Science and Theology Since Copernicus

Peter Barrett is Associated Professor of Physics, University of Natal, Durban.

Introduction: Historical Phases of Natural Science; Historical Phases of Natural Theology; Roles and Limits of Science and Theology. The scientific revolution: The Medieval World-View; The Scientific Revolution and its Background; Nicolaus Copernicus; Johannes Kepler; Galileo Galilei; Frances Bacon; Rene Descartes; Robert Boyle; Issac Newton; The Significance of the Scientific Revolution. Natural history: Early Natural History and Deism; Carl Linnaeus; Comte de Buffon; Chevalier de Lamarck; Georges Cuvier; James Hutton; William Buckland; Adam Sedgwick; Charles Lyell; Charles Darwin; Darwin's Theory of Evolution; Early Controversies over Darwin's Theory; The Elaboration of Darwin's Theory. The evolving universe: Classical Physics; The New Physics; Particle Physics; Cosmology; Complexity Theory; A 'Theory of Everything'; Features of the Evolving Universe; Anthropic Principle; Chance and Necessity; The Unreasonable Effectiveness of Mathematics; The Hierarchy of Levels of Complexity.