"M Winther" <
ml...@swipnet.se> skrev i meddelandet
news:4fa02214$0$3804$c83e...@weathergirl-read.tele2.net...
Copernicus, Kepler och Galileo were were indebted to medieval
scientists like Nikolas Oersme (dead 1382), Jean Buridan (1300-1360),
William Heytesbury (ca 1313-1372), and Nicolaus of Cusa (1401-1464).
In fact, historian of science, James Hannam, says that the Middle Ages
provided the foundation of modern science. The medieveal invention
named "the university" played an important role. So did belief in a
rational and faithful God who had created laws of nature that didn't
change erratically, and which it was possible to study. That's why the
church has always supported the study of nature. By studying God's
creation we learn about God's thoughts. Even Einstein was fond of this
notion. So the ardent belief in laws of nature derives from Christian
theology and its view of God and creation. What is not generally known
is that the Big Bang theory was invented by theorists at the Vatican.
They tried to convince Einstein of its validity, who rejected the
theory out of hand, until empirical evidence proved it correct (Edwin
Hubble's discovery of an expanding universe).
Galileo, who was a believing Christian, did not oppose Christianity or
the church. He criticized the theories of the earliest scientist,
namely Aristotle. Many keystones of modern science were created during
medieval times, such as Heytesbury's description of av accelerating
objects and Buridan's impetus theory on movement. Important inventions
made life easier, which increased productivity and improved the
standards of living, such as the iron plough, spectacles, and the
horse shoe.
So what is the origin of the modern myth that Christianity and the
Middle Ages have stood in stark opposition to science and development?
Historians of science David Lindberg och Ronald Numbers say that two
works from the 19th century are responsible for many of the
misconceptions, namely John William Draper, "History of the Conflict
between Religion and Science" (1876) and Andrew Dickson White, "A
History of the Warfare of Science with Theology in Christendom"
(1896). Draper is responsible for the notorious disinformation that
medievals thought the earth was flat. These authors created the
metaphor of war between science and faith, and many of the
misconceptions that propagate to this day.
Mats Winther