I have been reading a fabulous book, 'Darwin's ghosts' http://www.amazon.co.uk/Darwins-Ghosts-Search-First-Evolutionists/dp/1408809087/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1366382729&sr=1-1&keywords=darwins+ghosts by Rebecca Stott.
it should be highly commend to anyone with an interest in science and the history thereof. or to anyone who has a fascination with Darwin and his predecessors - those radical thinkers who eventually led us to evolutionary theory.
One has been struck most forcefully here by two things. Firstly the clarity and breadth of thinkers in times past (not for them specialisation in narrow areas of science but rather the natural philosophy of nature and all that encompasses). Secondly and perhaps more sadly and maddeningly is the overwhelming sense of how much knowledge has been sidelined or lost over the centuries.
many great thinkers work has been put to one side because it did not fit the accepted orthodoxy of the day. Established church/religions have suppressed that which may be perceived as a threat to their world view.
This is terrible! Any religion with a sound basis should be able to stand a rigorous scientific challenge otherwise that basis is not nearly as sound as implied. Also though, how can we justify the loss of so much intellectual endeavour, effort and work. Whether we agree or not, we owe it to scientists and researchers to save their works for posterity so people can make their own judgements fro as much acquired knowledge as human history could possibly offer.
Let us hope that in the age of open research, on line community and multi-platform access that it will become increasingly difficult to sideline any thinkers whether they are orthodox or otherwise.
No comments:
Post a Comment