In the Victorian era, High Churchmen castigated Darwin as a materialist who would reduce men to mere monkeys, and earnest materialists enunciated a vision of scientific progress that, as it were, only incidentally drained the universe of purpose. Darwinian propaganda has been with us for 100 years . . . Subscribers Only Subscribe now to...
In The End of Science, John Horgan, a staff reporter for Scientific American, writes about his encounters with both scientists and philosophers of science and concludes that modern science is coming to an end. In every significant field of scientific research, from neuroscience to cosmology . . . Subscribers Only Subscribe now to access the...
In this large and well-padded book, Carl Sagan promotes a vulgar scientism: the notion that science and its method provide the solutions to virtually all human problems and serve as the ultimate guide for human behavior. Sagan's scientific method serves as a kind of "baloney detector" by . . . Subscribers Only Subscribe now to...
It is reported that when one of Pythagoras's followers revealed the Pythagorean brotherhood's deepest secret, the discovery of irrational numbers, he was killed. The discovery of irrational numbers came about as a direct result of the Pythagorean theorem, for the hypotenuse of a right triangle whose legs . . . Subscribers Only Subscribe now to...
John M. Allegro: The Dead Sea Scrolls and the Christian Myth; Prometheus; Buffalo, N.Y. John M. Allegro has distinguished himself as an editor and commentator of the Dead Sea Scrolls. Unfortunately, his erudition did not prevent him from writing a . . . Subscribers Only Subscribe now to access the full article and gain access...
Herbert Kohl: Growing Minds: On Becoming a Teacher; Harper &Row; New York. The author of The Open Class Room offers some progressive advice on the craft of teaching. Much of his argument is cast in . . . Subscribers Only Subscribe now to access the full article and gain access to other exclusive features. Already a subscriber?...
One of the best things about most of America's past Presidential elections is that they have really decided so little. A remarkably centrist cultural and social consensus has dictated that, despite all of the vehement campaign rhetoric, both major parties have usually agreed on a wide range . . . Subscribers Only Subscribe now to...
Richard John Neuhaus: The Naked Piblic Square: Religion and Democracy; William B. Eerdmans; Grand Rapids, MI. The worst thing about the wonderful but secondary and nonsalvific blessings of Christianity is that once those who enjoy the divine bestowals have forgotten their source . . . Subscribers Only Subscribe now to access the full article and...
Morris Janowitz: The Reconstruction of Patriotism: Education for Civic Conscoiusness; University of Chicago Press; Chicago. In some ways nothing seems more un-American than military life. The hierarchic authority, the strict discipline, the regimentation of appearance and manner all appear antithetical to . . . Subscribers Only Subscribe now to access the full article and gain...
Ronald Blythe: Characters and Their Landscapes; Harcourt Brace Jovanovich; San Diego. Central though it is to any sound system of economics, the traditional notion of private property is wholly inadequate in the world of literature. As Henry David Thoreau once observed:
Scott Donaldson: Fool for Love, F. Scott Fitzgerald; Congdon & Weed; New York. Love, popular culture endlessly reminds us, makes the world go round. But since the cultural sphere now seems to be wobbling erratically in its orbit, a sensible observer might suspect . . . Subscribers Only Subscribe now to access the full article...
Stephen E. Ambrose: Eisenhower, Volume One: Soldier, General of the Army, President-Elect, 1890-1952; Simon & Schuster; New York. Great athletes, it is said, all are so good that they make their feats look easy. The same was true of Dwight David . . . Subscribers Only Subscribe now to access the full article and gain...
Lately our national leaders seem to have taken it into their heads that their first obligation upon taking office is to get ready to write their memoirs once they leave it. We've had Nixon's and Johnson's, Kissinger's massive volumes, and now Vance's and Brzezinski . . . Subscribers Only Subscribe now to access the full...
It is a widespread belief that we can learn lessons from reading history. Of course, it is not often said what it is that we can learn, and historians are divided as to what the lessons of history really are. The opinion of most seems
One of the best things about most of America's past Presidential elections is that they have really decided so little. A remarkably centrist cultural and social consensus has dictated that, despite all of the vehement campaign rhetoric, both major parties have usually agreed on a wide range . . . Subscribers Only Subscribe now to...