San Antonio College Library

Ten years in the making and already receiving wide critica acclaim, The Passion of the Western Mind is a major new inquiry into the evolution of our culture's consciousness, from the dawn of Western civilization to the dawn of the twenty-first century. This is the epic sstory of our intellectual and spiritual heritage, a story never before told with such breadth of focus and clarity of insight.

"Eloquent, urgent, and inspiring, The Constant Fire tackles the acrimonious debate between science and religion, taking us beyond its stagnant parameters into the wider domain of human spiritual experience. From a Neolithic archaeological site in Ireland to modern theories of star formation, Adam Frank traverses a wide terrain, broadening our sights and allowing us to imagine an alternative perspective. Drawing from his experience as a practicing...

"Many people believe that during the Middle Ages Christianity was actively hostile toward science - then known as natural philosophy - and impeded its progress. This comprehensive survey of science and religion during the period between the lives of Aristotle and Copernicus demonstrates that medieval theologians were not hostile to learning natural philosophy, but embraced it. Had they had not done so, the Scientific Revolution would not - and could...

"By any standard, John Wilkins was one of the remarkable men of his century. He was, in turn, or in tandem, theologian, scientific experimenter, Warden of Oxford College, science-fiction writer, linguist, encyclopedist, scientific entrepreneur and administrator, bishop, politician, and preacher. Because he participated so deeply in the whole intellectual life of his time, it is fitting that this biography should examine the major currents of philosophy,...

"The precursor of the Age of Reason, perhaps the most dramatic figure in the history of science and foremost amongst its martyrs, Galileo Galilei was born in Pisa in 1564, of an impoverished aristocratic Florentine family. He was educated at the Jesuit monastery of Vallombrosa and at the university of Pisa. During his twenty-one years as Professor of Mathematics at Pisa and Padua, Galileo discovered the isochronism of the pendulum, disproved the accepted...

He emergence of modern science is a history of disentanglement, as science detached itself first from religion and then from philosophy. Jennifer Trusted in Physics and Metaphysics argues that science -- in its haste to tear itself from its historical links -- has neglected the various roles religious and philosophical ideas have actually played and continue to play in scientific thinking. This book seeks to redress the balance by exploring how metaphysical...

Ideas about God, argues Rodney Stark, have shaped the history & culture of the West. He examines the Reformation, the rise of science, witch-hunts & the abolition of slavery to demonstrate his case.