Mathematicians And Their Gods (interactions Between Mathematics And Religious Beliefs)

By (author) Lawrence Snezana; By (author) McCartney, Mark
Short description/annotation
This is a book on the relationship between mathematics and religious beliefs. This book shows 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 do mathematics to help them make sense of the world
Description
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.
Table of contents
1. Introduction ; 2. The Pythagoreans: Number and Numerology ; 3. Divine light ; 4. Kepler and his Trinitarian Cosmology ; 5. The Lull before the storm: combinatorics in the Renaissance ; 6. Mystical Arithmetic in the Renaissance: From Biblical Hermeneutics to a Philosophical Tool ; 7. Newton, God, and the mathematics of the Two Books ; 8. Maria Gaetana Agnesi, mathematician of God ; 9. Capital G for Geometry: Masonic lore and the history of geometry ; 10. Charles Dodgeson''s Work for God ; 11. P. G. Tait, Balfour Stewart and The Unseen Universe ; 12. Faith and Flatland ; 13. Godel''s "proof" for the existence of God
Review quote
Perhaps this is the most valuable contribution of Mathematicians and their Gods as a whole: it discusses ideas which must often appear strange to modern readers, and in explaining their context and influence helps us to understand how they captured the imaginations of our mathematical predecessors. This book will appeal to all those with an interest in mathematical history, regardless of their own religious views.
Review quote
Lawrence and McCartney''s volume captures the various ways in which mathematics and religion have represented commensurable, even interconnected, systems of knowledge and belief. ... The collection will serve these readers well and could also benefit historians of science or theology unfamiliar with the ground covered in these essays.
Review quote
Lawrence and McCartney have done an admirable job in assembling a book of remarkable scholarship on a topic which challenges readers working in science or technology.
Review quote
fascinating from cover to cover
Biographical note
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 Institute Schools'' Programme. She in on the Editorial Boards of BSHM Bulletin (as Associate Editor from January 2013) and Mathematics Today. Her website mathsisgoodforyou