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CHRISTINE LOVE-RODGERSNEW COLLEGE LIBRARIAN
&ACADEMIC LIAISON LIBRARIAN, DIVINITY
UNIVERSITY OF EDINBURGH
Science and religion : a natural history
Innovative Learning Week
Science and religion : a natural history
A display showcasing items from New College Library’s Collections on the themes of :
Man and the Natural World in the Enlightenment
Science and scriptureKey thinkers in Science and Religion
What is the Natural History Collection at New College Library?
Several of the items in this display are drawn from New College Library’s Natural History Collection, a Special Collection numbering about 175 books. This dates from the early days of New College, where ‘Natural Science’ was taught until 1934. The collection covers the mid-nineteenth century controversies over evolution and natural selection, with geology particularly well represented. There is a focus on Scottish natural history and on texts by Scots writers.
Brookes, R. A new and accurate system of natural history, containing, 1. The history of quadrupeds …London : 1763. Nat. 109
Richard Brookes (fl. 1721–1763), was a physician and author. These striking animal illustrations are taken from Volume 1 of a series covering the whole of the natural world. A bookplate and stamp marks the item as originating from the United Presbyterian Library.
Isaaci Newtoni opera quae exstant omnia / commentariis illustrabat Samuel Horsley … London 1779. Sir Isaac Newton NAT 166-167
Sir Isaac Newton (1642–1727), was a natural philosopher and mathematician.
This is volume X from Samuel Horsley’s (1733-1806) five volume edition of Newton’s complete works. Isaaci Newton Opera quae Exstant Omnia and printed in 1779
It came from the Edinburgh Theological Library. The endpapers show doodles and drafts of mathematical figures.
James Hutton / Theory of the Earth. 1795MH 3/2
The geologist James Hutton (1726–1797),was born in Edinburgh, and his life spanned the greatest years of the Scottish Enlightenment.
This is the first two volume edition of this work, which laid the foundation of the modern science of geology.
While Hutton was a theist, believing that a beneficent deity had designed the geological operations of the earth, his theories were controversial because they still implicitly rejected the biblical account of creation.
Joseph PriestleyThe history and present state of electricity 1794 Nat 170
Joseph Priestley, (1733–1804), was a theologian and natural philosopher, sometime Dissenting minister and schoolmaster.
A major figure of the British Enlightenment, he is remembered today for his scientific work, such as the identification of oxygen, but in his own day he was known as a voice for liberal reform of government, education, and theology
This volume was bequeathed to Free Church College Library by George Waddell of Rashiehill who died on the 21st of May 1846.
Wells, Edward. An historical geography of the Old and New Testament … 1809. Nat. 87.
Edward Wells, (1667–1727) was a Church of England clergyman and educationist.
This image shows a fold out engraved illustration of the 'Inside of the Ark‘
Wells has attempted to provide a rational plan of how all the animals required could be fitted into Noah’s Ark. The text on adjoining pages details the precise numbers and nature of the species considered to be housed in each area.
Hugh Miller. The Old Red Sandstone, 1841.Nat 45. Hand coloured illustration.
In 1840 Hugh Miller (1802–1856), geologist, evangelical journalist, and writer became editor of The Witness, a new paper founded to support the congregational independence of the Free Church of Scotland. It was in this paper that the first of his Old Red Sandstone papers appeared that made him famous.
A bookplate marks this volume as presented to the Protesting Free Church in 1843, making it one of the very first donations to the new Free Church library – New College Library.
Hugh Miller. Testimony of the Rocks. TR/D5.
Hugh Miller became the leading figure of popular geology in the 1840s and 1850s.
His unimpeachable Christian credentials helped make geology acceptable as a morally and physically improving outdoor pursuit.
This volume, with its frontispiece illustration, signed Hugh Miller, has a bookplate inscribed Natural Science Class – Elder Bequest, 1869. It originally came from the collection that supported the teaching of Natural Science at New College in the nineteenth century.
Thomas Henry HuxleyMan’s Place in Nature – 1877 ed. C4/a1
Thomas Henry Huxley, (1825–1895), was a biologist who developed theories for the evolution of man and apes from a common ancestor.
Man’s Place in Nature was originally published in 1863, in between Darwin’s Origin of Species (1859) and Descent of Man (1871).
Huxley’s anatomical theories contibuted to the Victorian science and scripture debate.
Charles Kingsley.Scientific Lectures & Essays– 1885.Nat. 146
Charles Kingsley (1819–1875), novelist and Church of England clergyman, was fascinated by natural history, particularly marine biology.
This volume contains essays such as “On Bio-Geology” , “Thoughts in a Gravel-Pit “ and “The Natural Theology of the Future”
Often controversially outspoken on social and religious issues, he supported Darwinian theories of evolution.
Arthur Eddington. Science and the unseen world. London : G. Allen and Unwin, 1929. C3/b5
Arthur Eddington (1882–1944) was a theoretical physicist and astrophysicist
Beginning his career in stellar research, Eddington led an expedition in May 1919 to observe the solar eclipse and test one of the predictions of Einstein's bold new theory of gravitation . His success made Eddington a public figure overnight, and he went on to write highly successful popular scientific books.
Eddington was a member of the Society of Friends throughout his life, and his religious beliefs shaped the direction of his scientific work which asserted the primacy of mind or consciousness over quantum uncertainty.
Accessing our collections
Request Special Collections items by completing Special Collections slips – available at Helpdesk
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New College Library Special Collections
Christine Love-RodgersNew College LibrarianAcademic Liaison Librarian -Divinity [email protected] : NewCollegeLibrarian@cloverodgershttp://www.ed.ac.uk/is/new-college-libraryhttp://newcollegelibrarian.wordpress.com/
