perineal pull-through operation. Twelve infants with an average weight of 12.5 lb were operated on primarily with no deaths or complications. It is our belief that definitive surgery can be done with greater ease in an infant than in older children, but careful selection and preparation of the patient and meticulous operative technique must be exercised. The important criteria for selection of infants for immediate resection are the absence of emaciation and enterocolitis, although the infant may be small. Twenty-six infants had colostomy and resection with no deaths or complications. Our raw mortality figures show 10 deaths in 50 patients (20%). There were 7 deaths in 47 surgical patients (15%).


2012 ◽  
Vol 20 (3) ◽  
pp. 301-315
Author(s):  
Geert Lernout

According to the traditional (or ‘whig’) interpretation of history, sometime in the seventeenth century science was born in the form that we know today, in a new spirit that can best be summed up by the motto of the Royal Society: nullius in verba, take nobody's word for it. In the next few centuries this new critical way of looking at reality was instrumental in the creation of a coherent view of the world, and of that world's history, which was found to be increasingly at odds with traditional claims, most famously in the case of Charles Darwin's theory of evolution. By the end of the nineteenth century, the divide between science and religion was described by means of words such as ‘conflict’ and ‘warfare,’ the terms used by John William Draper and Andrew Dickson White in the titles of their respective books: History of the Conflict between Religion and Science (1874) and History of the Warfare of Science with Theology in Christendom (1896).


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