Science and the Modern World presents Alfred North Whitehead's 1925 Lowell Lectures on how science has shaped modern thought. These essays trace the historical roots of scientific ideas and reflect on their meaning for philosophy, religion and culture. The work invites reflection on the place of science in a wider worldview.
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Cover of the original edition (Project Gutenberg, public domain).
Text source: gutenberg.org · The work is in the public domain.
Opening of the book
Transcriber’s Note: Footnotes have been moved to follow the paragraphs in which they are referenced, and are linked for ease of reference. Minor errors, attributable to the printer, have been corrected. Please see the transcriber’s note at the end of this text for details regarding the handling of any textual issues encountered during its preparation. Any corrections are indicated as hyperlinks, which will navigate the reader to the corresponding entry in the corrections table in the note at the end of the text. SCIENCE AND THE MODERN WORLD LOWELL LECTURES, 1925 THE MACMILLAN COMPANY NEW YORK . BOSTON . CHICAGO . DALLAS ATLANTA . SAN FRANCISCO CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS LONDON MACMILLAN & CO., LǵŠ. BOMBAY . CALCUTTA . MADRAS THE MACMILLAN COMPANY OF CANADA, LǵŠ. TORONTO SCIENCE
AND THE MODERN WORLD LOWELL LECTURES, 1925 BY ALFRED NORTH WHITEHEAD F.R.S., Sc.D. (Cambridge), Hon. D.Sc. (Manchester), Hon. LL.D. (St. Andrews) FELLOW OF TRINITY COLLEGE IN THE UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE AND PROFESSOR OF PHILOSOPHY IN HARVARD UNIVERSITY New York THE MACMILLAN COMPANY 1925 All rights reserved CLjǙΏǡƗƄƒǵ, 1925. BΏ THE MACMILLAN COMPANY. Set up and printed. Published October, 1925.
PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA BY THE FERRIS PRINTING COMPANY TO MY COLLEAGUES, PAST AND PRESENT, WHOSE FRIENDSHIP IS INSPIRATION.
TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE I. The Origins of Modern Science 1 II. MATHEMATICS AS AN ELEMENT IN THE HISTORY 28 OF THOUGHT III. THE CENTURY OF GENIUS 55 IV. THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY 80 V. THE ROMANTIC REACTION 105 VI. THE NINETEENTH CENTURY 134 VII. RELATIVITY 160 VIII. THE QUANTUM THEORY 181 IX. SCIENCE AND PHILOSOPHY 193 Х. ABSTRACTION 219 XI. GOD 242
XII. RELIGION AND SCIENCE 252 XIII. REQUISITES FOR SOCIAL PROGRESS 270
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