Mathematicians and their gods : interactions between mathematics and religious beliefs / edited by Snezana Lawrence and Mark McCartney.

Cover image for Mathematicians and their gods : interactions between mathematics and religious beliefs / edited by Snezana Lawrence and Mark McCartney.

ISBN:

9780191007545

Title:

Mathematicians and their gods : interactions between mathematics and religious beliefs / edited by Snezana Lawrence and Mark McCartney.

Author:

Lawrence, Snezana, editor.

Edition:

First edition.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (vi, 298 pages) : illustrations

Contents:

Introduction / Mark McCartney -- The Pythagoreans : number and numerology / Andrew Gregory -- Divine light / Allan Chapman -- Kepler and his Trinitarian cosmology / Owen Gingerich -- The Lull before the storm : combinatorics in the Renaissance / Robin Wilson and John Fauvel -- Mystical arithmetic in the Renaissance : from biblical hermeneutics to a philosophical tool / Jean-Pierre Brach -- Newton, God, and the mathematics of the two books / Rob Iliffe -- Maria Gaetana Agnesi, mathematician of God / Massimo Mazzotti -- Capital G for Geometry : Masonic lore and the history of geometry / Snezana Lawrence -- Charles Dodgson's work for God / Mark Richards -- P.G. Tait, Balfour Stewart, and The Unseen Universe / Elizabeth F. Lewis -- Faith and Flatland / Melanie Bayley -- Gödel's 'proof' for the existence of God / C. Anthony Anderson.

Local Note:

eBooks on EBSCOhost

Subject Term:

Mathematics -- Philosophy.

Religion and science.

Theism.

Mathématiques -- Philosophie.

Religion et sciences.

Théisme.

MATHEMATICS -- Essays.

MATHEMATICS -- Pre-Calculus.

MATHEMATICS -- Reference.

Mathematics -- Philosophy

Religion and science

Theism

Added Author:

Lawrence, Snezana,

McCartney, Mark, 1967-

Added Corporate Author:

Oxford University Press,

Format:

Electronic Resources

Electronic Access:

http://ezproxy.angliss.edu.au/login?url=http://ezproxy.angliss.edu.au/login?direct=true&scope=site&db=nlebk&AN=1001154

Publication Date:

2015

Publication Information:

Oxford :

Oxford University Press,

2015.

Available:*

Shelf Number	Material Type	Copy	Shelf Location	Status
510.1 23	1:E-BOOK	1	1:ONLINE	Searching... Unknown

Bound With These Titles

On Order

Summary

To open a newspaper or turn on the television it would appear that science and religion are polar opposites - mutually exclusive bedfellows competing for hearts and minds. There is little indication of the rich interaction between religion and science throughout history, much of which continues today. From ancient to modern times, mathematicians have played a key role in this interaction.This is a book on the relationship between mathematics and religious beliefs. It aims to show that, throughout scientific history, mathematics has been used to make sense of the 'big' questions of life, and that religious beliefs sometimes drove mathematicians to mathematics to help them make sense of the world.Containing contributions from a wide array of scholars in the fields of philosophy, history of science and history of mathematics, this book shows that the intersection between mathematics and theism is rich in both culture and character. Chapters cover a fascinating range of topics including the Sect of the Pythagoreans, Newton's views on the apocalypse, Charles Dodgson's Anglican faith and Gödel's proof of the existence of God.

Author Notes

Snezana Lawrence is a Senior Lecturer in Mathematics Education at Bath Spa University. She has been involved with a number of national and international initiatives to promote the use of the history of mathematics in mathematics education. Snezana is on the Advisory Board of the History and Pedagogy of Mathematics Group (an affiliate of the International Commission on Mathematics Instruction), and is Mathematics Programme Director of the Prince's Teaching InstituteSchools' Programme. She in on the Editorial Boards of BSHM Bulletin (as Associate Editor from January 2013) and Mathematics Today. Her website mathsisgoodforyou.com has attracted more than 4 million visitors since its launch in 2005.Mark McCartney is a Senior Lecturer in mathematics at the University of Ulster. His research and scholarly interests include nonlinear dynamics, mathematical modelling and the history of science. He is the editor (with Andrew Whitaker) of Physicists of Ireland (IOP, 2003) and (with Andrew Whitaker and Raymond Flood) of Kelvin - Life, Labours and Legacy (OUP, 2008) and James Clerk Maxwell - Perspectives on His Life and Work (OUP, 2014).

Reviews (1)

Choice Review

This edited volume consists of papers contributed by various academicians. Though the papers all fit under the title's umbrella, they fail to provide a balanced survey of the varied religious views mathematicians have held over the millennia. The introduction notes that "the material covered in this book is biased towards Western Christendom." As such, the volume may comfort today's Christian mathematicians and hence find a home in colleges with a Christian religious affiliation. But lack of breadth prevents it from being a valuable sourcebook for those with a dispassionate interest in relations between mathematics and diverse religions throughout history. Almost no space is devoted to instances in which religion or religious institutions caused difficulties for scientists. Indeed, according to one contributor, "the warfare [between science and religion] thesis has been long discredited in the history of science, although it seems to enjoy an undiminished popularity in other discourses." The fact that surveys show the percentage of today's mathematicians who believe in a God is less than 15 percent is not mentioned. These comments are not meant to denigrate the value of the individual papers; some of them are interesting. They simply do not offer a whole greater than their pieces. Summing Up: Optional. Only comprehensive mathematics collections serving upper-division undergraduates and above. --Craig Bauer, York College of Pennsylvania