"natural theology > notes > 2017

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Cercignani, Carlo, Ludwig Boltzmann: The Man Who Trusted Atoms, Oxford University Press, USA 2006 'Cercignani provides a stimulating biography of a great scientist. Boltzmann's greatness is difficult to state, but the fact that the author is still actively engaged in research into some of the finer, as yet unresolved issues provoked by Boltzmann's work is a measure of just how far ahead of his time Boltzmann was. It is also tragic to read of Boltzmann's persecution by his contemporaries, the energeticists, who regarded atoms as a convenient hypothesis, but not as having a definite existence. Boltzmann felt that atoms were real and this motivated much of his research. How Boltzmann would have laughed if he could have seen present-day scanning tunnelling microscopy images, which resolve the atomic structure at surfaces! If only all scientists would learn from Boltzmann's life story that it is bad for science to persecute someone whose views you do not share but cannot disprove. One surprising fact I learned from this book was how research into thermodynamics and statistical mechanics led to the beginnings of quantum theory (such as Planck's distribution law, and Einstein's theory of specific heat). Lecture notes by Boltzmann also seem to have influenced Einstein's construction of special relativity. Cercignani's familiarity with Boltzmann's work at the research level will probably set this above other biographies of Boltzmann for a very long time to come.' Dr David J Bottomley
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Dawkins, Richard, The Blind Watchmaker: Why the Evidence of Evolution Reveals a Universe without Design, Penguin/Pelican 1996 Preface: '[Darwinism] is, indeed a remarkably simple theory; . . . In essence it amounts simply to the idea that non-random reproduction where there is hereditary variation, has consequences that are far reaching if there is time for them to be cumulative . . . '
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Dennett, Daniel C, Breaking the Spell: Religion as a Natural Phenomenon, Penguin Viking 2006 Jacket: 'In this daring and important new book, DCD seeks to uncover the origins of this remarkable family of phenomena that means so much to so many people, and to discuss why--and how--they have commanded allegiance, become so potent and shaped so many lives so strongly. What are the psychological dnd cultural soils in which religion first took root? Is it an addiction or a genuine need that we should try to perserve at any cost? Is it the product of blind evolutionary instinct or rational choice? Do those who believe in God have good resons for doing so? Are people right to say that the best way to live the good life is through religion. In a spirited argument that ranges through biology, history, and psychology, D explores how religion evolved from folk beliefs anbd how these early "wild" strains of religion were then carefully and consciously domesticated. At the motives pf religion's stewards entered this process, such features as secrecy, and systematic invulnberability to disproof emerged. D contends that this protective veneer of mystery needs to be removed so that religions can be better understood, and--more important--he argues that the widespread assumption that they are the necessary foundation of morality can no longer be supported. ... '
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Diamond, Jared, Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed, Viking Adult 2004 'As suggested by its title, this book is about societal collapses - past, present and future - and the factors that cause human societies to fail. ... [Diamond's] primary mission is to determine the ecological, political and cultural conditions that lead to collapse and to contrast these with the conditions that favour success. ... Collapse is based on a series of detailed case studies. ... Diamond then provides a fuller exploration of the many rich parallels between these historic cases and select modern societies. ... What emerges most clearly from [his] analysis is the central role played by environmetnal decay in undermining human societies. ... In the end, [his] painstaking toil in the deep mines of history rewards him with sufficient nuggets of hope that he emerges 'cautiously optimistic' about the human prospect. ... The most important lesson to be drawn from Collapse is that resilient societies are nimble ones, capable of long term planning and of abandoning deeply entrenched but ultimately destructive core values and beliefs. This, in turn, requires a well informed public, inspired leadership and the political will to go against the established order of things. ... ' William Rees, Nature 433:15, 6 January 2005.
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Exum, J Cheryl, and Stephen D moore (eds), Bilical Studies/Cultural Studies: The Third Sheffield Collaquium (Gender, Culture, Theory, 7), Sheffield 1998
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Feynman, Richard P, and Albert P Hibbs, Quantum Mechanics and Path Integrals, McGraw Hill 1965 Preface: 'The fundamental physical and mathematical concepts which underlie the path integral approach were first developed by R P Feynman in the course of his graduate studies at Princeton, ... . These early inquiries were involved with the problem of the infinte self-energy of the electron. In working on that problem, a "least action" principle was discovered [which] could deal succesfully with the infinity arising in the application of classical electrodynamics.' As described in this book. Feynam, inspired by Dirac, went on the develop this insight into a fruitful source of solutions to many quantum mechanical problems.
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Feynman, Richard, QED: The Strange Story of Light and Matter, Princeton UP 1988 Jacket: 'Quantum electrodynamics - or QED for short - is the 'strange theory' that explains how light and electrons interact. Thanks to Richard Feynmann and his colleagues, it is also one of the rare parts of physics that is known for sure, a theory that has stood the test of time. . . . In this beautifully lucid set of lectures he provides a definitive introduction to QED.'
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Graves, Robert, The Greek Myths (volume 1), 1991 Jacket: 'A retelling of the stories of the Greek gods and heroes, embodying the conclusions of modern anthropology and archaeology. ... All the scattered elements of each myth have been reassembled into a harmonious narrative, and many variants are recorded which may help to determine its ritual or historical meaning.'
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Graves, Robert, The Greek Myths (volume 2), 1990 Jacket: 'A retelling of the stories of the Greek gods and heroes, embodying the conclusions of modern anthropology and archaeology. ... All the scattered elements of each myth have been reassembled into a harmonious narrative, and many variants are recorded which may help to determine its ritual or historical meaning.'
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Lamb, Horace, Dynamics, Cambridge University Press 1914-1960 back

Maxwell, James Clerk, The Scientific Papers of James Clerk Maxwell Volume II, Dover Publications 978-0486495613 2003 Amazon product description: 'One of the greatest theoretical physicists of the 19th century, James Clerk Maxwell is best known for his studies of the electromagnetic field. These 101 scientific papers, arranged chronologically in two volumes, testify to Maxwell's scientific legacy and offer modern students of mathematics and physics stimulating reading. 197 figures. 39 tables. 1890 edition.'
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Mendelson, Elliott, Introduction to Mathematical Logic, van Nostrand 1987 Preface: '... a compact introduction to some of the principal topics of mathematical logic. . . . In the belief that beginners should be exposed to the most natural and easiest proofs, free swinging set-theoretical methods have been used."
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Newman, John Henry, and Ian Ker (editor), Apologia pro Vita Sua: Being a History of His Religious Opinions, Penguin Classics 1995 Back cover: 'John Henry Newman stunned the Anglican community in 1843, when he left his position as vicar of St. Mary's, Oxford, to join the Roman Catholic church. Perhaps no one took greater offense than Protestant clergyman Charles Kingsley, whose scathing attacks against Newman's faith and honor inspired this brilliant response. Apologia Pro Vita Sua, Newman's spiritual autobiography, explores the depths and nature of Christianity with flowing prose and a conversational style that has ensured its status as a classic. His honest and passionate defense consists of a personal history of his religious convictions, from earliest memory through the Oxford movement and his ultimate conversion. His concluding point-by-point refutation of Kingsley's charges features thought-provoking contentions that strike at the very roots of the principles underlying Protestantism. Newman won respect and admiration with his Apologia, a work that has helped clarify perceptions of Roman Catholicism among readers of every faith.'
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Sandars, N K, The Epic of Gilgamesh: An English version with Introduction, Penguin 1972 Introduction: 'Throughout the action we are shown a very human concern with mortality, with the search for knowledge sf for an escape from the common lot of man. The gods, who do not die, cannot be tragic If Gilgamesh is not the first human hero, he is the first tragic hero of whom anything is known.
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Weinberg, Steven, The Quantum Theory of Fields Volume I: Foundations, Cambridge University Press 1995 Jacket: 'After a brief historical outline, the book begins anew with the principles about which we are most certain, relativity and quantum mechanics, and then the properties of particles that follow from these principles. Quantum field theory then emerges from this as a natural consequence. The classic calculations of quantum electrodynamics are presented in a thoroughly modern way, showing the use of path integrals and dimensional regularization. The account of renormalization theory reflects the changes in our view of quantum field theory since the advent of effective field theories. The book's scope extends beyond quantum elelctrodynamics to elementary partricle physics and nuclear physics. It contains much original material, and is peppered with examples and insights drawn from the author's experience as a leader of elementary particle research. Problems are included at the end of each chapter. '
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Wilson, David Sloan, Darwin's Cathedral: Evolution, Religion and the Nature of Society, University Of Chicago Press 2003 Amazon Spotlight Review 'Religion in the Light of Evolution, January 2, 2003 Reviewer: R. Hardy "Rob Hardy" (Columbus, Mississippi USA) If you have an opinion about religion, or belong to a religion, most people disagree with you; there is not a majority religion in the world. And surely not all religions can be factually correct, since there are fundamental disagreements between them. So, how is it that all those other, incorrect religions exist and seem to help their members and their societies? There must be something they offer beyond a factual representation of gods and the cosmos (and when it comes down to it, if you belong to a religion, yours must be offering something more as well). If religions do help their members and societies, then perhaps they are beneficial in a long term and evolutionary way, and maybe such evolutionary influences should be acknowledged and studied. This is what David Sloan Wilson convincingly declares he has done in _Darwin's Cathedral: Evolution, Religion, and the Nature of Society_ (University of Chicago Press): "I will attempt to study religious groups the way I and other evolutionary biologists routinely study guppies, trees, bacteria, and the rest of life on earth, with the intention of making progress that even a reasonable skeptic must acknowledge." To Wilson's credit, he has written carefully about both scientific and religious issues, and readers with an interest in either field will find that he has covered both fairly. His coverage of the science involved begins with an interesting history of "the wrong turn" evolutionary theory took fifty years ago, when it deliberately ignored the influence of group selection. Especially if one accepts that there is for our species not only an inheritance of genes, but also an inheritance of culture, evolutionary influence by and upon religious groups, especially in light of the examples Wilson discusses, now seems obvious. For instance, evolution often studies population changes due to gains and losses from births, deaths, and in the case of religion, conversion and apostasy. The early Christian church is shown to have made gains compared to Judaism and Roman mythology because of its promotion of proselytization, fertility, a welfare state, and women's participation. There is a temple system in Bali dedicated to the water goddess essential for the prosperity of the rice crops; "those who do not follow her laws may not possess her rice terraces." The religious system encompasses eminently practical procedures for promoting fair water use and even for pest control. Religious morality is shown to build upon the principles of the famously successful computer strategy Tit-for-Tat. There is a significant problem, of course, in religions' dealing with other groups; it is not at all uncommon for a religion to teach that murdering those who believe in other religions is different from murdering those inside one's own religion. There is a degree of amorality shown in such competition, no different from the amorality that governs the strivings of ferns, sparrows, and lions. Wilson's many examples are fascinating and easy to take, but _Darwin's Cathedral_ is not light reading; although Wilson wanted to write a book for readers of all backgrounds, he has not "'dumbed down' the material for a popular audience," and admits that there is serious intellectual work to be done in getting through these pages. There is valuable and clear writing here, however, and a new way of looking at religion which may become a standard in scientific evaluation.'
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Papers

Bshary, R, A S Grutter, "Image scoring and cooperation in a cclerner fish mutualism", Nature, 441, 7096, 22 June 2006, page 975-978. 'Humans are highly social animals and often help unrelated individuals that may never reciprocate the altruist's favour. This apparent evolutionary puzzle may be explained by the altruist's gain in social image; image-scoring bystanders, also known as eavesdroppers, notice the altruistic act and therefore are more likely to help the altruist in the future. Such complex indirect reciprocity based on altruistic acts may evolve only after simple indirect reciprocity has been established, which requires two steps. First, image scoring evolves when bystanders gain personal benefits from information gathered, for example, by finding cooperative partners. Second, altruistic behaviour in the presence of such bystanders may evolve if altruists benefit from access to bystanders. Here we provide experimental evidence for both of the requirements in a cleaning mtualism involving the cleaner fish Labroides dim diatus. These cleaners may cooperate and remove ectoparasites from clients or they may cheat by feeding on client mucus. As mucus may be preferred over typical client ectoparasites, clients must make cleaners feed against their preference to obtain a cooperative service. We found that eavesdropping clients spend more time next to 'cooperative' than 'unknown cooperative level' cleaners, which shows that clients engage in image scoring behaviour. Furthermore, trained cleaners learned to feed more cooperatively when in an 'image-scoring' than in a 'non-image-scoring' situation.'. back

Morrison, Kathleen D, "Failure and how to avoid it", Nature, 440, 7085, 6 April 2006, page 752-754. 'Nothing lasts forever, not least human civilizations. There are many reason why societies stand or fall, and these lessons from the past require investigation at various places and on various timescales.'. back

Pace, Norman R, "Time for a change", Nature, 441, 7091, 18 May 2006, page 289. Prokaryote: gene sequence comparisons show the tree of life consists of bacteria, eukarya and archaea. The use of the term 'prokaryote' fails to recognize that an idea about life's origins has been proved wrong.'. back

Links

Adenosine triphosphate - Wikipedia, Adenosine triphosphate - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, 'ATP transports chemical energy within cells for metabolism. Most cellular functions need energy in order to be carried out: synthesis of proteins, synthesis of membranes, movement of the cell, cellular division, transport of various solutes etc. The ATP is the molecule that carries energy to the place where the energy is needed.' back

Alan Cooper, Ray Tobler and Wolfgang Haak, DNA reveals Aboriginal people had a long and settled connection to country, 'Historic hair samples collected from Aboriginal people show that following an initial migration 50,000 years ago, populations spread rapidly around the east and west coasts of Australia.' back

Alastair Sloan, Libya and the Manchester connection, 'Thankfully, the British people are wiser than the elites that rule over them, who remain a deluded minority who still think sending teenage foreign fighters abroad, or toppling Gaddafi, was ever good for Britain. 66 percent of the population however, according to pollsters YouGov, agreed that "wars the UK has supported or fought are in part responsible for terror attacks against the UK". When will the elites start listening to them? They did with Brexit - perhaps Middle East policy should be next.' back

Evan Halper, Trump preparing to pull U.S. from Paris climate accord, amid last-minute lobbying, 'President Trump hasn’t made a final decision on whether the U.S. will quit the Paris Accord on climate change, but White House officials indicated Wednesday that he was headed in that direction, setting off a worldwide reaction. A flurry of leaks, counter-leaks and public statements thrust back into the spotlight a decision that has been agonized and untidy even by the standards of a White House known for internal drama.' back

Fergus Hunter, Explainer: all the questions you were too afraid to ask about Indigenous constitutional recognition , '[Uluru convention] released a "Statement from the Heart", which called for: "Substantive constitutional change and structural reform", rejecting minimalist and symbolic recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders in the constitution A constitutionally enshrined "First Nations Voice", which would sit separately to the Parliament but seek to influence and advise government policy affecting Indigenous people A pathway to treaties between Aboriginal people and the government. This would be overseen by a "Makarrata Commission", which would also guide a process of truth-telling about the treatment of Indigenous people. back

Henry Farrell, Thanks to Trump, Germany says it cannot rely on the United States. What does that mean?, 'Merkel on Sunday declared a new chapter in U.S.-European relations after contentious meetings with President Trump last week, saying that Europe “really must take our fate into our own hands.” ' [Henry Farrell is associate professor of political science and international affairs at George Washington University. He works on a variety of topics, including trust, the politics of the Internet and international and comparative political economy.] back

Joby Warrick and Souad Mekhennet, Bin Laden's son steps into father's shows as al-Qeda attempts a comeback, '“Prepare diligently to inflict crippling losses on those who have disbelieved,” Hamza bin Laden, scion of the Sept. 11, 2001, mastermind, says in a thin baritone that eerily echoes his father. “Follow in the footsteps of martyrdom-seekers before you.” The recording, first aired May 13, is one in a string of recent pronouncements by the man who many terrorism experts regard as the crown prince of al-Qaeda’s global network.' back

John Donne, Death be not proud, 'Death, be not proud, though some have called thee
Mighty and dreadful, for thou art not so;
For those, whom thou think'st thou dost overthrow,
Die not, poor Death, nor yet canst thou kill me
From rest and sleep, which but thy picture[s] be,
Much pleasure, then from thee much more must flow,
And soonest our best men with thee do go,
Rest of their bones, and soul's delivery.
Thou'rt slave to Fate, chance, kings, and desperate men,
And dost with poison, war, and sickness dwell,
And poppy, or charms can make us sleep as well,
And better than thy stroke ; why swell'st thou then ?
One short sleep past, we wake eternally,
And Death shall be no more ; Death, thou shalt die. back

Julian Sanchez, Republicans and Democrats are both wrong about leaks from intelligence agencies, 'The facile, cynical read on this would be that the only bedrock principle in politics is tribal advantage — which is probably half the story. But seen through a more charitable lens, this recent inversion both obeys a shared underlying logic and reflects a common underlying confusion. The logic is this: Excessive autonomy from, and excessive domination by, the political branches of government have long been recognized by intelligence scholars as the twin perils of spycraft.' back

Linda Kaye, You can tell more about a person from their Facebook page than by actually meeting them, 'Of course, the limitation of using online profiles to judge someone is that they could just be lying. But usually, Facebook pages and other profiles have a kernel of truth that reveals something we can’t always access from meeting someone face-to-face.' back

Nicola Davis, 'We have been poisoning ourselves': has ice analysis revealed the truth about lead?, 'Analysis of an ice cores taken from the Swiss Alps together with records dating from the time of the Black Death have revealed that there is no “natural” level of lead in the air, researchers have claimed. Once in the body, lead is known to have harmful impacts on health, from behavioural to neurological, reproductive and cardiovascular effects.' back

Peter Lewis, What if Australia already had its 'Trump moment' - and it was Tony Abbott?, 'But the failure of One Nation to build on its vote in recent months has got me wondering whether we haven’t got it all wrong – whether we are not mistaking the windscreen for the rear-view mirror. What if there is no populist surge on the horizon? What if Australia has already had its populist moment ahead of the other western democracies and we are now dealing with the consequences of that misadventure?' back

Thomas W Blume, Social Perspectives on Violence, 'Violence is not a single kind of activity, but rather a socially defined category of activities that share some common features. This article presents a social perspective on violence that calls attention to the meanings of violence and to other social factors that promote and support or, alternatively, oppose and restrict violence. Implications for prevention and intervention are examined.' back

Timor mortis conturbat me - Wikipedia, Timor mortis conturbat me - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, 'Timor mortis conturbat me is a Latin phrase commonly found in late medieval Scottish and English poetry, translating to "fear of death disturbs me". The phrase comes from a responsory of the Catholic Office of the Dead, in the third Nocturn of Matins:[1] Peccantem me quotidie, et non poenitentem, timor mortis conturbat me. Quia in inferno nulla est redemptio, miserere mei, Deus, et salva me. "Sinning daily, and not repenting, the fear of death disturbs me. Because there is no redemption in Hell, have mercy on me, O God, and save me."' back

vol VII: Notes

2017

Notes

Sunday 28 May 2017

Monday 29 May 2017

Tuesday 30 May 2017

Wednesday 31 May 2017

Thursday 1 June 2017

Friday 2 June 2017

Saturday 3 June 2017

Further reading

Books

Papers

Links