Today’s featured entry from the Vatican Observatory Faith and Science pages:
“George Berkeley – The Analyst; The Defence of Free-Thinking in Mathematics” (CLICK HERE for it)
George Berkeley in the 1730s wrote two books against atheist mathematicians who uncritically accepted the mathematical ideas of the Calculus of Isaac Newton, but who criticized theological thought. Thus the title page of The Analyst quotes the Book of Matthew: “First cast out the beam out of thine own Eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother’s eye.” Berkeley’s work stimulated British mathematicians to inquire into the logical foundations of Calculus, and to place it upon a more secure foundation.
The Faith and Science pages (F&S) are a unique resource on the web. The material in F&S is stuff that you will find nowhere else (or at least not without a lot of digging). Featured areas on F&S include “History of Church and Science”; “Church and Science Today”; “Science and Scripture”; “Science, Religion & Society”; “Life in the Universe”; “Cosmology”; and more. The level of the F&S material ranges from being accessible to all audiences, with even some material oriented toward young readers, up to material for university specialists.
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