John D. Barrow - the next Newton?
It's nice to see Christian scientists excel.
Cambridge University cosmologist and mathematician John Barrow was awarded $1.6-million Sir John Templeton prize, which is the same prize won by Mother Teresa and Rev. Billy Graham, and worth more than the Nobel Pirze of 1.5million. Barrow is the leading proponent in the notion where religion best explains the existence and creation of the universe.
"the anthropic principle is that the universe is "just right" for life on Earth. Because if it were a little bigger or smaller, a little colder or warmer, a little younger or older, then life wouldn't exist. [The recent scientists] have found, he says, a universe not only bigger than was once thought, but getting bigger.
...because the universe is expanding, it must be at least 10 billion light years in size. We could not exist in a universe that was significantly smaller."
Again, this is a revival of another footnote to the Greeks, namely Aristotle's notion of First Mover. Of course, the clash between science and religion is warranted for. Barrow's notion has enfuriate plenty of his colleagues. Here are some notable quotes in which Barrow expresses his views on science and religion, which i share with and have bluntly articulate in a recent discussion.
"the two fields do not contradict as long as each is kept in its own sphere. "[The Bible] is not attempting to explain the [science] of the origin of the earth," he says, "any more than we would use a physics textbook to try to tell people how they should act. That was not the purpose of the Bible, or scriptures in other traditions, and there is a long history of disasters following this type of literal interpretation of the textual materials.""
Barrow says scientific discoveries do not threaten religion because God does not fill in the gaps of unanswered scientific questions. Instead, he says, widely accepted theological views see God as having an all-encompassing and sustaining role in the broader theoretical questions of the universe.
Barrow also criticizes US's difficulty in accepting the intelligent design theory lies in its lack of education in religion, in which the European takes a different approach.
I should try and get acquainted with some of his works, and i definitely look forward to more publications from him.
There's a globe and mail article here on the award, and another on Christian Science Monitor. If you'r interested and have time for only one article, read the one from CSM. It's very interesting.
Cambridge University cosmologist and mathematician John Barrow was awarded $1.6-million Sir John Templeton prize, which is the same prize won by Mother Teresa and Rev. Billy Graham, and worth more than the Nobel Pirze of 1.5million. Barrow is the leading proponent in the notion where religion best explains the existence and creation of the universe.
"the anthropic principle is that the universe is "just right" for life on Earth. Because if it were a little bigger or smaller, a little colder or warmer, a little younger or older, then life wouldn't exist. [The recent scientists] have found, he says, a universe not only bigger than was once thought, but getting bigger.
...because the universe is expanding, it must be at least 10 billion light years in size. We could not exist in a universe that was significantly smaller."
Again, this is a revival of another footnote to the Greeks, namely Aristotle's notion of First Mover. Of course, the clash between science and religion is warranted for. Barrow's notion has enfuriate plenty of his colleagues. Here are some notable quotes in which Barrow expresses his views on science and religion, which i share with and have bluntly articulate in a recent discussion.
"the two fields do not contradict as long as each is kept in its own sphere. "[The Bible] is not attempting to explain the [science] of the origin of the earth," he says, "any more than we would use a physics textbook to try to tell people how they should act. That was not the purpose of the Bible, or scriptures in other traditions, and there is a long history of disasters following this type of literal interpretation of the textual materials.""
Barrow says scientific discoveries do not threaten religion because God does not fill in the gaps of unanswered scientific questions. Instead, he says, widely accepted theological views see God as having an all-encompassing and sustaining role in the broader theoretical questions of the universe.
Barrow also criticizes US's difficulty in accepting the intelligent design theory lies in its lack of education in religion, in which the European takes a different approach.
I should try and get acquainted with some of his works, and i definitely look forward to more publications from him.
There's a globe and mail article here on the award, and another on Christian Science Monitor. If you'r interested and have time for only one article, read the one from CSM. It's very interesting.
posted by R.I.C. at
7:21 PM
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