The Conflict Hypothesis-A Conflicting View
In modern liberal societies, the belief that church and science conflict is almost as fundamental as the belief in the separation of church and state. This "Conflict Hypothesis" is taught at all levels of education and often underpins discussions of science and famous scientists. Some might be surprised to know that this belief has only been popular for about 150 years. The main pillars of this belief that the church is inherently against science during these years was the medievals' belief in a flat earth, the Galileo Affair, and Giordano Bruno.
It is now accepted that one of the pillars of the conflict hypothesis, the belief that medievals commonly believed that the earth was flat, is a myth. It is a modern wonder that this myth was so widely believed given how thin the data supporting the theory was and how much contradicting data there was. Perhaps more amazing is that the myth is still claiming victims today from those trained to be discriminating in their use of data (including scientists and historians). Regardless, when a key support for a hypothesis is accepted as false, it is prudent to take a second look at the entire hypothesis.
The two pillars left after the Flat Earth Myth is discarded, Galileo and Bruno, both deal with cosmology. The narrow focus of these discussions is highlighted when viewed against the backdrop of modern science. The map of modern science shown below illustrates the relative contributions of the different disciplines of science (more information on the map is available at Eigenfactor.org). Cosmology does not even show on the map; it represents a small part of the Astronomy and Astrophysics bubble. The arrows in the diagram are just as important as the bubbles. They indicate how much the different disciplines reference journals from other disciplines. As can be seen from the map, Astronomy and Astrophysics has very limited effect on other disciplines, and Cosmology has even less.
If scientrometrics shows a disconnect between these discussions and the practice of modern science, a scan through any room in a modern office or home, or a walk through any modern public space will show a disconnect with the impact of science on the modern citizen. We really do live in a world of watts, volts, amps and ohms. Three of these electrical units are namesakes of scientists that had very deep connections with the Jesuits. Alessandro Volta and Andre-Marie Ampere were trained by the Jesuits, and the Jesuits funded the sabbatical for Georg Ohm which resulted in the publication of Ohm's Law. Ohm's law is certainly one of the scientific laws that most deeply affects our modern society. These three scientists are rarely part of the discussion.
Electricity isn't the only important discipline that is ignored. Modern genetics is a discipline that has a similar influence on our daily lives. Mendelian genetics has enabled scientific plant breeding which has made food much more affordable and more available. But genetics as a discipline has a much broader affect on other disciplines than even electricity. That is because a knowledge of genetics is critical in biology, medicine, veterinary science, agriculture, crop science and ecology and evolution. The modern view of evolution (known as the modern synthesis) owes as much to Gregor Mendel as it does to Charles Darwin. Gregor Mendel was an Augustinian monk. It was the Augustinians who arranged for Gregor's education at a prestigious university in Vienna and allowed him the time to make the 17,290 crosses between carefully selected pea plants and even arranged for the construction of a greenhouse to aid in Mendel's experiments.
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