Monday, 28 September 2009
Aristotle was born in Stagira, cities in the region Chalcidice, Thracia, Greece (formerly including central Macedonia region) in 384 BC. His father was the personal physician of King Amyntas of Macedon. At the age of 17 years, Aristotle became a pupil of Plato. Later he rose to become a teacher at the Academy of Plato in Athens for 20 years. Aristotle left the Academy after Plato's death, and became a teacher of Alexander of Macedon. When Alexander the ruling in the year 336 BC, he returned to Athens. With the support and assistance from Alexander, he later founded his own college named the Lyceum, which he led until the year 323 BC.
Contribution and work of
Aristotle's philosophy developed at the time he headed the Lyceum, which includes six written works that discuss the problem of logic, which is regarded as works of the most important, in addition to its contribution in the field of Metaphysics, Physics, Ethics, Politics, Medicine and Natural Sciences.
In the field of natural science, he was the first to collect and classify biological species systematically. His work illustrates the trend will be critical analysis, and the search for natural laws and the balance of nature. Plato stated the theory of ideal forms of things, while Aristotle explained that the material is not possible without a form because he was (existed). He further stated that the material forms a perfect, pure or final form, is what is claimed as theos, which is in the Greek sense is now considered to mean God.
Aristotelian logic is a system of deductive reasoning (deductive reasoning), which even today is still regarded as the foundation of every lesson of formal logic. However, in his scientific research he also realized the importance of observation, experimentation and inductive thinking (inductive thinking).
In the field of politics, Aristotle believed that the ideal form of politics is a combination of forms of democracy and monarchy.
Because the vast scope of the works of Aristotle, he considered it can be contributed to the encyclopedic scale, which covers contributions to the fields so diverse as Physics, Astronomy, Biology, Psychology, Metaphysics (eg the study of principles and ideas of the beginning - basic idea of nature), formal logic, ethics, politics, and even the theory of rhetoric and poetry.
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Influence
Although most of the developing science was more an explanation of the things that make sense (common-sense explanation), many theories that lasted almost two thousand years old. This happens because these theories because it is considered reasonable and in line with the thinking of society in general, although later it turned out that these theories totally wrong because it is based on assumptions wrong.
It could be argued that Aristotle was influential in Western thought and religious thought in general. Alignment of Aristotle with Christian theology by St. Thomas Aquinas in the 13th century, with Jewish theology of Maimonides (1135 to 1204), and the theology of Islam by Ibn Rusyid (1126 to 1198). For medieval man, Aristotle was not only regarded as an authoritative source of logic and metaphysics, but also regarded as the main source of knowledge, or "the master of those who know", as then said Dante Alighieri.
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Thursday, 26 March 2009
Eugene Dubois
Eugene Dubois was born in the town of Eijsden in the Netherlands in 1858. As a boy he was fascinated by natural history, a pursuit encouraged by his pharmacist father. An excellent student, he studied medicine and graduated as a doctor in 1884. Two years later he was appointed an anatomy lecturer at Amsterdam University, and married in the same year. The following year, he gave it up to go to the Dutch East Indies, now Indonesia, to look for fossils of human ancestors.
No one is quite sure why Dubois threw up a good job to travel half way around the world on what most people would surely have considered a wild goose chase. Obviously, he must have been interested in human evolution. He had also discovered that he disliked his job as an anatomy lecturer, especially his teaching duties. Finally, Dubois apparently felt that his advisor, Max Furbringer, had claimed credit for some of Dubois' own ideas, and Dubois wanted to end their professional relationship. There was little or no merit to this; Furbringer seems to have always behaved correctly and even generously to Dubois. But throughout his life, Dubois seems to have had an almost fanatical fear of other scientists taking credit for his ideas.
He chose the East Indies because, like Darwin and many others, he felt that humans had evolved in the tropics. He believed that humans were closely related to gibbons, which are found in Indonesia. A fossil ape that had been found in India also encouraged him to believe that Asia would be a good place to look for hominid fossils. And, as a Dutchman, a Dutch colony like Indonesia was a convenient place for him to live and work.
Dubois joined the Dutch Army as a medical officer, and he and his wife and baby arrived at the island of Sumatra in December 1887. When he had spare time from his medical duties, he searched for fossils. Early results were promising, and the government assigned him two engineers and 50 forced labourers to help him, but the results were disappointing due to the difficult conditions. The region was densely forested without paths, water was short, one of the engineers was transferred because he was useless and the other one died, and many of his labourers ran away or were sick. Some fossils were found, but they were of fairly recent date.
Dubois decided prospects would be better in Java, and got himself transferred there in 1890. One reason for going there had been a human skull which a mining engineer had found at Wadjak in 1888. Dubois started searching in the same place, and found a second less complete skull. Following this, he started searching in more open areas, especially a site on the banks of the Solo River which proved productive. Once again, he had been assigned two engineers and a crew of convict labourers to help him. (This time the engineers were both competent and managed to stay alive.)
In September 1890, his workers found a human, or human-like, fossil at Koedoeng Broeboes. This consisted of the right side of the chin of a lower jaw and three attached teeth. In August 1891 he found a primate molar tooth. Two months later and one meter away was found an intact skullcap, the fossil which would be known as Java Man. In August 1892, a third primate fossil, an almost complete left thigh bone, was found between 10 and 15 meters away from the skullcap.
In 1894 Dubois published a description of his fossils, naming them Pithecanthropus erectus, describing it as neither ape nor human, but something intermediate. In 1895 he returned to Europe to promote the fossil and his interpretation. A few scientists enthusiastically endorsed Dubois' work, but most disagreed with his interpretation. Almost everyone agreed that the femur was effectively indistinguishable from a human femur, but it was widely doubted whether it had, as Dubois claimed, come from the same individual as the skullcap. Some French scientists cautiously accepted that Dubois might be right. German scientists tended to the view that the skullcap was that of a giant ape such as a gibbon, while English scientists tended to view it as a human, coming from either a primitive or a pathological individual, but there were plenty of other opinions. Many scientists pointed out similarities between the Java Man skullcap and Neandertal fossils.
Dubois vigorously defended his interpretation, responding to his critics, providing further information on the fossils, and travelling around western Europe to speak and display the fossils. He pointed out that while many experts considered the skull ape-like and many considered it human-like, this actually strengthened his argument that it was a mixture of both. As time went on, Dubois' position gained more support, although the fossils remained controversial.
Around 1900 Dubois ceased to discuss Java Man, and hid the fossils in his home while he moved on to other research topics. This may have been to protect his intellectual priority; Dubois had been furious when another scholar had obtained a cast of the skullcap and then proceeded to produce a detailed study which surpassed anything Dubois had done. With Dubois out of the argument and the fossils inaccessible, the controversy died down. In 1897 he was awarded an honorary doctorate in botany and zoology by the University of Amsterdam, and in 1899 became a professor there in crystallography, mineralogy, geology and paleontology. (This was not as impressive as it sounded; he was earning less than he had 10 years earlier as an anatomy lecturer).
Over the next few decades he performed research in a number of areas. In particular, he devoted much effort to understanding the relationship between body weight and brain weight. He eventually came up with a complicated scheme in which all animals had a certain degree of encephalization, which increased in jumps of two (so humans were 1, apes were 1/4, cats and dogs were 1/8, etc.). It was a pioneering approach, but Dubois' results were hopelessly flawed, based on a small amount of real data and a large amount of speculation and special pleading. Under this scheme, Java Man, especially if reconstructed with gibbon-like body proportions, had an index of 1/2, which placed it nicely in the gap between apes and humans. (Gould 1993)
It was not until 1923 that Dubois, under pressure from scientists, once again allowed access to the Java Man fossils. That and the discovery of similar fossils caused it to once again become a topic of debate. The first two Peking Man skulls were found in 1929 and three more in 1936. In the late 1930s, other pithecanthropine fossils were found in Java at Sangiran. It was clear to everyone else that all these fossils were very similar to Dubois' original find, but Dubois fiercely resisted this idea, claiming that they were all human in grade, while his, and only his, fossil filled the gap between humans and apes. In an effort to differentiate Java Man from these later finds, Dubois emphasized the apelike characteristics of his fossil, giving rise to the common myth that he had decided Java Man was just a gibbon, and had abandoned his claim for its intermediate status.
Dubois had officially retired in 1928 but remained scientifically active, and as stubborn as ever, until his death in 1940. In a eulogy, Arthur Keith accurately described him as
"... an idealist, his ideas being so firmly held that his mind tended to bend facts rather than alter his ideas to fit them."
ReferencesGould S.J. (1993): Men of the thirty-third division. In Eight little piggies. (pp. 124-37). New York: W.W.Norton. (an essay about Eugene Dubois' theories on Java Man)
Shipman P. (2001): The man who found the missing link: the extraordinary life of Eugene Dubois. New York: Simon & Schuster.
Theunissen B. (1989): Eugene Dubois and the ape-man from Java. Dordrecht,The Netherlands: Kluwer Academic Publishers.
Friday, 6 March 2009
Charles Darwin
Friday, 20 February 2009
IR sokarno
Soekarno (Bung Karno) First President of the Republic of Indonesia, 1945 - 1966, adopted ideology of development 'stand on own feet'. Proklamator who was born in Blitar, East Java, 6 June 1901 with a stout mocking the United States and other capitalist countries: "Go to hell with your aid." Damnation with bantuanmu.
He invites state-Nega-ra developing (newly independent) together. Leader of the Revolution is successful mengge-lorakan revolutionary spirit of his people, and maintain the integrity of NKRI.
Figure art lover has a slogan put out a strong aspiration to bring the stars at the life of the people prosperous, fairly prosperous. Ideology of development of the men who came from the patrician Java (His father named Raden Soekemi Sosrodihardjo, tribe called Java and her mother Ida Ayu Nyoman Rai, Bali tribe), this when viewed from the book Pioneers in Development, about leaning follow the ideology of development was born the economists who do not know the dictionary is that the country must build a sponge to the West. But for them, never ask for legal foreign-aid request. With the rich Western countries, let alone to ask for help, would harm the needy (poor countries).
For the Bung Karno, who when called Kusno small, this seems no sweet story for the poorest countries that build the capital and foreign aid. All rush be the development of management and modern technology, the flow diverted - so that the poor become rich and overtake West - just sucker the poor wealth which makes the behind.
That is the Bung Karno successfully animate the spirit of revolution and take stand on its own feet for the nation, although not yet had time to make the people in the life of the prosperous. The concept of "stand on its own feet" is not up to the goal but at least succeeded in giving pride to the nation's existence. Rather than stand at the top of the foreign debts that the dependence and ketidakberdayaan (noekolonialisme).
Bung Karno childhood filled with the spirit of independence already. It was only a few years living with parents in Blitar. During the elementary school to graduate, he lives in Surabaya, in the boarding house Haji Oemar Said Tjokroaminoto, seasoned politicians of the Syarikat Islam. Then continue on HBS (Hoogere Burger School). While studying at HBS that he has the soul unite nasio-nalismenya. After graduating HBS 1920, he moved to Bandung, and continue to me-THS (Technische Hooge-school or High School Tekhnik now become ITB). He successfully achieved the title "Ir" on 25 May 1926.
Then, he formulated Marhaenisme teaching and establish PNI (Partai Nasional lndonesia) on 4 July 1927, with the goal of Indonesia Merdeka. As a result, the Netherlands, the colonists, menjebloskannya to Sukamiskin prison, on the 29 December 1929. Eight months later a new disidangkan. In defense, entitled 'Indonesia contest', with a brave expose it wrack the Netherlands, a nation that is more advanced.
Defense is to make the Netherlands more angry. So in July 1930, PNI was dissolved. After the free (1931), Bung Karno join the Partindo and memimpinnya. As a result, he was again arrested and removed to the Dutch Ende, Flores, year 1933. Four years later moved to Bengkulu.
After a long struggle, Bung Karno and Bung Hatta proclaim the independence of Indonesia on 17 August 1945. Previously, he also succeeded in formulating the Pancasila, which then becomes the basis (ideology) of the Republic of Indonesia. He seeks bond archipelago. He even tried channeling the nations in Asia, Africa, Latin America and the Asia Africa Conference in Bandung in 1955 that later evolved into a movement Non Blok.
Rebellion G-30-S/PKI birth to the political crisis is very great. He also did not want to liquidate the PKI was accused by the students and the TNI as a manipulator of the general severity of homicide. Political atmosphere increasingly garbled. So that on 11 March 1966 he issued a warrant for Soeharto to control the situation, which was then known as the Center. But, this is the beginning of the kejatuh-annya. For the Center for the Soeharto dismiss PKI sympathy and seize the politicians and students, and 'seize' power. MPR reinforces Center is questioned and rejected the Soekarno and Soeharto as the official president.
Then Bung Karno 'imprisoned' in Yaso Wisma, Jakarta. Health continues to deteriorate. Finally, on Sunday, June 21 1970 he died in RSPAD. He be buried in Yaso Wisma, Jakarta and dimakamkan in Blitar, East Java near the tomb ibundanya, Ida Ayu Nyoman Rai. Excellency Yang Mulia Leaders of this revolution leave 8 children. Fatmawati get out of the five children, namely Guntur, Megawati, Rachmawati, Sukmawati, and Guruh. Hartini's got two children and that is Taufan Bayu. Meanwhile, from Ratna Sari Dewi, female descendants of the original Japanese named Naoko Nemoto have a daughter that is Kartika.
Orator Ulung
The first President of the Republic of Indonesia that is known as a skilful orator, who can hold a very furious about the national revolution, and the me-neokolonialis imperialism. He was also very confident in the strength of the mass, the strength of the people.
"I am nothing without the people. I am because of the people, I struggled because of the people, and I mouthpiece of the people, "said Bung Karno, in his work 'dig Api Pancasila'. An expression that is quite honestly a great orator.
Symptoms of Bung Karno is a rare phenomenon that impressed many people to invite. Kemahirannya use language with all kinds of style associated with virginity. This is reflected in the autobiography, and essay-length history books that include terjangnya kick.
He was a cen-dekiawan-kan who died hundreds of paper and some manuscript dra-ma, which could only ever dipentaskan in Ende, Flores. Collection of writings is diterbit-kan with the title "Flag of Diba-wah Revolution", two volumes. The first volume can be said the most interesting and most important because it represents itself as Soekarno Soekarno.
From the book setebal approximately 630 pages are any posts that begins the first of the year 1926, with the title "nationalist-me, Islamisme, and Marxisme" is the most interesting and probably most important as a point-decline in an effort to understand the Soekarno period of turbulence in the youth, a young people aged 26 years.
Kebesarannya in the middle, the skilful orator and author piawai, this always requires the support of others. He was not lonely and do not hold like a closed place.
At the end of his power, he often felt lonely. In autobio-grafinya organized by Cindy Adams, Bung Karno, the People's mouthpiece, said. "I did not sleep for six years. I can not sleep goods overnight. Sometimes, late at night, I call someone a close with such as Subandrio, Deputy Prime Minister and one said, 'Bandrio came to my place, I temani, tell to me something odd, mention a farce, berceritalah about what the origin not about politics. And if I fall asleep, forgive .... For the first time in my life I began to eat sleeping pills. I am tired. Too tired. "
In other parts of the mentioned, "Reviewed the overall position as president is not a relegation ubahnya the remote ... Often thought oranglah a change, not pikiranmu ... They participated in creating this lonely island in sekelilingmu. "
Anti-imperialism
On 17 May 1956. Bung Karno get honor speech delivered in front of the United States Congress. As New York Times reported (first page) the next day, in a speech that he was attacked with persistent colonialism.
"Struggle and sacrifice that we have done for our people's deliverance from the shackle of colonialism, has lasted from generation to generation for centuries. However, the struggle is still not finished. How is the struggle that can be completed if the millions of people in Asia and Africa are still under colonial domination, still can not enjoy freedom? "Squeal when Soekarno was.
Terrible, even though the speech was hard to oppose colonialism and imperialism, and quite critical of the Western countries, he got an extraordinary in the United States (U.S.).
A speech that shows the consistency of thought and attitudes that Bung Karno since the youth antikolonialisme. Especially in the period 1926-1933, the spirit antikolonialisme and anti-imperialism is already clear dikedepankannya.
It is very clear and decisive collective memory of colonialism pahitnya the foreign country that is rich. However, words and facts are two different things, and not infrequently for behind each other.
Soekarno penggagas nationalism and the other forced to wrestle in the "word" and "fact" that tried political knitted but are not easy, and not infrequently encountered deadlock.
Soekarno who diligently speaking, among others, about the size of the idea to unite the nationalist, religious, and Communist (1926) find that at all for behind, when he try to be a fact. Similarly, the idea that the size of the others: marhaenisme, or nationalism marhaenistis, who cooked dikonsepsikan in 1932. In fact, ideas about Pancasila.
Controversial figure
As a figure who has a firm principle, Bung Karno often regarded as controversial figure. So no wonder if he has his opponent and that is the overt mengritik and defend his view. In the political opponents in the country, he is considered to represent the politicians figure that abangan "less Islamic." They even menggolongkannya group leader as "the secular nationalist".
However, in the eyes Syeikh Mahmud Syaltut from Cairo, was the groundsman pancasila Qaida adzima min al-quwada dignity harir fii al-balad al-Islam (Leader of the movement's independence in the lands of Islam). In fact, Democracy Terpimpin, who debated in the country, it is praised by Syeikh Al-Azhar as, "lam yakun ila min shuratu asy syuraa Shara 'allatiy ja'alha al-Qur'an sya'ana min al-mu syu'un 'minin "(not only one illustration of the permusyawaratan made by Al-Quran as the basis for the believers).
When tensions heighten between Israel and Arab countries concerning the status of Palestine during the Arab press welcomes sensational Bung Karno, "Champion for Arab interests have arrived." Similarly, the Holy Throne Vatican gives three awards degrees to the president of the Republic of the majority is Muslim.
Indeed, the defense of the Bung Karno suppressed not only for his country but also other countries. That is why he was adored by the Arabs out of the middle attack Israel is tense. Bung Karno considered the leading Muslim nation. In fact, in their own country it is seen more often as a nation than the abangan santri.
In fact, how religiuskah Bung Karno? Is not he also in formulating the draft Pancasila moral Godhead the One God? Sila showed that the nation is a religious nation. Indonesia is a nation that recognizes the complex and the five religions. How can embrace the religious vision of five in a single sentence that is fundamental if the sentence does not understand the context of life in correctly?
In this elegant quoted in Clifford Geertz observed Islam (1982): "Style is a style of religious Soekarno Soekarno himself." How not? To Louise Fischer, Bung Karno had confessed that he at once Muslim, Christian, and Hindu. In the observer's eye, such as Geertz, such recognition is considered as "expansive style seems to want to embrace the whole world." Conversely, such expression in hemat-BJ Boland in The Struggle of Islam in Modern Indonesia (1982) - "just a manifestation of religious feelings of most of the people of Indonesia, especially Java." Penghayatan for the spiritual East, the speech is "the courage to express various thoughts that may be accused of the believer formalis as bidah".
Political System
Soekarno have views on the political system that didukungnya is the most "appropriate" with "personality" and "culture" typical of a nation seems to the cooperation, mutual assistance and harmony. In rhetoric, it is a criticism "individualism" that he said was born of Western liberalism. Individualism is selfishness birth, and this is particularly reflected by contention antarpartai.
Then stir it Terpimpin Democracy. Soekarno engage in important political mass mobilization, it was sympathetic to the movements of anti-imperialism, and perhaps as a consequence, receive on the Communist Party of Indonesia (PKI) as a legitimate political actor, supporting terpimpin conception of democracy. So it was a political system that even anti-liberal and skeptical on political pluralism. He was to the "unity" for the "revolution".
In the 1950s, Indonesia was marked by political instability caused by the parliamentary system of democracy. This system is very liberal, and dominated by political parties of the parliament. Election 1955-which won four big power, Masyumi, Partai Nasional Indonesia (PNI), Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) and PKI-up to now is still seen as the most free elections and that was clean throughout the history of Indonesia. However, on the other side of the parliamentary system under which the party was often fall bangunnya cabinet led by prime minister. In addition, the history also notes that the national integrity constantly threatened by various separatist movements, ie, AT / IT, PRRI / Permesta, and so forth.
This fact makes the Soekarno suspicious because of the political party he considers Masyumi, and also the PSI, is involved in several areas of rebellion.
Then, return mendekritkan Soekarno of Indonesia in the 1945 Constitution because constituent failure to decide a new Constitution for India, the effects of sustained debate, especially between the secular nationalist forces and the strength of the foundation of Islam. ► e-ti/crs, from various sources Read More..
Wednesday, 11 February 2009
The Religious Affiliation of Influential Scientist Isaac Newton
From: Michael H. Hart, The 100: A Ranking of the Most Influential Persons in History, Hart Publishing Company, New York City (1978), page 46:
Newton died in 1727, and was buried in Westminster Abbey [an Anglican church], the first scientist to be accorded that honor.From: Rich Deem, "Famous Scientists Who Believed in God", last modified 19 May 2005, on "Evidence for God from Science" website (http://www.godandscience.org/apologetics/sciencefaith.html; viewed 5 October 2005):
In optics, mechanics, and mathematics, Newton was a figure of undisputed genius and innovation. In all his science (including chemistry) he saw mathematics and numbers as central. What is less well known is that he was devoutly religious and saw numbers as involved in understanding from the Bible God's plan for history. He did a lot of work on biblical numerology, and, though aspects of his beliefs were not orthodox, he thought theology very important. In his system of physics, God is essential to the nature and absoluteness of space. In Principia he stated, "The most beautiful system of the sun, planets, and comets, could only proceed from the counsel and dominion on an intelligent and powerful Being."From: Raymond J. Seeger, "Newton, Biblical Creationist" in The Journal of the American Scientific Affiliation, 35 (December 1983): pages 242-243 (http://www.asa3.org/ASA/PSCF/1983/JASA12-83Seeger.html; viewed 26 September 2005):[Sources:] R. S. Westfall, Never At Rest (1985) or The Life of Isaac Newton (1994), A. R. Hall, Isaac Newton: Adventurer in Thought (1992), J. E. Force and R. H. Popkin, Essays on the Context, Nature and Influence of Isaac Newton's Theology (1990)
Isaac Newton... was devoutly religious in his search for God, puritanical in his morality, abstemious, scrupulous, austere, loveless and joyless. Nevertheless, his prestige forged a permanent link between science and government.Read More..Newton's masterpiece was in theoretical physics, Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica (1687), an intellectual monument to mankind, a synthesis of grandeur... He established mathematical physics, e.g., fluid dynamics and acoustics. The Principia was written in Latin, its proofs were geometrical, despite his having invented fluxions, a form of calculus. On the contrary, the Opticks (1704) was written in English with experimental queries...
The young Newton did not aspire to ecclesiastical orders requisite for the mastership of a college. His theological interests, however, were not an aberration of old age. All his life he was a conforming member of the Anglican Church, although he had reservations about its Trinitarian doctrine. Although he appreciated its universalist humanitarianism, he was by no means a deist inasmuch as he believed in a personal God, omniscient and omnipotent, but, above all, immanent not only had He created the universe, but He keeps it under constant surveillance and intervenes in a providential way from time to time (e.g., paths of comets). Neither was Newton a Unitarian; he believed in Jesus Christ as the Messiah, the Son of God-not a mere man, but a sort of viceroy for the Father (his precise concept is somewhat problematic). Newton diligently sought the Creator through His actions, His work (creation) and His Word (the Bible). (Newton probably kept his non-orthodox views secret to refrain from disruptive controversies in the church.)
Newton believed in past miracles ("the sun standing still," however, he regarded as a poetic expression: Moses as a popularizer) and prophecies -- no longer needed. In general, he interpreted the Bible literally. (Among his effects upon death was a well-worn Bible (1660) -- now lost.) He performed meticulous exegesis of the Scriptures. He regarded Church history as of primary importance for understanding Christianity. An assiduous reader and an erudite historian (he knew Greek, Hebrew, and Latin), he examined scores of texts for corruptions and misinterpretations. His vehement anti-Catholicism stemmed from the initially political endorsement of Athanasius' creed and from the later biblical mistranslation by Jerome. He himself was convinced by the argument from design in its major features, not in minutiae; possibly a mystic in connection with his alchemical investigations, he always relied upon facts per se. Newton was a critical historian for his time, but he did have a fanatical belief in the writings of antiquity (e.g., a crucial fragment of Eudoxus). He was particularly attracted to the prophetic records of Daniel and St. John the Divine, which he regarded in agreement in the smallest detail. (Biblical prophecies, he felt, can be understood only ex post facto.) Newton's historical interests engaged his attention more than fifty years; his extant writings along this line are esoteric and scattered among numerous manuscripts. The Chronology of Ancient Kingdoms Amended and Observations upon the Prophecies of Daniel and the Apocalyse of St. John were published posthumously (1728). Together, in the accepted historical method of that time, they provide a chronology of world history, sacred and profane. Both the Principia and the Optics close with affirmations about God; the famous "Scholium" of the former is a passionate statement about the creation. As our idea of the universe expands, so, too, does our concept of God.
Newton was wholeheartedly committed to the commandments of the Bible (O.T. and N.T.)-in an absolute sense. Unfortunately, he envisaged God more as a just ruler than a Father of grace, love, and mercy. He lacked emotion, although he did record 58 sins about Whitsunday when he was 19. He minimized ritual, as well as dogma. (He did not seek the last rites of the Church.) He noted that there were many rites among the early Christians, but only one faith.
Although the Royal Society had many divines as members, in the spirit of Francis Bacon, it barred any public discussion of politics and of religion-presumably for the sake of unity. Privately, however, Newton recognized that we all live in one world, our Father's world.
He regarded religion and science as interrelated; science, indeed, the handmaiden of religion, its Te Deum-hence no fundamental conflict. In both he insisted upon a common mental approach, a foundation of facts, historical and natural. He corrected the death date (34) of Christ, and that of the Argonaut's search (956) and hence of Troy's fall, 904 (both about 3 centuries late by modern standards). His application of astronomical dating (eclipses, equinoctial precession, et at.) was revolutionary. He was, however, very much opposed to metaphysicians such as Descartes and Leibnitz, both in science and in theology. He looked upon history and nature as similar in that they both have latent secrets, both being actually simple and measurable.
Newton's whole life was dominated by religion, his search for the Creator of heaven and earth. Toward the end of his life he mused, "I do not know what I may appear to the world; but to myself I appear to have been but a little boy, playing on the sea-shore, and diverting myself, in now and then finding a smooth pebble or a prettier shell than ordinary, whilst the great ocean of truth lay all undiscovered before me."
Muhammad
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Muhammad ibn ‘Abdullāh (Arabic: محمّد; Transliteration: Muḥammad;[2] IPA: [mʊħɑmmæd̪]; pronunciation (help·info); also spelled Mohammed or Muhammed)[3][4][5] (ca. 570 Mecca – June 8, 632 Medina),[6] is the central human figure of the religion of Islam and is regarded by Muslims as a messenger and prophet of God (Arabic: الله Allāh), the last and the greatest law-bearer in a series of prophets of Islam. Muslims consider him the restorer of the uncorrupted original monotheistic faith (islām) of Adam, Abraham, Moses, Noah, Jesus and other prophets of Islam.[7][8][9] He was also active as a diplomat, merchant, philosopher, orator, legislator, reformer, military general, and, according to Muslim belief, an agent of divine action.[10]
Born in 570 CE in the Arabian city of Mecca,[11] he was orphaned at a young age and brought up under the care of his uncle. He later worked mostly as a merchant, as well as a shepherd, and was first married by age 25. Discontented with life in Mecca, he retreated to a cave in the surrounding mountains for meditation and reflection. According to Islamic beliefs it was here, at age 40, in the month of Ramadan, where he received his first revelation from God. Three years after this event Muhammad started preaching these revelations publicly, proclaiming that "God is One", that complete "surrender" to Him (lit. islām) is the only way (dīn)[12] acceptable to God, and that he himself was a prophet and messenger of God, in the same vein as other Islamic prophets.[13][14][9]
Muhammad gained few followers early on, and was met with hostility from some Meccan tribes; he and his followers were treated harshly. To escape persecution Muhammad and his followers migrated to Medina (then known as Yathrib) in the year 622 CE. This event, the Hijra, marks the beginning of the Islamic calendar. In Medina, Muhammad united the conflicting tribes, and after eight years of fighting with the Meccan tribes, his followers, who by then had grown to ten thousand, conquered Mecca without bloodshed. In 632 a few months after returning to Medina from his Farewell pilgrimage, Muhammad fell ill and died. By the time of his death most of the Arabian Peninsula had converted to Islam and he united the tribes of Arabia into a single Muslim religious polity.[15][16]
The revelations (or Ayat, lit. "Signs of God") which Muhammad reported receiving until his death form the verses of the Qur'an, regarded by Muslims as the “word of God” and around which the religion is based. Besides the Qur'an, Muhammad’s life (sira) and traditions (sunnah) are also upheld by Muslims. They discuss Muhammad and other prophets of Islam with reverence, adding the phrase peace be upon him whenever their names are mentioned.[17] While conceptions of Muhammad in medieval Christendom and premodern times were largely negative, appraisals in modern times have been far less so.[14][18] Besides this, his life and deeds have been debated by followers and opponents over the centuries.[19 Read More..Barack Obama
(1961–)
Quick Facts
- Born: August 4, 1961 (Hawaii)
- Lives in: Chicago, Illinois
- Zodiac Sign: Leo
- Height: 6′ 1″ (1.87m)
- Family: Married wife Michelle in 1992, 2 daughters Malia and Sasha
- Parents: Barack Obama, Sr. (from Kenya) and Ann Dunham (from Kansas)
- Religion: United Church of Christ
- Drives a: Ford Escape hybrid, Chrysler 300C
- Education:
– Graduated: Columbia University (1983) - Major: Political Science
– Law Degree from Harvard (1991) - Major: J.D. - Magna Cum Laude
– Attended: Occidental College - Career:
–U.S. President - inaugurated January 20, 2009
–U.S. Senator from Illinois, 2005-2008 - Government Committees:
– Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee
– Foreign Relations Committee
– Veterans Affairs Committee
– 2005 and 2006: served on the Environment and Public Works Committee
Related Works
- Books
- 1995 Dreams From My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance
- 2006 The Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream
- 2006 It Takes a Nation: How Strangers Became Family in the Wake of Hurricane Katrina
Breaking News: President Barack Obama heads to Florida on Tuesday (February 10, 2009) to rally support for his economic stimulus plan. Aides say Obama plans to hold a town hall meeting in Fort Meyers, Florida to open a dialogue with Americans hit by the recession.
Senate is scheduled to hold a final ballot on the $838 billion stimulus bill while Obama is on the road. Afterward, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner plans to unveil his bank rescue strategy. If the bill passes as expected, the Senate and the House of Representatives will enter into final negotiations on a compromise, with Obama arbitrating disputes.
Obama, who says the bill is crucial to preventing a complete "economic catastrophe," has told law makers that he wants the final bill on his desk by February 16.
Biography: Barack Hussein Obama was born Aug. 4, 1961, in Honolulu, Hawaii. His father, Barack Obama, Sr., was born of Luo ethnicity in Nyanza Province, Kenya. He grew up herding goats with his own father, who was a domestic servant to the British. Although reared among Muslims, Obama, Sr., became an atheist at some point.
Obama’s mother, Ann Dunham, grew up in Wichita, Kansas. Her father worked on oil rigs during the Depression. After the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, he signed up for service in World War II and marched across Europe in Patton’s army. Dunham’s mother went to work on a bomber assembly line. After the war, they studied on the G. I. Bill, bought a house through the Federal Housing Program, and moved to Hawaii.
Meantime, Barack’s father had won a scholarship that allowed him to leave Kenya pursue his dreams in Hawaii. At the time of his birth, Obama’s parents were students at the East–West Center of the University of Hawaii at Manoa.
Obama’s parents separated when he was two years old and later divorced. Obama’s father went to Harvard to pursue Ph. D. studies and then returned to Kenya.
His mother married Lolo Soetoro, another East–West Center student from Indonesia. In 1967, the family moved to Jakarta, where Obama’s half-sister Maya Soetoro–Ng was born. Obama attended schools in Jakarta, where classes were taught in the Indonesian language.
Four years later when Barack (commonly known throughout his early years as "Barry") was ten, he returned to Hawaii to live with his maternal grandparents, Madelyn and Stanley Dunham, and later his mother (who died of ovarian cancer in 1995).
He was enrolled in the fifth grade at the esteemed Punahou Academy, graduating with honors in 1979. He was only one of three black students at the school. This is where Obama first became conscious of racism and what it meant to be an African–American.
In his memoir, Obama described how he struggled to reconcile social perceptions of his multiracial heritage. He saw his biological father (who died in a 1982 car accident) only once (in 1971) after his parents divorced. And he admitted using alcohol, marijuana and cocaine during his teenage years.
After high school, Obama studied at Occidental College in Los Angeles for two years. He then transferred to Columbia University in New York, graduating in 1983 with a degree in political science.
After working at Business International Corporation (a company that provided international business information to corporate clients) and NYPIRG, Obama moved to Chicago in 1985. There, he worked as a community organizer with low-income residents in Chicago’s Roseland community and the Altgeld Gardens public housing development on the city’s South Side.