The Search for the Absolute
eBook - PDF

The Search for the Absolute

How Magic Became Science

  1. English
  2. PDF
  3. Available on iOS & Android
eBook - PDF

The Search for the Absolute

How Magic Became Science

About this book

History and archaeology tell us that when our far ancestors began to settle in localized groups, they codified their lives and experiences, and formed a collective for mutual support. This proto-civilization would have arisen from each individual's questions about the world, and their attempt to understand themselves and their place in the world. These groups, or tribes, evolved rules of conduct to facilitate communal living, and made a calendar for the group's celebration of harvests, and other events upon which the group was utterly dependent.

This process of social evolution is the origin of religion, and of a magical way of looking at Nature. Eventually, this developing worldview was also the origin of science, which is our investigation of Nature to understand something of what is happening around us, and to use this knowledge to ensure our survival in a violent, indifferent Universe. After all, science and religion seek to answer the same question: Why and how isthe natural world the way it is? This book seeks to show how science evolved from religion and magic, in response to a need to understand Nature.

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Yes, you can access The Search for the Absolute by Jeffrey H. Williams in PDF and/or ePUB format, as well as other popular books in Design & Professional Development. We have over one million books available in our catalogue for you to explore.

Information

Table of contents

  1. Cover
  2. Copyright Page
  3. Title Page
  4. Contents
  5. Introduction: Authority and the collective memory
  6. In the Beginning Was the List
  7. The Origins of the Language of Power that is Science
  8. The Mixing of Physics and Metaphysics to Create a Language of Curiosity
  9. The Transformation of Magic and Mysticism into Science
  10. The I Ching as a Model of the Cosmos
  11. Natural Philosophy
  12. The Laws of Nature
  13. Measuring the World
  14. Dividing Apples with Oranges to Make the Language of Science
  15. What Powers Society?
  16. The Ghost of the Divine Language: The Theory of Everything
  17. Changing the Paradigm: From Long Lists to Short Explanations
  18. The Classification of the Living and the Dead
  19. Aspects of Chemical Nomenclature
  20. The Evolving Science of History
  21. Obfuscation: Why Are We Not Living in a New Golden-Age?
  22. Author Biography