Tuesday, January 17, 2006

 

The Great Disjunction

"In all of the history of science, only one other disparity of comparable magnitude to evolution has occurred between a scientific event and the impact it has had on the public mind," writes E. O. Wilson a professor of entomology at Harvard University, author of 20 books, two-time Pulitzer Prize winner, and recipient of the 1976 National Medal of Science.

"This was the discovery by Copernicus that Earth, and therefore humanity, is not the centre of the universe, and the universe is not a closed spherical bubble. Copernicus delayed publication of his master work On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres until the year of his death (1543). For his extension of the idea, Bruno was burned at the stake, and for its documentation Galileo was shown the instruments of torture and remained under house arrest for the remainder ofhis life.

"Today we live in a less barbaric age, but an otherwise comparable disjunction between science and religion still roils the public mind.

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