"When Darwin returned to Britain from the Beagle voyage in 1836, the most talked-about scientific books were the Bridgewater Treatises. This series of eight books was funded by a bequest of the last Earl of Bridgewater, and they were authored by leading men of science, appointed by the President of the Royal Society, and intended to explore "the power, wisdom, and goodness of God, as manifested in the creation." Securing public attention beyond all expectations, the series gave Darwin's generation a range of approaches to one of the great questions of the age: how to incorporate the newly emerging disciplinary sciences into Britain's overwhelmingly Christian culture. Drawing on a wealth of archival and published sources, including many unexplored by historians, Jonathan R. Topham examines how and to what extent the series contributed to a sense of congruence between Christianity and the sciences in the generation before the infamous Victorian "conflict between science and religion." He does so by drawing on the distinctive insights of book history, using close attention to the production, circulation, and use of the books to open up new perspectives not only on aspects of early Victorian science but also on the whole subject of science and religion. Its innovative focus on practices of authorship, publishing, and reading helps us to understand the everyday considerations and activities through which the religious culture of early Victorian science was fashioned. And in doing so, Reading the Book of Nature powerfully reimagines the world in which a young Charles Darwin learned how to think about the implications of his theory"--

Why should we believe what science tells us about the world? Observation data, confirmation of theories, and the explanation of phenomena are all considered in an introductory survey of the philosophy of science.

The conviction that Nature was God's second revelation played a crucial role in early modern Dutch culture. This book offers a fascinating account on how Dutch intellectuals contemplated, investigated, represented and collected natural objects, and how the notion of the 'Book of Nature' was transformed.

A father tells his child about the wonder of the natural world from a Christian point of view.

Are Christians Guilty of Blind Faith, or Is The Bible Really God's Inspired Word? Can You Ever Know For Sure? Join best-selling author Hank Hanegraaff for a stirring defense of the Bible as the Word of God and your only reliable foundation for life. In answering the riveting question, “Has God spoken?”, Hanegraaff uses manuscript evidence, archeology, predictive prophecy, and much more to memorably demonstrate that the Bible is divine rather than merely human in origin. Hanegraaff demolishes modern objections to Scripture, such as: There are more mistakes in manuscript copies of the Bible than there are words in the New Testament. The biblical account of King David is no more factual than tales of King Arthur—there simply is no evidence in archeology or history for Israel’s quintessential king. Contemporary prophets are proven 100 percent wrong, 100 percent of the time, and biblical prophets are just as unreliable. Has God Spoken? joins its predecessors—The Face That Demonstrates the Farce of Evolution and Resurrection—as Hanegraaff’s final book in a trilogy that provides complete and compelling answers to the most critical issues facing Christians today.

When students are given fixed and finalized abstractions from the beginning, they do not have to use their own inner forces to overcome the resistance of the world to arrive at truth or to create beauty. The result is that their inner pictures are devoid of life. To arrive at a truth or to create beauty that reflects the order and harmony of the Creator, we must always begin humbly, in ignorance and ugliness. By striving out of ignorance and ugliness toward the true and beautiful, both scientists and artists can bring new, creative forces into the world. Neither memorizing data nor copying a beautiful drawing engages the true imagination of students as it is by drawing a flower from life. It is precisely this lack of an active, striving inner creativity that can result in the frequently overwhelming feelings of anxiety and alienation experienced by so many people today. As a counterbalance, education must--in all areas of knowledge--increasingly focus on the personal creation of what, through its beauty, speaks truth and through its truth radiates beauty. Drawing from the Book of Nature is about both drawing and the natural world of plants and animals. It is a valuable resource for teachers, students, and anyone who wants to develop a capacity for artistic observation of natural phenomena. Dennis Klocek provides a refreshing combination of depth and clarity, offering a wealth of insight into the lives that constitute living nature. The text is supported by easy-to-follow lessons that help the reader bring the kingdoms of nature to life on paper. This book is a resource through which teachers, students, and others can find their own way toward reuniting with beauty and truth.

In The Nature of the Book, a tour de force of cultural history, Adrian Johns constructs an entirely original and vivid picture of print culture and its many arenas—commercial, intellectual, political, and individual. "A compelling exposition of how authors, printers, booksellers and readers competed for power over the printed page. . . . The richness of Mr. Johns's book lies in the splendid detail he has collected to describe the world of books in the first two centuries after the printing press arrived in England."—Alberto Manguel, Washington Times "[A] mammoth and stimulating account of the place of print in the history of knowledge. . . . Johns has written a tremendously learned primer."—D. Graham Burnett, New Republic "A detailed, engrossing, and genuinely eye-opening account of the formative stages of the print culture. . . . This is scholarship at its best."—Merle Rubin, Christian Science Monitor "The most lucid and persuasive account of the new kind of knowledge produced by print. . . . A work to rank alongside McLuhan."—John Sutherland, The Independent "Entertainingly written. . . . The most comprehensive account available . . . well documented and engaging."—Ian Maclean, Times Literary Supplement