Stephen Hawking
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- January 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780195310726
- eISBN:
- 9780199785179
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195310726.003.0003
- Subject:
- Religion, Religion and Society
Stephen Hawking is a public intellectual and the best-selling author of A Brief History of Time, The Universe in a Nutshell, The Large Scale Structure of Spacetime with George Ellis, Stephen ...
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Stephen Hawking is a public intellectual and the best-selling author of A Brief History of Time, The Universe in a Nutshell, The Large Scale Structure of Spacetime with George Ellis, Stephen Hawking’s Universe: The Cosmos Explained, and many other books. Hawking is a cosmologist who is well known for his courageous battle with Lou Gehrig’s disease. He first published his no-boundary proposal in 1970, concerning the expansion of the universe and the big bang, and he introduced his rather technical ideas at the Vatican in 1981, where he also was able to meet and speak with Pope John Paul II. Hawking dislikes the label “atheist”, for his views on God are quite mysterious, and he has written of his quest to “know the mind of God”.Less
Stephen Hawking is a public intellectual and the best-selling author of A Brief History of Time, The Universe in a Nutshell, The Large Scale Structure of Spacetime with George Ellis, Stephen Hawking’s Universe: The Cosmos Explained, and many other books. Hawking is a cosmologist who is well known for his courageous battle with Lou Gehrig’s disease. He first published his no-boundary proposal in 1970, concerning the expansion of the universe and the big bang, and he introduced his rather technical ideas at the Vatican in 1981, where he also was able to meet and speak with Pope John Paul II. Hawking dislikes the label “atheist”, for his views on God are quite mysterious, and he has written of his quest to “know the mind of God”.
Huw Price
- Published in print:
- 1997
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780195117981
- eISBN:
- 9780199853045
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195117981.003.0004
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Philosophy of Science
If we consider the laws of motion and energy, we can conclude that the universe was born under a very low stage of entropy, one that most theologians, especially cosmologists, have trouble accepting. ...
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If we consider the laws of motion and energy, we can conclude that the universe was born under a very low stage of entropy, one that most theologians, especially cosmologists, have trouble accepting. The chapter argues that the universe started with a smooth and harmonious flow, even if there was such a force as gravity, which tends to move objects into clumps. It was of great importance that this smooth flow existed. It was said that it made the creation of the galaxies and planets possible. Most would question however, how this was possible. The chapter attempts to provide some observations as to how this may have happened, and how this particular feature caused the orchestration of the vast world we live in, and beyond.Less
If we consider the laws of motion and energy, we can conclude that the universe was born under a very low stage of entropy, one that most theologians, especially cosmologists, have trouble accepting. The chapter argues that the universe started with a smooth and harmonious flow, even if there was such a force as gravity, which tends to move objects into clumps. It was of great importance that this smooth flow existed. It was said that it made the creation of the galaxies and planets possible. Most would question however, how this was possible. The chapter attempts to provide some observations as to how this may have happened, and how this particular feature caused the orchestration of the vast world we live in, and beyond.
Austin Sarat, Lawrence Douglas, and Martha Merrill Umphrey (eds)
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- June 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780804756839
- eISBN:
- 9780804768344
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Stanford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.11126/stanford/9780804756839.001.0001
- Subject:
- Law, Environmental and Energy Law
The study of catastrophe is a growth industry. Today, cosmologists scan the heavens for asteroids of the kind that smashed into earth some ninety million years ago, leading to the swift extinction of ...
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The study of catastrophe is a growth industry. Today, cosmologists scan the heavens for asteroids of the kind that smashed into earth some ninety million years ago, leading to the swift extinction of the dinosaurs. Climatologists create elaborate models of the chaotic weather and vast flooding that will result from the continued buildup of greenhouse gases in the planet's atmosphere. Terrorist experts and homeland security consultants struggle to prepare for a wide range of possible biological, chemical, and radiological attacks: aerated small pox virus spread by a crop duster, botulism dumped into an urban reservoir, a dirty bomb detonated in a city center. Yet, strangely, law's role in the definition, identification, prevention, and amelioration of catastrophe has been largely neglected. The relationship between law and other limiting conditions—such as states of emergency—has been the subject of rich and growing literature. By contrast, little has been written about law and catastrophe. In devoting a volume to the subject, the chapters sketch the contours of a relatively fresh terrain of inquiry. This book begins the work of developing a jurisprudence of catastrophe.Less
The study of catastrophe is a growth industry. Today, cosmologists scan the heavens for asteroids of the kind that smashed into earth some ninety million years ago, leading to the swift extinction of the dinosaurs. Climatologists create elaborate models of the chaotic weather and vast flooding that will result from the continued buildup of greenhouse gases in the planet's atmosphere. Terrorist experts and homeland security consultants struggle to prepare for a wide range of possible biological, chemical, and radiological attacks: aerated small pox virus spread by a crop duster, botulism dumped into an urban reservoir, a dirty bomb detonated in a city center. Yet, strangely, law's role in the definition, identification, prevention, and amelioration of catastrophe has been largely neglected. The relationship between law and other limiting conditions—such as states of emergency—has been the subject of rich and growing literature. By contrast, little has been written about law and catastrophe. In devoting a volume to the subject, the chapters sketch the contours of a relatively fresh terrain of inquiry. This book begins the work of developing a jurisprudence of catastrophe.
John Leslie
- Published in print:
- 2003
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780199248933
- eISBN:
- 9780191697791
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199248933.003.0001
- Subject:
- Philosophy, General, Metaphysics/Epistemology
This chapter examines the plausibility of infinite thinking. Realizing God's existence suggests the theological Problem of Evil, and this will be viewed here in a pantheistic approach. Cosmologists ...
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This chapter examines the plausibility of infinite thinking. Realizing God's existence suggests the theological Problem of Evil, and this will be viewed here in a pantheistic approach. Cosmologists of today who believe that there is an infinite number of universes, and how this affirms pantheistic's thoughts, will be presented. The idea that changes to the divine mind could only be changes for the worse, but that in point of fact no changes are ever absolute and that divine thinking, though infinitely rich, may not extend to many truths, is also argued.Less
This chapter examines the plausibility of infinite thinking. Realizing God's existence suggests the theological Problem of Evil, and this will be viewed here in a pantheistic approach. Cosmologists of today who believe that there is an infinite number of universes, and how this affirms pantheistic's thoughts, will be presented. The idea that changes to the divine mind could only be changes for the worse, but that in point of fact no changes are ever absolute and that divine thinking, though infinitely rich, may not extend to many truths, is also argued.
