Sorry for the quiet around here. I've been in sunnier climes. I just got back and still have a sunburn and sand in my hair. The next four or five weeks will be fairly quiet as I will be quite busy indeed with schoolwork.
I did manage to read Mainspring, by Jay Lake. It was recommended to me by Aka. It's an exotic adventure-romp/salvation-history. Natural philosophers and theologians used variations on the God-as-clockmaker metaphor for centuries, until, of course, Darwin threw a spanner in the works. Mainspring is an entertaining science fantasy set in a clockwork universe, as Lake takes the metaphor literally to see where it winds up. (Pun intended.)
I was rather surprised to discover that it doesn't just stick with that natural-theology backdrop but actually has a lot to say about the redemptive power of faith, love and Christ-like self-sacrifice. I was even more surprised that it didn't take a predictably "subversive" tack either. It's unorthodox and probably post-Christian, but it doesn't follow all the usual modern orthodoxies either. I suppose you could say it's both post-modern and post-secular.
I think it was definitely influenced by Gene Wolfe - the main character is named Hethor, which could conceivably be a coincidence, but I'm pretty sure I caught echoes of events in The Book of the Long Sun and The Book of the New Sun. There's also some Ringworld in there, mixed into an alt-universe, steampunk, high-seas boy's adventure. And don't forget the theology. Overall, it's a lot of fun. I'll try to do a proper review at some point, but my track record on proper reviews has not been great lately. You may just want to go ahead and read the book.
I see Lake has a short story available online that has religious elements, but I haven't read it yet. And apparently a new novel set in the same universe, entitled Stemwinder, is on its way.
Sunday, February 24, 2008
Wednesday, February 13, 2008
Practical Mystic
Matthew Stanley writes:
"The secular scientists engaged in the debate could not conceive of a religious scientist; conversely, their religious colleagues could see no barrier between their faith and their work. During the debate, the first group was startled to see a significant strength of religion within their ranks when religion had been so successfully driven from the content of science. How had this fifth column penetrated the fortress of science?
The answer is that it had never left."
That's in reference to a 1988 debate on religion & science that broke out in the pages of a scientific journal. It's a quote from the introduction to a new book by a historian of science:
Practical Mystic: Religion, Science, and A.S. Eddington, by Matthew Stanley. University of Chicago Press, 2007.
Eddington was a famous astrophysicist, science popularizer and devout Quaker. Stanley argues that there really is no such abstract entities as "religion and science." Thus he takes a fairly nuanced approach that stresses the importance of context, in looking at the relationship between a specific field of science and a unique, individual scientist representing a particular religious tradition.
In a related note, remember that article I posted on awhile back about the relationship between religious views and genetic engineering? The molecular biologist in question argued that North American resistance arose from Judeo-Christian beliefs, while European resistance came from airy-fairy New Age beliefs. I came across an interview with Michael Pollan today in which he touched on European resistance to GMOs and gave a few secular reasons why some Europeans are understandably leery of the whole thing. Based on that and a few other arguments I've seen, I get the impression that this particular biologist likes to dismiss any and all resistance to his field of science as stupid, rank superstition, regardless of the arguments the people are actually making.
"The secular scientists engaged in the debate could not conceive of a religious scientist; conversely, their religious colleagues could see no barrier between their faith and their work. During the debate, the first group was startled to see a significant strength of religion within their ranks when religion had been so successfully driven from the content of science. How had this fifth column penetrated the fortress of science?
The answer is that it had never left."
That's in reference to a 1988 debate on religion & science that broke out in the pages of a scientific journal. It's a quote from the introduction to a new book by a historian of science:
Practical Mystic: Religion, Science, and A.S. Eddington, by Matthew Stanley. University of Chicago Press, 2007.
Eddington was a famous astrophysicist, science popularizer and devout Quaker. Stanley argues that there really is no such abstract entities as "religion and science." Thus he takes a fairly nuanced approach that stresses the importance of context, in looking at the relationship between a specific field of science and a unique, individual scientist representing a particular religious tradition.
In a related note, remember that article I posted on awhile back about the relationship between religious views and genetic engineering? The molecular biologist in question argued that North American resistance arose from Judeo-Christian beliefs, while European resistance came from airy-fairy New Age beliefs. I came across an interview with Michael Pollan today in which he touched on European resistance to GMOs and gave a few secular reasons why some Europeans are understandably leery of the whole thing. Based on that and a few other arguments I've seen, I get the impression that this particular biologist likes to dismiss any and all resistance to his field of science as stupid, rank superstition, regardless of the arguments the people are actually making.
Monday, February 04, 2008
Gamer prophet
Maybe this is old news, but I just learned that Ezekiel is the patron saint of gamers! Click to find out why.
Now I'm imagining Ezekiel moving plastic trays full of Warhammer models around a table covered with a green tablecloth and miniature terrain. He'd probably be playing against Jeremiah, or possibly Isaiah. The minor prophets would be off at another table playing Magic: The Gathering and getting into heated debates about rules.
Habbakuk: Look, obviously my Tetragrammaton card trumps your Admantine Colossus card.
Malachi: Yeah, well, I have a Tetragrammaton too.
Assorted Minor Prophets in Unison: Me too!!
Zephaniah: That's it, I'm going home to eat pizza and play Warcraft.
I remember a line in Neal Stephenson's Cryptonomicon, in which the programmer character speculates about a heavy-duty card gamer friend of his, who he sees is eyed with respect by other card gamers. The programmer imagines that his friend probably has super-powerful cards in his breast pocket, like "The Nuclear Arsenal of the USSR" or "YHWH."
Now I'm imagining Ezekiel moving plastic trays full of Warhammer models around a table covered with a green tablecloth and miniature terrain. He'd probably be playing against Jeremiah, or possibly Isaiah. The minor prophets would be off at another table playing Magic: The Gathering and getting into heated debates about rules.
Habbakuk: Look, obviously my Tetragrammaton card trumps your Admantine Colossus card.
Malachi: Yeah, well, I have a Tetragrammaton too.
Assorted Minor Prophets in Unison: Me too!!
Zephaniah: That's it, I'm going home to eat pizza and play Warcraft.
I remember a line in Neal Stephenson's Cryptonomicon, in which the programmer character speculates about a heavy-duty card gamer friend of his, who he sees is eyed with respect by other card gamers. The programmer imagines that his friend probably has super-powerful cards in his breast pocket, like "The Nuclear Arsenal of the USSR" or "YHWH."
SF Mass
Usually 'mass' in science fiction is used as a scientific term. But here's the other kind. [via Sci-Fi Catholic]
I'm trying to think of other examples of sf Masses, but all that's coming to mind are the ones in Gene Wolfe's Book of the Short Sun. They're not technically Masses (nary a Catholic priest in sight), either, but they are definitely Eucharistic celebrations with bread and wine (or water), and even words that come close to the Earth version. Horn (or Silk? hard to say) performs them twice. Once out in a wilderness on the planet Blue, on a stone altar left by departed aliens, with only his horse to participate. (Though during it Someone Else makes his presence known.) The other time it's with a young female robot (no, really) in an obscure room in a fancy hotel in the city of Viron, inside of the giant generational starship the Whorl.
I suppose there are Masses in Eifelheim and Doomsday Book. But those aren't futuristic.
I'm trying to think of other examples of sf Masses, but all that's coming to mind are the ones in Gene Wolfe's Book of the Short Sun. They're not technically Masses (nary a Catholic priest in sight), either, but they are definitely Eucharistic celebrations with bread and wine (or water), and even words that come close to the Earth version. Horn (or Silk? hard to say) performs them twice. Once out in a wilderness on the planet Blue, on a stone altar left by departed aliens, with only his horse to participate. (Though during it Someone Else makes his presence known.) The other time it's with a young female robot (no, really) in an obscure room in a fancy hotel in the city of Viron, inside of the giant generational starship the Whorl.
I suppose there are Masses in Eifelheim and Doomsday Book. But those aren't futuristic.
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