Henry Margenau – författare

A new perspective on parallels between ancient Rome and the modern world, and what comes next   “[A] provocative short book . . . with a novel twist.”—The Economist   Over the last three centuries, the West rose to dominate the planet. Then, around the start of the new millennium, history took a dramatic turn. Faced with economic stagnation and internal political division, the West has found itself in rapid decline compared to the global periphery it had previously colonized. This is not the first time we have seen such a rise and fall: the Roman Empire followed a similar arc, from dizzying power to disintegration.   Historian Peter Heather and political economist John Rapley explore the uncanny parallels, and productive differences, between ancient Rome and the modern West, moving beyond the tropes of invading barbarians and civilizational decay to unearth new lessons. From 399 to 1999, they argue, through the unfolding of parallel, underlying imperial life cycles, both empires sowed the seeds of their own destruction. Has the era of Western global domination indeed reached its end? Heather and Rapley contemplate what comes next.

How does modern science bear upon such ultimate questions as the origin of the universe and the existence of God? "Cosmos, Bios, Theos" is a portfolio of opinions and arguments from 60 scientists, including 24 Nobel Prize winners, on the relationshiip between the scientific enterprise and the religious view of reality. "Cosmos, Bios, Theos" makes no claim to being a representative survey - the scientists were chosen because they were believed to be at least open to the possibility of a religious view of reality. But their specific views turned out to be surprisingly diverse, and often both original and persuasive. All but a few of the contributions take the form of the scientist's sometimes detailed - replies to the following six questions - what do you think should be the relationship between religion and science?; what is your view on the origin of the universe - both on a scientific and - if you see the need - on a metaphysical level?; what is your view on the origin of life - both on the scientific level and - if you see the need - on a metaphysicla level? what is your views on the origin of "Homo sapiens?"; how should science - and the scientist - approach origin questions, specifically the origin of the Universe and the origin of life? Many prominent scientists - including Darwin, Einstein and Planck - have considered the concept of God very seriously. What are your thoughts on the concept of God and on the existence of God? The contributors are astronomers, mathematicians, physicists, biologists, chemists, and philosophers. They include - Sir John Eccles, Antony Flew (in a debate with H.D.Lewis and Hugo Meynell), Robert Jastrow, b.D.Josephson, Henry Margenau, Sir Neville Mott, Arno Penzias, Ilya Prigogine, Abdus Salam, Arthur Schawlow, George Snell, Victor Weisskopf, and Eugene Wigner.