The Wisdom of Science: Its Relevance to Culture and Religion

210 Pages·1986·15.194 MB·English

by  Hanbury Brown

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THE WISDOM OF SCIENCE

THEW ISDOMO F SCIENCE
itrse levantcoeC ul true
andR eligion
HANBURY BROWN, AC, FRS
Profesos/Po hry si(Ac ssr ronoimnyr )h eU niveros/iS ryyd ney
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CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS
Cambridge
LondonN ew York New Rochelle
Mclbournc ySdncy
Publishbeydt heP resSsy ndicaotfet heU niversiotfCy a mbridge
The PitBtu ildinTgr,u mpingtoSnt reeCta,m bridgCeB 2 1R P
32E ast5 7thS treete,w York, Y 10022,S A
10S tamforRdo ad,O akleigMhe,l bourn3e1 66A,u stralia
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CambridgUen iversiPtryes 1s9 86
Firsptu blish1e9d8 6
PrintiendG reatB ritabiyn B illi&n gS onsL imiteWdo,r cester
BritisLhi brarCya taloguiingnp ublicatidoant a
Brown,R oberHta nbury
The wisdomo fs cience.
1.S cienc-eH istory
I.T itle
509 Q125
Libraroyf C ongresCsa taloguing-in-publidcaattai on
Brown,R .H anbury( RoberHta nbury)
Thew isdomo fs cience.
Bibliography
Includes índex.
1.S cience--Philoso2p.Sh cyi.e ne-c-Sociaals pects.
3.S ciencM orala nde thicaaslp ectsI..T itle.
Ql75.B794169 86 501 85-17469
ISBN O 5213 0726O hardc overs
ISBN O 5213 14488 paperback
Contents
page
Preface Vil
Acknowledgemencs IX
1 Changingt heW orld
1. 1 Earlayt titudteoSs c ience
1.2 A new Visio-nS ciencaest heK ey toP rogress 4
1.3 New Toolsa ndM ethodsf orS cience 11
1.4 Sciencfeo rmsa Community 14
1.5 EarlSyc iencaess eenb y theP ublic 17
1.6 Earlayt tempttosm akeu seo fS cience 19
17. Sciencmee etsI ndustranyd i s eent ob eu seful 21
1.8 Knowledgmee ets Power thsec ifeinrcset- baisneddu stries2 7
1.9 Sciencbee comeas Profession 31
1.1O Sciencger owsfa st 32
1.11 Sciencfien dsP atronisn I ndustry 35
1.12 Sciencfien dsP atronisn G overnment 38
1.13 Scienciesi dentifiweidt hi tAsp plications 40
2 InterpretitnhgeW orld
2.1 The MedievaMlo delo ft heW orld 42
2.2 The MedievaMlo deli sd estroy-etdheC opernican 45
revolution
2.3 ewtonm akesa new Modelo ft heW orld 47
2.4 The MechanicPahli olsophy- theC artesiraenv olution 50
2.5 The Ideat haMta tteirs m adeu p ofA toms 54
2.6 The Ideat haLti vinMga tteirs m adeu p ofC ells 58
2.7 UnderstandiHnega ta ndE nergy 59
2.8 The Ideao ft heA ethe-rt heM echanicPahli losopfhayi ls 61
2.9 The Ideao fE voluti-otnh eD arwiniarne volution 63
2.10 Find u Siecle 65
2.11 Sciencient he2 0thc entur-ye xploritnhgev eryl argaen d 66
verys mall
2. 12 Exploritnhge v erys mal-lt her ealmo ft hea t om 68
VI Contents
2.13 The ldeaosf t heQ uantumT heory a revolutiionsn c ientifi7c4
thought
2.14 The ldeao fC omplementar-itthye o bserveenrt ertsh e 75
picture
2.15 Chancer eplacCeesr tainty 79
2.16 A FailurofeR eductionissmo met hingcsa nnobte t aketno 83
pieces
2.17 Exploritnhge v eryl arg-ea new understandoifnS gp acea nd 86
Time
2.18 Exploritnhge v eryl arg-et her ealmo ft heG alaxies 91
2.19 lnt heB eginning 92
3 The CulturaDli mensiono fS cience
3.1 Our Imageo fS cience 101
3.2 Makingb etteprr actiucsaelo fS cience 108
3.3 Why supporBta siRce search? 110
3.4 How shalwle choosweh atB asiRce searcthod o? 115
3.5 Learninagb outS cience 119
3.6 The CulturFauln ctioonf S cience 122
3.7 The PerspectiovfeS sc ience 125
3.8 Sciencaen dV alues 131
3.9 Beyondt heM echanicPahli losophy 135
3.10 Livinwgi thU ncertainty 138
3.11 SciencaesM etaphor 139
3.12 The PursuiotfW isdom 142
4 The ReligiouDsi mensiono fS cience
4.1 The Divorcoef S ciencaen dR eligion 145
4.2 The needt or econciSlcei encaen dR eligion 149
4.3 The Naturaen dF unctioonf S ciencaen dR eligion 153
4.4 ScientiKfinco wledgaen dD ivinRee velation 155
4.5 ReligioBuesl ieafn dO bsoletSec ience 164
4.6 ReligioBuesl ieafn dC ontemporaSrcyi ence 169
4.7 The EnlightenrnenotfB elief 174
SelecteBdi bliography 186
Index 190
Preface
For many yearsI rana n astronomiocbasle rvatoirnyt he
Australibauns h-NarrabOrbis ervatoirn:Ny e w SouthW ales
-andi nt hatt imeI musth aves hownt housandosfp eople
roundo uri nstallaatnido tnr ietdo a nswert heiqru estions
aboutw hatw e wered oingT.h e touru sualllays teadb outh alf
an houra ndt hev isitowresr eo fa lla gesn,a tionaliatnide s
educatiobnaaclk groundTsh.e worko ft heO bservatowrays
highltye chnicwael w;e ree ngageidn m easurintgh ea ngular
diameteorfst heb righvti sibsltea russ intgh en ewlyi nvented
techniquoefi ntensiitnyt erferomeEtvreyn.a tt heb esto f
timesg,i vefanc ilitfioersp rojectsilnigd eas b,l ackboaarndd
an audiencoef p hysiciasntdsa stronomeirtsi ,sn ote asyt o
explaiinn halfa n hourh ow an intensiitnyt erferometer
worksF.o rt harte asoanl Ilc oulddo i nt het imew ast oe xplain
too urv isitotrhsa to uro bservatiwoenrse i mportantto a
betteurn derstandoifnt gh es tructuorfes tarsa,n d thatt o
understasntda risso fc onsideraibmlpeo rtantcoea stronomy.
What I reallwya ntedt od o wast oc ompletteh es torbyy
telling tthhaeatms tronomiysa ni ntegrpaalr otf s ciencaen,d
thats cienciesa n integrpaalr to fm odem civilization; but
therew as nevere nought ime.T o me itw as profoundly
unsatisfacttoosr eyn dp eoplaew ayfr om thibse autiful, highly
sophisticated,y eta nadp parentluys elesisn strument,
surroundaesdi tw asb yt housanodfss heeapn dav asetx panse
ofwheatw,i thouhta vinsgh ownt hemt haitt w asr ealplayr otf
ane veng reatweorr ldo fw hichm osto ft hemw ereu naware,
thea ncienatn di nvisicbollel eogfe science.
ln they earss incet hew ork of theO bservatowrays
completeIhd a vet rietdow ritdeo wnw hatI w ouldh avel iked
toh avsea itdo m y many visitiofor nsl,yt herhea d been
enought imeI.h aved onet hiisn t hrebeo oksi;n t hef ir(sTt h e
lntensity lntCehrapfmearnoa nmde Htaelrl1,,9 741) h ave
explainiendg readte taihlo w thei ntensiitnyt erferometer
carne co be inventaendd h ow ita ctualwloyr ksi;n t hes econd
VIII Preface
(Man andt heS tarsO,x fordU niversiPtrye ss1,9 78)I have
explaintehde r elevanocfea stronomtyom anyt hingisn clud­
ings ciencaen;d i nt hep resenbto okI h avet rietdo s howt he
relevanocfes cientcoeo urc ultuarned r eligion.
Some yearasg oI h earda raditoa lokn religioauffsa irisn
whicht hes peakear p,r ominenCth urchmans,a itdh aitn h is
experienocfe a nswering quesatbioountsr eligihoen h ad
encountertehdr ee disttyipnecostf p eoplefi;r stltyh,e re are
thosweh o area lfio rr eligisoenc;o ndltyh,e raer et hose who
area laig ainrsetl igiaonnd;t hirdly tahreetr heo sweh o take
religisoenr iousPleyr!h apIss houlwda rnm y readetrhsa tth e
discussiotnh iisn boooftk h er eligidoiumse nsioonfs cienicse
intendesdi mplayn ds olelfyo rp eoplien t hitsh irgdr oup.
We livien a cultuwrhei chw,h ildee pendenotn sciencfoer
itmsa teriwaell farei,s l argeilgyn oraonftt hen ew ideaasn d
perspectisvoemse,q uitset artlionng w,h icht hats ciencies
basedL.i ket hev isitotroNs a rrabrOib servatooruyr,s ociety
knowss ol ittalbeo ustc ientchea ta,p arftr omt hee nquirayst o
how much itc ostst,h eo nlyq uestiouns ually asokfe d
scientirfiece arcihs - whatu sei si tT?h ati sa reasonabilfe ,
shalloqwu,e stiaonnd i nm y views cientisshtosu lbde a blteo
answeri tn,o to nlyf ort heiorw n particublraarn chb,u tfo r
sciencieng eneral.
ln thisb ookI haved onem y bestt oa nswert hats arne
enquirbyu,t i na much deepesre nsteh ant heq uestiiotns elf
implieIsh .a veo utlinwehda tI b elietvoeb et hep roper 'uses'
ofs ciencaen d I havec allemdy answert he' Wisdomo f
Sciencbee'c ausIe believteh att hem ostv aluable 'use' of
scienciesi nt heg ettionfgw isdom.
HanburyB rown