W.J. Astore Note to reader: I wrote this back in 1988 when I was a first-year graduate student in the history of science at Johns Hopkins University. I took my first graduate seminar with Owen Hannaway, a distinguished professor of early modern science and alchemy. He asked us to do a book review, and I…
W.J. Astore I grew up learning biology the old-fashioned way, i.e. by learning all about evolution and Charles Darwin. I was also raised Catholic, where my priests explained to me that there was no conflict between evolutionary theories and Christianity. The story of creation in Genesis, they explained to me, was meant to be read…
b. traven Before I read Albert Camus’ novel Caligula, I felt that man’s sojourn on this planet was dominated by a state of mind called “happiness.” But in the novel I read the words Camus gave Caligula that “Man dies and is unhappy.” That seemed a rather morose and novel thought to me. But through…
The Contrary Perspective 