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How blind is the watchmaker? : theism or atheism : should science decide?
Author
Title
How blind is the watchmaker? : theism or atheism : should science decide? / Neil Broom.
ISBN
0429842481
9780429842481
9781138320321
Publication
Abingdon, Oxon ; New York, NY : Routledge, 2018.
Copyright Notice Date
©1998
Physical Description
1 online resource
Local Notes
Access is available to the Yale community.
Access and use
Access restricted by licensing agreement.
Summary
First published in 1998, thisbook shows that modern materialistic science - for all its ability to analyse in truly impressive detail the workings of the living world - remains powerless to explain the phenomenon of life itself. Drawing on a variety of examples from experience of the biological world as a practising scientist, the author shows that the qualities of purpose, intentionality and mind suffuse almost every aspect of the living realm, yet these same qualities remain totally unaccounted for by science itself. The author argues that the all too common humanistic dismissal of these crucial components of reality undermines the integrity of science itself and is intellectually perverse. He argues that scientific materialism, despite its enormous influence in shaping today's high-tech world, actually presents a gross trivialization of the concept of life. Further, while unable of itself to provide ultimate answers to the mystery of life, this science uncovers facts that point beyond these to a transcendent, theistic dimension - or, in the words of the title - to a Watchmaker who, indeed, is not blind.
Variant and related titles
Taylor & Francis. EBA 2024-2025.
Format
Books / Online
Language
English
Added to Catalog
August 07, 2024
Series
Routledge revivals
Bibliography
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Contents
Birth of an idea
The Patriarchs of modern science
Farewell Aristotle
Galileo's perspicillum
A clockwork cosmos
A new shape of 'Divinity'
Science 're-defines' humanity
The 'inner sanctum' of science
Aristocrats and High Priests
Mechanistic mongers of gloom
The business of science
The kind of truth science reveals
Fragmented knowledge
Levels of knowing
The power of scientific analysis
Biological 'nesting dolls'
The faltering power of science
The non-scientific ingredient in science
What is life?
Nature's incredible machinery
Lilliputian molecular pumps
Rotary engines and corkscrew propellors
Molecular monkey bars
Polanyi's concept of hierarchical structures
Codes ancient and modern
From silica tetrahedra to stately mansion
Machines need higher laws
What about biological machines?
Disembodied knowledge
DNA
a pseudo-God!
What does it mean to be alive?
Birth of life: a popular view
The magic of megatime
Exciting primordial broths!
Coffee table science
Reductionist ideology gone mad!
Serious science and life's origin
To be or not to be 'in equilibrium'
Beijing turnstiles and French perfume
Spontaneous self-organisation
Tornadoes and breeding doughnuts
'Canny' molecules
A language in molecular form
Could a 'naked gene' make the first move?
A primordial RNA-only world
Was protein the prime-mover of life?
The birth of life in a 'nursery' of clay!
Exercises in molecular self-improvement!
Subjects
Subjects (Medical)
Religion and Science
Genre/Form
Electronic books.
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