Osiris, Volume 16

As contemporary historiography shows, religious ideas -Christian, Judaic and Islamic - motivate much modern scientific effort. This volume explores the question of whether these ideas have shaped the actual content of scientific theories. Reflecting recent scholarships, this collection uncovers the theological facets of modern astronomy in the works of Galileo, Kepler and Newton, the retention of teleology in the natural philosophy of Boyle, and the theistic and teleological associations of the theory of evolution by Darwin and Wallace. This volume should interest historians of science, scientists and intrigued by the manifold construction of the relation between science and religion.