Practical Mystic

Religion, Science, and A. S. Eddington

By: Matthew Stanley

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Hardcover | 1 November 2007 | Edition Number 1

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Hardcover
320 Pages

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2.35 x 1.65 x 0.25

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Science and religion have long been thought incompatible. But nowhere has this apparent contradiction been more fully resolved than in the figure of A. S. Eddington (1882-1944), a pioneer in astrophysics, relativity, and the popularization of science, and a devout Quaker. "Practical Mystic "uses the figure of Eddington to shows how religious and scientific values can interact and overlap without compromising the integrity of either.
Eddington was a world-class scientist who not only maintained his religious belief throughout his scientific career but also defended the interrelation of science and religion while drawing inspiration from both for his practices. For instance, at a time when a strict adherence to deductive principles of physics had proved fruitless for understanding the nature of stars, insights from Quaker mysticism led Eddington to argue that an outlook less concerned with certainty and more concerned with further exploration was necessary to overcome the obstacles of incomplete and uncertain knowledge.
By examining this intersection between liberal religion and astrophysics, "Practical Mystic" questions many common assumptions about the relationship between science and spirituality. Matthew Stanley's analysis of Eddington's personal convictions also reveals much about the practice, production, and dissemination of scientific knowledge at the beginning of the twentieth century.

Industry Reviews

"Although Eddington's work has often been noted by scholars dealing with the relationship between science and religion, no one has attempted an analysis of his thought at anything like the level of detail now provided by Matthew Stanley. Practical Mystic throws much extra light on Eddington himself and will serve as a model for what this kind of detailed study can do to help us understand how technical science can actually be influenced by the individual scientist's position on wider issues." - Peter J. Bowler, Queen's University Belfast"

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Acknowledgments
Introduction
The Quaker Renaissance: Making a Religious Scientist
Mysticism: Seeking and Stellar Models
Internationalism: The 1919 Eclipse and Eddington as Quaker Adventurer
Pacifism: Confronting the State and Maintaining Identity in War
Experience: From Relativity to Religion
Religion in Modern Life: Science, Philosophy, and Liberal Theology in Interwar Britain
Thinking about Values and Science
Notes
Bibliographic Note
Bibliography
Index
Table of Contents provided by Publisher. All Rights Reserved.

Practical Mystic

Religion, Science, and A. S. Eddington

At a Glance

Hardcover

Industry Reviews

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How to return your order

Defective items

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