Epicurus, scientist

Lucretius, who lived in the 1st Century BCE, wrote in his famous poem de Rerum Natura a powerful diatribe against creationism and intelligent design. Fear of the gods, he said was inconsistent with civilised life. Science provides the explanations for natural phenomena. The poem supports Epicurean atomism, physics, theology and other points of doctrine. Stephen Greenblatt, in his book The Swerve, argues that de Rerum Natura ignited the spark of the Renaissance and Enlightenment. (Tending the Epicrean Garden, Hiram Crespo).

I find de rerum Natura a heavy, if important, read, sometimes difficult to get your mind round. Maybe it’s the translation. Greenblatt, on the other hand, is very readable and highly recommended. He concentrates on the Epicurean theory that atoms moved, not in parallel, but collided over time to create large objects, e.g planets etc. It was centuries before science caught up with Epicurus. Explanations of modern scientists are more sophisticated, but Epicurus was on the right track. Not that he gets much recognition from science. But we recognise him as being smarter than most.

One Comment

  1. Creationism and intelligent design have been utterly debunked by numerous experts.
    Educated Christians accept the work of science and can nonetheless find a central place in their lives for Jesus of Nazareth and his teachings. But there are a substantial number of people in the Bible belt who are threatened by science, which finds logical reasons for natural phenomena , but which contradicts the literal words of the bible. They cling to these words in desperation. If only they realized that you can still be a Christian and live comfortably with science and the modern world. Education is the answer, but in those parts of the planet ( or at least the US) there is little incentive to educate the population, for obvious reasons.

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