Science and Religion: A Historical Introduction / Edition 2

by Gary B. Ferngren

Overview

Written by distinguished historians of science and religion, the thirty essays in this volume survey the relationship of Western religious traditions to science from the beginning of the Christian era to the late twentieth century. This wide-ranging collection also introduces a variety of approaches to understanding their intersection, suggesting a model not of inalterable conflict, but of complex interaction.

Tracing the rise of science from its birth in the medieval West through the scientific revolution, the contributors describe major shifts that were marked by discoveries such as those of Copernicus, Galileo, and Isaac Newton and the Catholic and Protestant reactions to them. They assess changes in scientific understanding brought about by eighteenth- and nineteenth-century transformations in geology, cosmology, and biology, together with the responses of both mainstream religious groups and such newer movements as evangelicalism and fundamentalism. The book also treats the theological implications of contemporary science and evaluates recent approaches such as environmentalism, gender studies, social construction, and postmodernism, which are at the center of current debates in the historiography, understanding, and application of science.

Contributors: Colin A. Russell, David B. Wilson, Edward Grant, David C. Lindberg, Alnoor Dhanani, Owen Gingerich, Richard J. Blackwell, Edward B. Davis, Michael P. Winship, John Henry, Margaret J. Osler, Richard S. Westfall, John Hedley Brooke, Nicolaas A. Rupke, Peter M. Hess, James Moore, Peter J. Bowler, Ronald L. Numbers, Steven J. Harris, Mark A. Noll, Edward J. Larson, Richard Olson, Craig Sean McConnell, Robin Collins, William A.Dembski, David N. Livingstone, Sara Miles, and Stephen P. Weldon.

About the Author:
Gary B. Ferngren is a professor of history at Oregon State University and general editor of The History of Science and Religion in the Western Tradition: An Encyclopedia.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	2901421421727
Publisher:	Johns Hopkins University Press
Publication date:	03/01/2017
Edition description:	second edition
Pages:	496
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 1.25(h) x 9.00(d)

About the Author

Gary B. Ferngren is a professor of history at Oregon State University and a professor of the history of medicine at First Moscow State Medical University. He is the author of Medicine and Religion: A Historical Introduction and Medicine and Health Care in Early Christianity.

Table of Contents

Introduction
Part I: Science and Religion: Conflict or Complexity?
Chapter 1. Science and Religion
Part II: The Premodern Period
Chapter 2. Aristotle and Aristotelianism
Chapter 3. Early Christian Attitudes toward Nature
Chapter 4. Science and Religion in Medieval Latin Christendom
Chapter 5. Islam
Part III: The Scientific Revolution
Chapter 6. The Copernican Revolution
Chapter 7. Galileo Galilei
Chapter 8. Early Modern Protestantism
Chapter 9. Isaac Newton
Chapter 10. Natural Theology
Part IV: Transformations in Geology, Biology, and Cosmology, 1650-1900
Chapter 11. Geology and Paleontology from 1700 to 1900
Chapter 12. Natural History
Chapter 13. Charles Darwin
Chapter 14. Evolution
Chapter 15. Cosmogonies
Part V: The Response of Religious Traditions
Chapter 16. The Bible and Science
Chapter 17. Roman Catholicism since Trent
Chapter 18. Evangelicalism and Fundamentalism
Chapter 19. The Scopes Trial
Chapter 20. Judaism and Sciences
Chapter 21. Modern Western Science and Asian Traditions
Chapter 22. Atheism
Part VI: The Theological Implications of Modern Science
Chapter 23. Physics
Chapter 24. Modern Cosmologies
Chapter 25. Causation
Chapter 26. The Modern Synthesis in Evolution
Chapter 27. Anthropology
Chapter 28. American Psychology
Chapter 29. Neuroscience and the Human Person
Chapter 30. Ecology and the Environment
Acknowledgments
Index

What People are Saying About This

Ann Blair

Ferngren offers us a selection of essays by leading specialists on the most important issues in the history of science and religion. I know of no other book that so gracefully introduces the reader to this burgeoning field.

— Ann Blair, Harvard University

Editorial Reviews

This volume consists of 30 articles, all taken from the 103-article The History of Science and Religion: An Encyclopedia (Garland, LJ 8/15/00). While exploding a number of myths that make up the popular image of the warfare between science and religion, the writers show that there was actually a complex relationship operating in both directions. Part 1 introduces the topic with two articles on the history of the relationship. The next three parts consider historical topics, some biographical (e.g., Galileo Galilei, Charles Darwin), some religious (e.g., Islam, early modern Protestantism), and some topical (e.g., causation, evolution). Part 5 considers the response of religious traditions, Part 6 treats the theological implications of modern science, and the last part considers current historiographical issues, such as gender and postmodernism. Almost all of the articles are by authors who have written substantial works in their field, and each is accompanied by a bibliography. An essential purchase for any library that does not have the larger volume.-Augustine J. Curley, Newark Abbey, NJ Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.

Library Journal

. . . there are plenty of quality contributions here to justify purchase by those looking for an overview of the field or as use within an undergraduate classroom . . .
--Reading Religion

Ferngren is to be commended for conveying the vitality and influence of science and religion through this series of excellent contributions from leading authors in the field.
--Perspectives on Science and Christian Faith

Ferngren offers us a selection of essays by leading specialists on the most important issues in the history of science and religion. I know of no other book that so gracefully introduces the reader to this burgeoning field.
--Ann M. Blair, Harvard University, author of The Theater of Nature: Jean Bodin and Renaissance Science

The second edition of Gary Ferngren's edited volume, Science and religion: a historical introduction, addresses a real need in the historiography and pedagogy of science and religion . . . the additions to the second edition of Ferngren's Science and religion constitute a significant improvement.
--Metascience

This work is both accessible and authoritative. Editors have taken pains to make sure the writing is consistently approachable and the scholarly depth of the individual contributors in certainly more than adequate to label this volume authoritative.
--Research News and Opportunities in Science and Technology

This second edition is more expansive and more in tune with contemporary discussions . . . For those who wish to get a good overview of the present status of science and religion as viewed by contemporary historians of science, this is a good book. It could also serve as an intellectually challenging introduction for undergraduates in a science/religion course.
--Arie Leegwater, Calvin College, Perspectives on Science and Christian Faith

From the Publisher

Ferngren offers us a selection of essays by leading specialists on the most important issues in the history of science and religion. I know of no other book that so gracefully introduces the reader to this burgeoning field.

Ann M. Blair

The second edition of Gary Ferngren’s edited volume, Science and religion: a historical introduction, addresses a real need in the historiography and pedagogy of science and religion . . . the additions to the second edition of Ferngren’s Science and religion constitute a significant improvement.

Metascience

. . . there are plenty of quality contributions here to justify purchase by those looking for an overview of the field or as use within an undergraduate classroom . . .

Reading Religion

This second edition is more expansive and more in tune with contemporary discussions . . . For those who wish to get a good overview of the present status of science and religion as viewed by contemporary historians of science, this is a good book. It could also serve as an intellectually challenging introduction for undergraduates in a science/religion course.

Perspectives on Science and Christian Faith - Arie Leegwater

Ferngren is to be commended for conveying the vitality and influence of science and religion through this series of excellent contributions from leading authors in the field.

Perspectives on Science and Christian Faith

This work is both accessible and authoritative. Editors have taken pains to make sure the writing is consistently approachable and the scholarly depth of the individual contributors in certainly more than adequate to label this volume authoritative.

Research News and Opportunities in Science and Technology

"Ferngren is to be commended for conveying the vitality and influence of science and religion through this series of excellent contributions from leading authors in the field. "

Perspectives on Science and Christian Faith - Fraser F. Fleming