Traditional accounts of the scientific revolution focus on such thinkers as Copernicus, Galileo, and Newton, and usually portray it as a process of steady, rational progress. There is another side to this story, and its protagonists are more likely to be women than men, dilettante aristocrats than highly educated natural philosophers. The setting is not the laboratory, but rather the literary salons of seventeenth- and eighteenth-century France, and the action takes place sometime between Europe's last great witch hunts and the emergence of the modern world.Science for a Polite Society is an intriguing reexamination of the social, cultural, and intellectual context of the origins of modern science. The elite of French society accepted science largely because of their personal involvement and fascination with the emerging philosophy of nature. Members of salon society, especially women, were avid readers of works of natural philosophy and active participants in experiments for the edification of their peers. Some of these women went on to champion the new science and played a significant role in securing its acceptance by polite society.As Geoffrey Sutton points out, the sheer entertainment value of startling displays of electricity and chemical explosions would have played an important role in persuading the skeptical. We can only imagine the effects of such drawing-room experiments on an audience that lived in a world illuminated by tallow candles. For many, leaping electrical arcs and window-rattling detonations must have been as convincing as Newton's mathematically elegant description of the motions of the planets.With the acceptance and triumph of the new science came a prestige that made it a model of what rationality should be. The Enlightenment adopted the methods of scientific thought as the model for human progress. To be an ?enlightened? thinker meant believing that the application of scientific methods could reform political and economic life, to the lasting benefit of humanity. We live with the ambiguous results of that legacy even today, although in our own century we are perhaps more impressed by the ability of science to frighten, rather than to awe and entertain.
This book is about creating surveys and reading survey research. It is aimed at leaders and professionals in many fields who want a practical quide to constructing surveys and using them to collect opinions and evaluate programs or policies. It also offers a reader's quide to research methods and statistics. I also hope the book will help students with a variety of basic research projects." -- Back cover
A unique work of international reference with more than 300 individual articles on the most important authors, this resource tells the fascinating story of the development of the literature from its humble beginnings in 1887 to its worldwide use in every literary genre today.
Living Well: 10 Big Ideas of Faith and a Meaningful Life encourages readers to draw on their faith to build a meaningful life based on 10 Big Ideas found in the scriptures. True stories illustrate these time-tested principles of humility, courage, generosity, gratitude, hope, forgiveness, rest, self-control, joy, and love. Short chapters, inspirational stories, and scientific evidence along with end-of-chapter-questions make this an ideal book for group study or personal growth. In addition, group leaders will find links to additional resources to enhance any discussion.
...a well written, comprehensive, and very helpful guide to understanding and counseling Pentecostal and Charismatic Christians. It is a substantial and unique contribution to Christian counselibng and also to the field of counseling and psychotherapy." -- Back cover
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