Film thicknesses in a rolling sliding elastohydrodynamic line contact

Imperial Users onl

Can scientific discovery be a religious experience?

In a recent commentary on the “two cultures”, Mary Warnock and N. G. McCrum contrast the current debate with the course it took in C. P. Snow’s day. Forty years ago one commentator on the insularity of scientific culture had observed the reluctance of scientists to evangelise on behalf of their disciplines: according to David Waring, attempts to convert the non-specialist were often seen as beneath contempt. One found the “typical attitude of a proud and infallible church which does indeed discuss its own theology with its own initiates but cannot condescend to speak to the multitude”. The situation has certainly changed. Lay sermons in science have become a popular genre. But that image of the Church scientific deserves further comment. The analogy between organised science and organised religion has been used by historians of science as a heuristic device for exposing facets of the scientific enterprise that might otherwise be missed. A recent example would be Margaret Wertheim’s controversial but revealing book "Pythagoras’s Trousers", in which she reflects on a recurrent exclusion of women from science by a priesthood of physical scientists. The scientist as priest is a long established trope. In seventeenth-century England Robert Boyle presented himself as a “priest in the temple of nature”, while Isaac Newton saw himself as spiritual heir of an ancient priesthood which had worshipped the one true God in a heliocentric universe. Is there room for faith within the Church scientific

Pulmonary Oxygen Toxicity: Investigation and Mentoring

SUMMARY At sea level oxygen is toxic to man when breathed for more than twenty-four hours at a percentage greater than about forty percent. Pulmonary pathology is the first manifestation in subjects with previously normal lungs. In patients with pre-existing lung disease the results are often additive. There is, however, great variation in response from subject to subject and between patients. Queen's Belfast and Harvard University Medical School have been the sites of seminal investigations. Mentoring at both universities is due to training at the University of Copenhagen

Darwinism and the Survival of Religion

It is a great honour and privilege to give the Constantinos Th. Dimaras Lecture for 2016. I am grateful to the National Hellenic Research Foundation for the opportunity to do so and to Dr Efthymios Nicolaidis for kindly issuing the invitation.In our age of the internet, there are few topics that excite such strong opinions in the blogosphere as the relations between science and religion. Deeply embedded in the consciousness, both scholarly and popular, of Western Europe is the belief that science and religion have continuously been, and must be, in conflict. This belief has been described as “the idea that wouldn’t die”, despite excellent historical research drawing attention to its shortcomings. It is certainly not the only view. Those, including scientists themselves, who represent different religious traditions, have often argued that, when “science” and “religion” are properly understood, there can be a deeper relationship of harmony, or at least compatibility, between them. When, during the 1960s, I studied the history of science at Cambridge University, I realised that these two master narratives of conflict and harmony are too general to capture the complexity of historical controversy and debate. One of my aims in this lecture is to illustrate this complexity by examining religious responses to Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution

Industrial Growth and the Mining Industry

A RJE symposium paper on industrial development in the then Rhodesia. Paper presented at symposium on: Industry in Rhodesia, (Paper No.4 ).No country needs much incentive to develop its natural resources to the best advantage, but the present uncertain state of the world, both economically and otherwise, lends tremendous impetus to the effort to become more and more self-supporting. The question which should be exercising the minds of those entrusted with economic development is the direction of those efforts, and the priorities which should be established to ensure a proper and integrated development of the natural and human resources at their disposal. In Rhodesia minerals in the ground constitute one of the main sources of our national wealth and their proper exploitation lies at the roots of our economic development. We misuse these resources at our peril

Darwinism and the Survival of Religion

It is a great honour and privilege to give the Constantinos Th. DimarasLecture for 2016. I am grateful to the National Hellenic Research Foundationfor the opportunity to do so and to Dr Efthymios Nicolaidis for kindly issuingthe invitation.In our age of the internet, there are few topics that excite such strongopinions in the blogosphere as the relations between science and religion.Deeply embedded in the consciousness, both scholarly and popular, of WesternEurope is the belief that science and religion have continuously been, and mustbe, in conflict. This belief has been described as “the idea that wouldn’t die”,despite excellent historical research drawing attention to its shortcomings.2It is certainly not the only view. Those, including scientists themselves, whorepresent different religious traditions, have often argued that, when “science”and “religion” are properly understood, there can be a deeper relationship ofharmony, or at least compatibility, between them. When, during the 1960s, Istudied the history of science at Cambridge University, I realised that thesetwo master narratives of conflict and harmony are too general to capturethe complexity of historical controversy and debate.3 One of my aims in thislecture is to illustrate this complexity by examining religious responses toCharles Darwin’s theory of evolution

Darwinism and the Survival of Religion

It is a great honour and privilege to give the Constantinos Th. DimarasLecture for 2016. I am grateful to the National Hellenic Research Foundationfor the opportunity to do so and to Dr Efthymios Nicolaidis for kindly issuingthe invitation.In our age of the internet, there are few topics that excite such strongopinions in the blogosphere as the relations between science and religion.Deeply embedded in the consciousness, both scholarly and popular, of WesternEurope is the belief that science and religion have continuously been, and mustbe, in conflict. This belief has been described as “the idea that wouldn’t die”,despite excellent historical research drawing attention to its shortcomings.2It is certainly not the only view. Those, including scientists themselves, whorepresent different religious traditions, have often argued that, when “science”and “religion” are properly understood, there can be a deeper relationship ofharmony, or at least compatibility, between them. When, during the 1960s, Istudied the history of science at Cambridge University, I realised that thesetwo master narratives of conflict and harmony are too general to capturethe complexity of historical controversy and debate.3 One of my aims in thislecture is to illustrate this complexity by examining religious responses toCharles Darwin’s theory of evolution