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Durham E-Theses Popular Theology from Popular Scientists: Assessing the Legacy of Eddington and Jeans as Apologists REYNOLDS, JONATHAN,OWEN How to cite: REYNOLDS, JONATHAN,OWEN (2017) Popular Theology from Popular Scientists: Assessing the Legacy of Eddington and Jeans as Apologists , Durham theses, Durham University. Available at Durham E-Theses Online: http://etheses.dur.ac.uk/12370/ Use policy The full-text may be used and/or reproduced, and given to third parties in any format or medium, without prior permission or charge, for personal research or study, educational, or not-for-prot purposes provided that: • a full bibliographic reference is made to the original source • a link is made to the metadata record in Durham E-Theses • the full-text is not changed in any way The full-text must not be sold in any format or medium without the formal permission of the copyright holders. Please consult the full Durham E-Theses policy for further details. Academic Support Oce, Durham University, University Oce, Old Elvet, Durham DH1 3HP e-mail: [email protected] Tel: +44 0191 334 6107 http://etheses.dur.ac.uk 2 Popular Theology from Popular Scientists: Assessing the Legacy of Eddington and Jeans as Apologists Abstract This thesis asserts and demonstrates that the current historical evaluation of the significance of Arthur Eddington and James Jeans is inadequate. Not only has their importance in the years between the two World Wars been forgotten, but their transitional role in the science and religion debate post-Darwin is now largely unrecognised. Both had a major influence on subsequent popular apologists and Eddington in particular influenced post war academic theologians as diverse as Thomas Torrance and Eric Mascall. It is generally accepted that the apologetic writings of Eddington and Jeans were widely read and were adept at conveying their message. They have, however, been increasingly ignored by historians and theologians. This thesis argues that their work post-Darwin on the new physics of the early twentieth century was significant in steering the science and religion dialogue in the United Kingdom away from the more conflict-based approaches such as the beginnings of creationism in the United States. Further their deployment of metaphor, ability to engage in dialogue with the public through the press and the new technology of the wireless were innovative and left a legacy for apologetics and the science and religion dialogue. By an examination of three key texts, a new account is given of the authors’ importance and of the reactions of contemporary theologians, philosophers and scientists. Their work brought the latest science to bear on important areas of traditional theological debate in an accessible way and to a good apologetic end. The role of intuition and ‘seeking’ in relation to Eddington’s writing shows a fresh Quaker-influenced approach to apologetics and the science and religion debate. The widely-accepted role of Susan Stebbing in the post-war decline of Eddington and Jeans is examined and dismissed as simplistic. A new analysis of the reasons for their decline and neglect is made. Jeans and Eddington remind us that the importance of general cultural trends and contemporary events in the science and religion debate is often overlooked. The history of the reception of their apologetic work and the pattern of their continuing significance illustrate the connectedness of theology with current events. 1 Popular Theology from Popular Scientists: Assessing the Legacy of Eddington and Jeans as Apologists Jonathan Owen Reynolds Submitted for the Degree of Ph.D. Department of Theology and Religion Durham University 2017 2 CONTENTS Acknowledgements 7 Chapter One: Theology, Popularisation and Apologetics 8 1.1 Introduction 8 1.2 Reasons for Re-Examining the Significance of Eddington and Jeans 9 1.3 The ‘Eddington and Jeans Phenomena’ 13 1.4 Resources for the Study of Eddington and Jeans 17 1.5 The Publishing Success of Eddington and Jeans 22 Chapter Two: The Physical and Unseen Worlds at the Start of the Twentieth Century 26 2.1 British Christianity and Christian Theology at the Start of the Twentieth Century 26 2.2 European Theology and The Physical World in the Early Twentieth Century 30 2.3 The Relationship between Science and Theology at the Start of the Twentieth Century 34 2.4 Physics and Astronomy at the Start of the Twentieth Century 40 Chapter Three: The Most Distinguished Astrophysicist of His Time 44 3.1 The Formation of a Quaker 44 3.2 The Renewal of the Centrality of the Inward Light in the British Society of Friends 45 3.3 The Development of a Physicist 49 3.4 Eddington the Populariser 51 3.5 The Gifted Gifford Lecturer 55 3.6 A Quaker amongst Quakers 65 3 Chapter Four: The Mysterious Universe of James Jeans 72 4.1 The Making of a Populariser 72 4.2 From Text Books to Best-Sellers 75 4.3 Into the Deep Waters 88 Chapter Five: Two Reactions to Eddington and Jeans 99 5.1 Introduction 99 5.2 Bertrand Russell – Mathematician Turned Philosopher 99 5.3 Joseph McCabe – Friar Turned Sceptic 106 5.4 Two Critics of Eddington and Jeans 112 Chapter Six: Theology Encounters the New Physics 113 6.1 Introduction 113 6.2 Eddington and Jeans on the Creation and End of the Universe 113 6.3 The Role of Intuition and Seeking in Religion and Science 126 6.4 The Design Argument 138 6.5 Eddington and Determinism 154 6.6 Conclusion 168 4 Chapter Seven: Idealism and Two Physicists 170 7.1 Introduction 170 7.2 Idealism with a Scientific Tinge or Science with an Idealistic Tinge? 170 7.3 Idealism in Eddington 176 7.4 Idealism in Jeans 179 7.5 C E M Joad – The Precise Realist Critic 181 7.6 William Ralph Inge – A Theologian amongst the Scientists 190 7.7 Twentieth Century Apologetics 195 7.7.1 Introduction 195 7.7.2 G K Chesterton 196 7.7.3 Charles Raven 199 7.8 Conclusion 206 Chapter Eight: Stebbing and the use of Language 207 8.1 Introduction 207 8.2 Susan Stebbing 207 8.3 Language and the Physicists 210 8.4 Eddington’s Description of Sub-Atomic Structure 213 8.5 The Use of the Language of Philosophical Idealism 217 8.6 Metaphors for the Indescribable? 222 8.6.1 Metaphor in Jeans’ Writings 225 8.6.2 Metaphor in Eddington’s Writings 227 8.7 Clearing Away the Emotional Fog of Stebbing 230 5 Chapter Nine: Assessing the Legacy 232 9.1 Introduction 232 9.2 The Rise of Eddington and Jeans 232 9.3 The Decline of Eddington and Jeans 233 9.4 The Continuing Significance of Eddington and Jeans as Transitional Figures 238 9.5 The Strengths and Weaknesses of The Mysterious Universe 240 9.6 The Success of The Nature of the Physical World 244 9.7 The Legacy of Eddington to Academic Theology 248 Chapter Ten: Conclusions 253 10.1 Introduction 253 10.2 The Importance of General Cultural Trends 253 10.3 The Strength of God and the Astronomers 255 10.4 Eddington and Jeans as Popular Apologists 256 10.5 Summary 267 Bibliography 269 6 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The copyright of this thesis rests with the author. No quotation from it should be published without the author’s prior written consent and information derived from it should be acknowledged. I would like to thank the following: Professor David Wilkinson, my supervisor; Professor Dame Jocelyn Bell Burnell for conversations regarding Arthur Eddington; Dr James Reynolds for conversations regarding the psychology of perception; Dr Mike Parsons and Mr Ray Slade for various discussions on physics and astronomy; Mr Tim Gee for conversations on The Religious Society of Friends and Mr David Fraser for discussions on twentieth century history. I would also like to thank Mrs Alison Bliss for assistance with translations from French and German and Mr Geoffrey Williams and Mrs Eileen Bigg for assistance with classical languages. An earlier version of Section 6.4 The Design Argument, was given as a paper entitled ‘Design in the Thought of James Jeans’ at the Christians in Science Conference in Durham in 2006. An earlier version of Section 6.3 The Role of Intuition and Seeking in Religion and Science was given at the Science and Religion Forum Conference in Windsor in 2011 and was subsequently published as ‘Inspiration and Intuition in the Thought of Arthur Eddington’ in Inspiration in Science and Religion edited by Michael Fuller. Furthermore, I would also like to thank the Librarians and Archivists of the following institutions: St John College, Durham; Durham University Library; Trinity College, Cambridge; The Royal Society, London; The Royal Astronomical Society, London; The Royal Institution Archives, London; The Gladstone Library, Hawarden; Merchant Taylors School, Northwood; The Woodbrooke Quaker Study Centre, Birmingham; The Library of the Religious Society of Friends, London; The Sir Robert Ball Library of The Society for the History of Astronomy, Birmingham and Dr Williams’s Library, London. Unless otherwise stated, all italics are as in the original. 7 CHAPTER ONE THEOLOGY, POPULARISATION AND APOLOGETICS 1.1 Introduction The initial contention of this thesis is that the current evaluation of the historical significance of Sir Arthur Eddington and Sir James Jeans is inadequate and in need of a reappraisal. In the years between the two World Wars they were very well known and widely respected. They first came to British public attention as popularisers of ‘the new physics’ in a number of accessible books. Such a reappraisal leads on to some important conclusions about their significance. These books helped move the general public on from a Victorian, mechanistic, deterministic and naïve view of science to a more nuanced understanding of physics from the sub-atomic world to the universe at large.
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