Brett W. Clark - Böcker

A critique of religious dogma historically provides the basis for rational inquiry into the physical and social world. "Critique of Intelligent Design" is a key to understanding the forces of irrationalism that seek to undermine the natural and social sciences. This book illuminates the historical evolution of the materialist critique - that is, explaining the world in terms of itself - from antiquity to the present through engaging the work of Plato, Aristotle, Epicurus, Lucretius, Francis Bacon, Isaac Newton, David Hume, Charles Darwin, Karl Marx, Sigmund Freud, and Stephen Jay Gould, among others.Proponents of "intelligent design" - creationism in its contemporary guise - have reignited an age-old war in which they claim to elevate their doctrine to empirical truth and thus incorporate it into science curricula. They attack the modern scientific view elevating both a pseudo-scientific and -cultural renewal in line with their theological orientation and what they perceive as a knowable moral order."Critique of Intelligent Design" is a compelling account of the debate between materialism and religion as well as an overview of the contemporary fight concerning nature, science, history, morality, and knowledge. The authors demonstrate how historical materialism is a crucial social foundation from which to confront intelligent design. They provide a fascinating account of the development of science in opposition to the proponents of "received wisdom." "Critique of Intelligent Design" offers empowering tools to understand and defend critical and scientific reasoning.

A critique of religious dogma historically provides the basis for rational inquiry into the physical and social world. "Critique of Intelligent Design" is a key to understanding the forces of irrationalism that seek to undermine the natural and social sciences. This book illuminates the historical evolution of the materialist critique - that is, explaining the world in terms of itself - from antiquity to the present through engaging the work of Plato, Aristotle, Epicurus, Lucretius, Francis Bacon, Isaac Newton, David Hume, Charles Darwin, Karl Marx, Sigmund Freud, and Stephen Jay Gould among others.Proponents of "intelligent design" - creationism in its contemporary guise - have reignited an age-old war in which they claim to elevate their doctrine to empirical truth and thus incorporate it into science curricula. They attack the modern scientific view elevating both a pseudo-scientific and -cultural renewal in line with their theological orientation and what they perceive as a knowable moral order."Critique of Intelligent Design" is a compelling account of the debate between materialism and religion as well as an overview of the contemporary fight concerning nature, science, history, morality, and knowledge. The authors demonstrate how historical materialism is a crucial social foundation from which to confront intelligent design. They provide a fascinating account of the development of science in opposition to the proponents of "received wisdom." "Critique of Intelligent Design" offers empowering tools to understand and defend critical and scientific reasoning.

The papers in this volume were selected for presentation at the 18th International Meshing Roundtable (IMR), held October 25-28, 2009 in Salt Lake City, UT, USA. The conference was started by Sandia National Laboratories in 1992 as a small meeting of organizations striving to establish a common focus for research and development in the field of mesh generation. Now after 18 consecutive years, the International Meshing Roundtable has become recognized as an international focal point annually attended by researchers and developers from dozens of co- tries around the world. The 18th International Meshing Roundtable consists of technical presentations from contributed papers, research notes, keynote and invited talks, short course presentations, and a poster session and competition. The Program Committee would like to express its appreciation to all who participate to make the IMR a successful and enriching experience. The papers in these proceedings were selected from more than 40 paper subm- sions. Based on input from peer reviews, the committee selected these papers for their perceived quality, originality, and appropriateness to the theme of the Inter- tional Meshing Roundtable. We would like to thank all who submitted papers. We would also like to thank the colleagues who provided reviews of the submitted - pers. The names of the reviewers are acknowledged in the following pages. We extend special thanks to Jacqueline Hunter for her time and effort to make the 18th IMR another outstanding conference.