HistoricalWitnessFromScientists-4历代科学家的见证.pptVIP

Robert Boyle?? ??1627 - 1691 Hunter goes on to describe the intense hostility Boyle expressed against any “views of nature that he saw as detracting from a proper appreciation of God’s power in his creation.”? These included lengthy published arguments against Aristotelianism and the materialism of Thomas Hobbes, “despite his professed disinclination to involve himself in philosophical disputes.”? On the positive side, the titles of some of Boyle’s books hint at their rich contents:?Some Considerations touching the Usefulness of Experimental Natural Philosophy; Free Enquiry into the Vulgarly Receiv’d Notion of Nature; The Excellency of Theology, Compar’d with Natural Philosophy, Discourse of Things Above Reason, Disquisition about the Final Causes of Natural Things,?and especially,?The Christian Virtuoso.? “In these,” Hunter writes, “Boyle made a profound contribution to an understanding of what he saw as the proper relationship between God and the natural world, and man’s potential for comprehending this.”It is enriching to read Boyle’s own words on the relation of science and Scripture.? Robert Boyle?? ??1627 - 1691 Among the wealth of words we could quote in closing, perhaps the most succinct is the best.? It states clearly and simply the reason a Christian should be a virtuoso, which in his time meant a lover of knowledge (a synonym for natural philosopher or scientist).? It echoes a familiar theme, a motivation stated by many science-loving Christians from the early middle ages on into the 21st century.? Boyle encapsulates it in only ten words: “From a knowledge of His work, we shall know Him.” Robert Boyle?? ??1627 - 1691 Though a mere teenager to these intellectuals, Robert impressed them with his aptitude and knowledge.? His mind continued to flourish within this non-traditional university program. Politically, it was a tense time; these were the days leading up to the Cromwell revolution, when Parliament and King Charles were at odds and tensions ran hig