Galileo Goes to Jail and Other Myths about Science and Religion

by Ronald L. Numbers

Overview

If we want nonscientists and opinion-makers in the press, the lab, and the pulpit to take a fresh look at the relationship between science and religion, Ronald Numbers suggests that we must first dispense with the hoary myths that have masqueraded too long as historical truths.

Until about the 1970s, the dominant narrative in the history of science had long been that of science triumphant, and science at war with religion. But a new generation of historians both of science and of the church began to examine episodes in the history of science and religion through the values and knowledge of the actors themselves. Now Ronald Numbers has recruited the leading scholars in this new history of science to ­puncture the myths, from Galileo’s incarceration to Darwin’s deathbed conversion to Einstein’s belief in a personal God who “didn’t play dice with the universe.” The picture of science and religion at each other’s throats persists in mainstream media and scholarly journals, but each chapter in Galileo Goes to Jail shows how much we have to gain by seeing beyond the myths.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780674057418
Publisher:	Harvard University Press
Publication date:	11/08/2010
Pages:	320
Product dimensions:	5.44(w) x 8.78(h) x 0.84(d)

About the Author

Ronald L. Numbers was Hilldale Professor Emeritus of the History of Science and Medicine at the University of Wisconsin–Madison.

Table of Contents

• Contents

• Acknowledgments
• Introduction

  Ronald L. Numbers

• Myth 1. That the Rise of Christianity Was Responsible for the Demise of Ancient Science

  David C. Lindberg

• Myth 2. That the Medieval Christian Church Suppressed the Growth of Science

  Michael H. Shank

• Myth 3. That Medieval Christians Taught That the Earth Was Flat

  Lesley B. Cormack

• Myth 4. That Medieval Islamic Culture Was Inhospitable to Science

  S. Nomanul Haq

• Myth 5. That the Medieval Church Prohibited Human Dissection

  Katharine Park

• Myth 6. That the Copernican System Demoted Humans from the Center of the Cosmos

  Dennis R. Danielson

• Myth 7. That Giordano Bruno Was the First Martyr of Modern Science

  Jole Shackelford

• Myth 8. That Galileo Was Imprisoned and Tortured for Advocating Copernicanism

  Maurice A. Finocchiaro

• Myth 9. That Christianity Gave Birth to Modern Science

  Noah Efron

• Myth 10. That the Scientific Revolution Liberated Science from Religion

  Margaret J. Osler

• Myth 11. That Catholics Did Not Contribute to the Scientific Revolution

  Lawrence Principe

• Myth 12. That René Descartes Originated the Mind-Body Distinction

  Peter Harrison

• Myth 13. That Isaac Newton’s Mechanistic Cosmology Eliminated the Need for God

  Edward Davis

• Myth 14. That the Church Denounced Anesthesia in Childbirth on Biblical Grounds

  Rennie B. Schoepflin

• Myth 15. That the Theory of Organic Evolution Is Based on Circular Reasoning

  Nicolaas A. Rupke

• Myth 16. That Evolution Destroyed Charles Darwin’s Faith in Christianity—until He Reconverted on His Deathbed

  James Moore

• Myth 17. That Huxley Defeated Wilberforce in Their Debate over Evolution and Religion

  David N. Livingstone

• Myth 18. That Darwin Destroyed Natural Theology

  Jon H. Roberts

• Myth 19. That Darwin and Haeckel Were Complicit in Nazi Biology

  Robert J. Richards

• Myth 20. That the Scopes Trial Ended in Defeat for Antievolutionism

  Edward J. Larson

• Myth 21. That Einstein Believed in a Personal God

  Matthew Stanley

• Myth 22. That Quantum Physics Demonstrated the Doctrine of Free Will

  Daniel P. Thurs

• Myth 23. That “Intelligent Design” Represents a Scientific Challenge to Evolution

  Michael Ruse

• Myth 24. That Creationism Is a Uniquely American Phenomenon

  Ronald L. Numbers

• Myth 25. That Modern Science Has Secularized Western Culture

  John Hedley Brooke

• Notes
• List of Contributors
• Index

Editorial Reviews

A revealing book...Using "myth" in the popular sense, to mean falsehood, Galileo Goes to Jail debunks widespread misconceptions.

Vancouver Sun - Douglas Todd

Informative and thought-provoking reading.

The Tablet - Ernan McMullin

The volume's careful organization and execution reveal the kind of planning and teamwork absent from too many edited collections, but which have come to be expected from Numbers...Each chapter of Galileo Goes to Jail begins with two or three epigraphs that clearly convict scholarly and popular literature of perpetuating the myth in question. Most authors then explore the nuances of the myth, its origin, complexity, and longevity, before telling the "rest of the story."

First Things - Mark A. Kalthoff

As a collection, these myth-busting arguments work to soften the wedge responsible for the schism between science and religion. The topics and writing style will appeal to all readers, but students of science and religion should consider this essential reading.

Choice - J. A. Hewlett

[Ronald L. Numbers] is a religious agnostic whose scholarship on the history of American religion and science is marked by meticulous accuracy and impartiality...[This book was written] with ordinary readers, not specialists, in mind, making this a truly rare book: where else can you find such authoritative scholarship delivered so accessibly and fairly on such an important subject?

belief.net - Edward B. Davis

The authors necessarily spend the bulk of their time debunking attacks on religion in the name of science, but they also clear the muddy waters left behind when pro-religion forces try to obscure the scientific record...As Numbers points out in his introduction, fewer than half of the contributors are religious believers at all; and of those, there are only two evangelicals, one Catholic, and one Jew. In other words, they have no axe to grind, and their only agenda is to set the historical record straight. Given all of the polemics published today, this is a breath of fresh air.

Weekly Standard

A splendid book.

Daily Telegraph - Christopher Howse

The authors necessarily spend the bulk of their time debunking attacks on religion in the name of science, but they also clear the muddy waters left behind when pro-religion forces try to obscure the scientific record...As Numbers points out in his introduction, fewer than half of the contributors are religious believers at all; and of those, there are only two evangelicals, one Catholic, and one Jew. In other words, they have no axe to grind, and their only agenda is to set the historical record straight. Given all of the polemics published today, this is a breath of fresh air.

Weekly Standard - Ryan T. Anderson

[Ronald L. Numbers] is a religious agnostic whose scholarship on the history of American religion and science is marked by meticulous accuracy and impartiality...[This book was written] with ordinary readers, not specialists, in mind, making this a truly rare book: where else can you find such authoritative scholarship delivered so accessibly and fairly on such an important subject?
— Edward B. Davis

belief.net

The volume's careful organization and execution reveal the kind of planning and teamwork absent from too many edited collections, but which have come to be expected from Numbers...Each chapter of Galileo Goes to Jail begins with two or three epigraphs that clearly convict scholarly and popular literature of perpetuating the myth in question. Most authors then explore the nuances of the myth, its origin, complexity, and longevity, before telling the "rest of the story."
— Mark A. Kalthoff

First Things

Informative and thought-provoking reading.
— Ernan McMullin

The Tablet

As a collection, these myth-busting arguments work to soften the wedge responsible for the schism between science and religion. The topics and writing style will appeal to all readers, but students of science and religion should consider this essential reading.
— J. A. Hewlett

Choice

A splendid book.
— Christopher Howse

Daily Telegraph

A revealing book...Using "myth" in the popular sense, to mean falsehood, Galileo Goes to Jail debunks widespread misconceptions.
— Douglas Todd

Vancouver Sun