MATTER AND SPIRIT IN THE UNIVERSE
Scientific and Religious Preludes to Modern Cosmology

by Helge Kragh (Aarhus University, Denmark)

Cosmology is an unusual science with an unusual history. This book examines the formative years of modern cosmology from the perspective of its interaction with religious thought. As the first study of its kind, it reveals how closely associated the development of cosmology has been with considerations of a philosophical and religious nature. From nineteenth-century thermodynamics to the pioneering cosmological works of Georges LemaƮtre and Arthur E Milne, religion has shaped parts of modern cosmological theory. By taking the religious component seriously, a new and richer history of cosmology emerges.

 
Contents:
  • Introduction: Cosmo-Theology Before Einstein
  • A Thermodynamic Universe
  • Expanding Horizons
  • The Primeval-Atom Universe
  • Cosmo-Physics
  • Cosmology Between Theism and Atheism
  • Epilogue: From Standard Model to Quantum Cosmology
 
Readership: Students, instructors and researchers in theology, philosophy and history of science
 
 
312pp    Pub. date: Nov 2004  
ISBN:   978-1-86094-469-7
1-86094-469-8
   US$89 / £55

 


312pp    Pub. date: Nov 2004  
ISBN:   978-1-86094-485-7(pbk)
1-86094-485-X(pbk)
   US$55 / £33

 


312pp    Pub. date: Nov 2004  
ISBN:   978-1-86094-604-2(ebook)
1-86094-604-6(ebook)
   US$116