Regarding the "second book of revelation", see the Encyclopedia Britannica (14th Edition) article on "Darwinism"; and for biographical information and quotes, its articles on Alfred Russel Wallace and Charles Robert Darwin.
Encyclopedia Britannica (15th Edition) describes Darwin as a "reverent agnostic". Darwin's religious stance is presented in more detail by biographer Charles Brent. Darwin began clerical studies at Cambridge at the urging (insistence?) of his physician father, after Darwin proved uninterested in (or unsuited for) medicine. Early on, he had difficulties with certain doctrinal statements, which, in addition to his interest in natural science led him away from taking Holy Orders.
Yet Darwin did have a certain religious sensitivity: He described himself as being very much moved by the music at King's College Chapel, which surprised him because he was very unmusical, perhaps even tone deaf. Despite his increasing doctrinal skepticism, he evidenced consideration of those with religious views. That apparently was one reason he counselled his son not to publish an article considered to have potential to be harmful to the feelings of believers.
For the history of the theory of evolution, see Darwin's Origin, Historical Sketch and Introduction; for the reference to Herbert Spencer, Chapter 3.
For "survival of the fit", see Dobzhansky (1962), page 133. Dobzhansky also provides a sketch of the history of the idea of evolution; for his observation regarding Christianity, page 2. His Ultimate Concern (1967) explores the "Teilhardian synthesis".
Biographical notes on Gregor Johann Mendel are also from Encyclopedia Britannica, 14th Edition. Bruenn (Austria), where Mendel's monastery was located, is now Brno (Czech Republic).
In 1868, Mendel became abbot of the monastery, and though his interest in science continued, his administrative duties gradually crowded out further research. Thus, he remained generally unknown to the scientific community until the rediscovery of his paper in 1900.
The science of "chaos" finds ordering principles in systems previously thought to be unordered (random). For a review, see Gleich.
The term convergence, used by Laszlo in connection with development of greater complexity in life systems, is more conventionally used in biology to describe the parallel development of similar characteristics and adaptations in unrelated organisms. One such example would be the modern dolphin (a mammal) which looks very much like the ancient marine reptile, icthyosaur. Though there is a common stem ancestor, dolphin had terrestrial mammalian ancestors; its marine adaptations did not come about by direct descent from the marine ancestor. Systems convergence may enter into the development of such adaptations.
Stephen Jay Gould who writes about the Burgess Shale and evolution by accident ("contingency"), was co-author with Eldridge of the theory of punctuated equilibria. That theory is an alternative to Darwinian gradualism, but not to Darwinian ideas of selection by chance.
For Narlikar's quotation on the anthropic principle, see p. 226. The fact that such views get serious discussion among physicists indicates a convergence between science and metaphysics to a degree that would have been quite surprising only a few years ago. Hawking and Davies (cited in the essay on the cosmos) also comment on the anthropic principle. For additional information, see Roger Penrose (p. 433-4) and J. V. Narlikar (p. 225 ff). They cite the work by Barrow and Tipler.
The first quotation from Teilhard de Chardin ("In the mutual reinforcement") is from Phenomenon of Man, page 285; the others are from Christianity and Evolution, page 155.
Two works not cited in the text are included below, for they synthesize religion and science from the view of professional scientists. Harold K. Schilling, emeritus of physics and Dean of the Graduate School at Pennsylvania State University, focused on the significance of physics in the study of consciousness, especially religious consciousness. Arthur Peacocke is a physical biochemist, Anglican priest, and director of the Ian Ramsey Centre at Oxford for the study of ethics in science and medicine.
References
Barrow, J. D. and Tipler, F. J. The Anthropic Cosmological Principle.
Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1986.
Brent, Peter. Charles Darwin, A Man of Enlarged Curiosity. New York: Harper and Row, 1981.
Darwin, Charles R. On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life. Second Edition (1860).
Dobzhansky, Theodosius. Mankind Evolving, The Evolution of the Human Species. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1962.
-- The Biology of Ultimate Concern. New York: New American Library, 1967.
Eldredge, Niles. Time Frames, The Rethinking of Darwinian Evolution and the Theory of Punctuated Equilibria. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1985.
Gleich, James. Chaos: Making a New Science. New York: Penguin, 1988.
Gould, Stephen Jay. Wonderful Life. New York: Norton, 1989.
Laszlo, Ervin. Evolution, The Grand Synthesis. Boston: Shambhala/New Science Library, 1987.
Narlikar, Jayant V. The Primeval Universe. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1988.
Peacocke, Arthur. God and the New Biology. San Francisco: Harper & Row, 1986.
Penrose, Roger. The Emperor's New Mind. London: Oxford University Press, 1989.
Schilling, Harold K. The New Consciousness in Science and Religion. Philadelphia: Pilgrim Press, 1973.
Teilhard de Chardin, Pierre. Christianity and Evolution. New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1969.
-- The Phenomenon of Man. New York: Harper and Row/Colophon, 1975.
[ Return to Chapter Four ] , [ Glossary ]
[ Exhibit 8. Creation history ]
[ Exhibit 9. Evolution's design ]
[ Exhibit 10. Anthropic principle ]
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