Author: Richard C. Carrier Publisher: Prometheus Books ISBN: 1616145609 Category : History Languages : en Pages : 254
Book Description
This in-depth discussion of New Testament scholarship and the challenges of history as a whole proposes Bayes’s Theorem, which deals with probabilities under conditions of uncertainty, as a solution to the problem of establishing reliable historical criteria. The author demonstrates that valid historical methods—not only in the study of Christian origins but in any historical study—can be described by, and reduced to, the logic of Bayes’s Theorem. Conversely, he argues that any method that cannot be reduced to this theorem is invalid and should be abandoned. Writing with thoroughness and clarity, the author explains Bayes’s Theorem in terms that are easily understandable to professional historians and laypeople alike, employing nothing more than well-known primary school math. He then explores precisely how the theorem can be applied to history and addresses numerous challenges to and criticisms of its use in testing or justifying the conclusions that historians make about the important persons and events of the past. The traditional and established methods of historians are analyzed using the theorem, as well as all the major "historicity criteria" employed in the latest quest to establish the historicity of Jesus. The author demonstrates not only the deficiencies of these approaches but also ways to rehabilitate them using Bayes’s Theorem. Anyone with an interest in historical methods, how historical knowledge can be justified, new applications of Bayes’s Theorem, or the study of the historical Jesus will find this book to be essential reading.
Author: Richard Carrier Publisher: ISBN: 9781616145590 Category : Bayesian statistical decision theory Languages : en Pages : 0
Book Description
In this in-depth discussion of New Testament scholarship and the challenges of history as a whole, historian Richard C. Carrier proposes Bayess Theorem as a solution to the problem of establishing reliable historical criteria.
Author: Peter Kosso Publisher: World Scientific ISBN: 1786348195 Category : Science Languages : en Pages : 286
Book Description
'This book offers an excellent explanation of the scientific method and its use, through case studies from astronomy, physics, and philosophy. Summing Up: Recommended. Lower- and upper-division undergraduates. General readers.'CHOICE'In summary this is a lovely, elegant book which reminds us that physics is not an exercise in mathematics but a self-consistent system of thought based on measurement and informed observation which depends on interpretation by the human mind in the context of the science of the day. It is a valuable reminder of the underlying human quality in physics that gets lost in the 'shut up and calculate' methodology of the more esoteric branches of the science.'The ObservatoryWe know the Earth rotates, but how do we know? When and how did it become reasonable to believe that the Earth rotates?This book offers a historical account, from ancient Greek science to the theory of relativity and ultimately to videos taken from outer space, of how this widely known truth came to be. Using an accessible and entertaining narrative suitable for anyone interested in astronomy, physics, or the history of either, Kosso clarifies the use of evidence to prove that the Earth rotates, and deals with the tension between the claims that the Earth is absolutely in motion, yet all motion is relative. The book also explores the general nature of scientific evidence and method, and confronts challenges to science from outside the discipline.
Author: Josh Garrett-Davis Publisher: Little, Brown ISBN: 0316199850 Category : History Languages : en Pages : 192
Book Description
Growing up in South Dakota, Josh Garrett-Davis knew he would leave. But as a young adult, he kept going back -- in dreams and reality and by way of books. With this beautifully written narrative about a seemingly empty but actually rich and complex place, he has reclaimed his childhood, his unusual family, and the Great Plains. Among the subjects and people that bring his Midwestern Plains to life are the destruction and resurgence of the American bison; Native American "Ghost Dancers," who attempted to ward off destruction by supernatural means; the political allegory to be found in The Wonderful Wizard of Oz; and current attempts by ecologists to "rewild" the Plains, complete with cheetahs. Garrett-Davis infuses the narrative with stories of his family as well -- including his great-great-grandparents' twenty-year sojourn in Nebraska as homesteaders and his progressive Methodist cousin Ruth, a missionary in China ousted by Mao's revolution. Ghost Dances is a fluid combination of memoir and history and reportage that reminds us our roots matter.
Author: Scott Kirsch Publisher: Rutgers University Press ISBN: 9780813536668 Category : History Languages : en Pages : 284
Book Description
In Proving Grounds, Scott Kirsch traces the rise and fall of this astonishing cold war initiative. He examines the work that went into making "geographical engineering" or "earthmoving" an imminent possibility as well as the public controversy, scientific uncertainty, and political opposition that kept it--with the exception of several massive craters in the Nevada desert--out of the landscape.
Author: S. James Gates, Publisher: PublicAffairs ISBN: 1541762231 Category : Science Languages : en Pages : 368
Book Description
A thrilling adventure story chronicling the perilous journey of the scientists who set out to prove the theory of relativity--the results of which catapulted Albert Einstein to fame and forever changed our understanding of the universe. In 1911, a relatively unknown physicist named Albert Einstein published his preliminary theory of gravity. But it hadn't been tested. To do that, he needed a photograph of starlight as it passed the sun during a total solar eclipse. So began a nearly decade-long quest by seven determined astronomers from observatories in four countries, who traveled the world during five eclipses to capture the elusive sight. Over the years, they faced thunderstorms, the ravages of a world war, lost equipment, and local superstitions. Finally, in May of 1919, British expeditions to northern Brazil and the island of Príncipe managed to photograph the stars, confirming Einstein's theory. At its heart, this is a story of frustration, faith, and ultimate victory--and of the scientists whose efforts helped build the framework for the big bang theory, catapulted Einstein to international fame, and shook the foundation of physics.
Author: Richard C. Carrier
Author: Richard Carrier![The history of ancient America ... proving the identity of the aborigines with the Tyrians and Israelites [&c.]. PDF](https://books.google.com/books/content/images/frontcover/8YABAAAAQAAJ?fife=w80-h100)
Author: George Jones
Author: Peter Kosso
Author: George Jones
Author: Josh Garrett-Davis
Author: Scott Kirsch
Author: S. James Gates,
Author: Walter Honywood Yate
Author: Alexander McCaul