Peter Atkins "Science as Truth"

Peter Atkins on woo and faith



There's a good deal more in this essay that I could not include. Some discussion of why real scientists tend to scorn the paranormal or supernatural might be of interest to my atheist or skeptical viewers.

Quote of the week: Peter Atkins on woo and faith

Is there any evidence for God?

Debate in The Big Questions: Is there any evidence for God?

Part 1 of 4 with Peter Atkins


Mohammed Hatahet from Manchester Mosque. "Big Bang is in the quran"

Part 2 of 4


Part 3 of 4


Part 4 of 4


15 January 2012 BBC One. The Big Questions

Scientific Method vs Theology - Dr Peter Atkins

Peter Atkins is Professor of Chemistry and Fellow of Lincoln College at Oxford University. He is the author of several world-famous chemistry textbooks. One reason why these continue to be leaders throughout the world after more than two decades is his remarkable gift for being able to explain things--especially challenging concepts--memorably and with great clarity. This gift has regularly been deployed in his books for the general reader (Richard Dawkins has described one of them, The Creation , as 'the most beautifully written popular science book ever'), but never to better effect than now, in Galileo's Finger .



In this brilliant account of the central ideas of contemporary science, Peter Atkins celebrates the effectiveness of Galileo's symbolic finger for revealing the nature of our universe, our world, and ourselves.

Galileo's Finger takes the reader on an extraordinary journey that embraces the ten central ideas of current science. "By a great idea," writes Peter Atkins, "I mean a simple concept of great reach, an acorn of an idea that ramifies into a great oak tree of application, a spider of an idea that can spin a great web and draw in a feast of explanation and elucidation." With wit, charm, and patience, Atkins leads the reader to an understanding of the essence of the whole of science, from evolution and the emergence of complexity, to entropy, the spring of all change in the universe; from energy, the universalization of accountancy, to symmetry, the quantification of beauty; and from cosmology, the globalization of reality, to spacetime, the arena of all action.

"My intention is for us to travel to the high ridges of science," Peter Atkins tells us. "As the journey progresses and I lead you carefully to the summit of understanding, you will experience the deep joy of illumination that science alone provides."
Galileo's Finger breaks new ground in communicating science to the general reader. Here are the essential ideas of today's science, explained in magical prose.

Peter Atkins - Beyond Belief 2008

Peter Atkins was Professor of Chemistry at the University of Oxford from 1965 until his retirement in 2007. Peter Atkins is the author of over 60 books including Four Laws That Drive the Universe; Galileo's Fingers: The Ten Great Ideas of Science; and the world-renowned textbook Physical Chemistry.



Peter Atkins is involved in a variety of international activities including chairing the Committee on Chemistry Education of the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry and organizing the Malta series of conferences.