Friday, April 3, 2020
The Chemistry of Fire by Ansel Adams - Science and Religion
The Chemistry of Fire by Ansel Adams - Science and ReligionThe Chemistry of Fire makes a profound statement about ourselves and our world. According to philosopher Jeffrey A. Hancock, who is perhaps the foremost expert on evolutionary psychology, this book is a manifesto for human beings. The title is taken from the final section, 'An Essay on the Chemistry of Fire' and it is written in a style that is unusually philosophical. The rest of the book is an essay on the significance of our relationships with nature, and how we came to make the decisions we have.The introduction is short and sweet, but goes into great detail about the major themes, like the role of technology, globalization, the environment, resource depletion, nature, and religion. It also explores the various aspects of political science, such as the sociology of the emerging nation states, and the problems facing democracy today. These are all interrelated. And there is also a great deal of historical background that i s very helpful.The book contains a very interesting theory, which is referred to as 'cognitive evolution.' It is a kind of self-propagating life-cycle. It describes how information travels from generation to generation, and how the latter passes on what they learn to their successors. As such, it connects scientific discoveries to real-world events, while allowing for the invention of knowledge to be the direct result of factors outside the scientific community.The book covers India and East Asia for the most part, but the United States and Western Europe are also discussed in some detail. The book was written in two parts. The first part was entitled 'The Nature of the Anthropocentric Worldview,' and the second part was 'The Chemistry of Fire.'For the most part, the West's relationship with China is the central theme of the book. We know very little about China, except that it was a major factor in the economic boom that occurred after WorldWar II. It is interesting to note that Ch inese philosophy is much more advanced than Western philosophy.Much of the progress of the West was based on scientific discovery. In a nutshell, the Chemistry of Fire argues that this is a process that we've been going through since the dawn of time.The book was fairly long, and the conclusion was not without controversy. On the one hand, many of the arguments in favor of the book were very similar to other arguments against the book. On the other hand, the book includes references to some of the most important scientists in the field, who have contributed to a better understanding of evolution, and its consequences.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.