Seiler on Science

How religious was Isaac Newton?

2012-01-30T07:27:00.000-08:00

Isaac Newton was the greatest scientist in history, and his discoveries of the laws of motion and universal gravitation provided a vivid example of the power of reason to grasp the nature of reality. This example served as inspiration for the thinkers of the 18th-century Enlightenment. The Enlightenment philosophes subjected religion to an unprecedented rational scrutiny,

My Slashdot Review of The Logical Leap

2011-02-01T14:53:00.000-08:00

On January 10, the technical blog Slashdot published my review of David Harriman's book The Logical Leap: Induction in Physics. Harriman's book is a landmark in the philosophy of science, and it deserves a wide audience. You can read my review at my website here. I haven't had the time or energy to carefully follow the various controversies over the criticisms of the book (such as in the reader

Seeking the Truth: a book by Richard Schlagel

2010-09-03T12:17:00.000-07:00

The full title of this book is Seeking the Truth: How Science Has Prevailed over the Supernatural Worldview (published in 2010 by Humanity Books, 518 pages). Written by philosophy professor Richard Schlagel, this book purports to present the history of science from a secular, pro-reason, anti-mysticism world-view. According to Schlagel: Western civilization was formed by two contrasting

Agora

2010-08-19T07:52:00.000-07:00

I recently saw the movie Agora, which was inspired by the life of the female mathematician-astronomer-philosopher Hypatia (pronounced hy-pay-shuh). This is one of the best movies I've seen in a long time. It is filled with dramatic conflicts and insightful dialog, and the cinematography is beautifully done, with an amazing reproduction of ancient Alexandria. Hypatia Very little is known for

The Beginnings of Western Science, a book by David Lindberg

2010-06-27T07:51:00.000-07:00

The summer 2010 issue of The Objective Standard contains a book review written by me. The book is The Beginnings of Western Science: The European Scientific Tradition in Philosophical, Religious, and Institutional Context, Prehistory to A.D. 1450, by David Lindberg: http://www.theobjectivestandard.com/issues/2010-summer/western-science-david-lindberg.asp I first read this book when I was

The Birth of a New Physics, a book by I. Bernard Cohen

2010-06-19T06:56:00.000-07:00

Recently the local DC Objectivist Salon (DCOS) had a meeting to discuss the book The Birth of a New Physics, by I. Bernard Cohen (originally published in 1960, then revised and updated by the author in 1985). Here is a brief report on the book. The late professor I. Bernard Cohen was one of the first Americans to get a PhD in the History of Science, and he had an illustrious career in that

Creation Movie a Melodramatic Mess

2010-01-30T20:35:00.000-08:00

Today I saw the movie "Creation" -- the biopic about Darwin that I mentioned in my last post. It was a real disappointment. The overwhelming focus of the movie is on Darwin's physical and mental suffering, which for me got really tiring to watch. A major event in Darwin's life was the death of his favorite daughter Annie at the age of ten, and this contributed to Darwin's turn away from

Jan 22 Release Date for Darwin Movie

2009-12-11T07:29:00.000-08:00

The new movie about Charles Darwin, titled Creation, will be released in the US on January 22, probably in a very limited number of theaters. More information about the movie can be found here. From the trailer, it looks that this could be a very good movie, so I have my hopes up. Good movies about scientists are rare.

Two Good Books on the History of Science

2009-10-23T07:19:00.000-07:00

Here are two books I can recommend as good overviews of the history of science. Each of these covers a wide range of different sciences across the broadest range of history. In future blog posts, I plan to discuss more books like this, such as those by David Lindberg and John Gribbin. Milestones of Science, by Curt Suplee, National Geographic Press, 2000 The size and abundance of illustrations

Why study the history of science?

2009-10-10T08:23:00.000-07:00

What is the value in studying the history of science? On my home page I discuss the inspirational value. Another important value is as an aid to understanding science itself.We live in a world which is deeply shaped by science and science-based technology. We depend on cell phones, computers, antibiotics, CT scanners, nuclear power plants, and countless other technologies. We hear all sorts of