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Tanagra darwini by John Gould
Tanagra darwini Darwin's Tanagra by John Gould


Darwin, Dawkins and Divinity - The Conflict between Science and Religion/R.S. Callow

North City Library, Rochdale Road, Manchester, M9 4AF
Mondays 10.00 - 12.00h, ten consecutive weeks from 12th October 2009
Fee £55

Book by 9th September (Manchester Libraries require all room reservations to be confirmed one month in advance):

(1) Download Booking Form

This form is in PDF format. You will need to have Acrobat Reader installed in order to read and print it.
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(2) Book on line
 
 

Darwin, Dawkins and Divinity - The Conflict between Science and Religion/R.S. Callow
United Reform Church, Robins Lane, Bramhall, Cheshire, SK7 2PE
tel. 0161 439 4807; http://www.urcbramhall.co.uk/
Mondays 14.00 - 16.00, ten weeks from 21st September 2009
Book through Wilmslow Guild: tel. 01625 523903; e-mail wilmslowguild@btconnect.com
http://www.wilmslowguild.wikidot.com


Darwin, Dawkins and Divinity - The Conflict between Science and Religion/R.S. Callow
Wilmslow Guild, 1 Bourne Street, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5HD
Thursdays 19.30 - 21.30, ten weeks from 24th September 2009
Book through Wilmslow Guild: tel. 01625 523903; e-mail wilmslowguild@btconnect.com
http://www.wilmslowguild.wikidot.com


Course Outline. The aims of this course are to explore the evidence and reasoning behind the theory of evolution, as advanced by Charles Darwin, and to consider their implications for our understanding of science and religion, as outlined by Richard Dawkins. Each session will begin with a lecture describing the evidence and reasoning behind a scientific topic. It will be followed by a discussion on some aspect of the conflict between science and religion. Your participation will be encouraged. We shall begin with the background to the Enlightenment, so that we can judge Darwin’s ideas in the  context of their time. We shall finish with recent scientific developments.

Lectures will be supported by supplementary notes and by Power-Point presentations which will include graphical and textual evidence. Discussions will be informed by the lectures, recommended books and supplementary notes issued in advance. Students will be encouraged to prepare for issues under discussion, to form their own views and to debate them with others. No specialist knowledge will be assumed. The main requirement is for an open mind but, as Richard Dawkins says, not so open that your brain falls out! The topics under consideration form important constituents of life’s journey. They will test and inform personal philosophies and influence all future experiences of scientific innovation and religious dogma.


        LECTURES                                                                DISCUSSIONS

  1.    Copernicus and the Cosmos                                   General discussion
  2.    Linnaeus: the Cataloguer of Creation                     The Trial of Galileo
  3.    The Riddle of the Rocks                                           Petra - half as old as time?
  4.    Natural Selection                                                       Forces of Change
  5.    The Origin of Species                                               Was your Granny an Ape?
  6.    The Mechanism of Heredity                                      Nature and Nurture
  7.    The overriding importance of Sex                            The Natural History of Religion
  8.    Humanity                                                                     Pride and Prejudice
  9.    The Molecular Revolution                                          Concepts of Divinity
10.   The future of mankind                                                 The New Evangelism

As a result of this course, it should be possible for you to:

1.    Understand Darwin’s reasoning in the context of his time;
2.    Appreciate the strength and fallibility of the Scientific Method;
3.    Form a view of the conflict between science and religion;
4.    Assess the nature of existence and the future of mankind.


Booklist

Andel, T.H. van (2nd ed.,1994). "New views on an old planet". Cambridge University Press,
    Cambridge, UK. ISBN-10 0 521 44755 0

Barnett, S.A. (Ed.,1958). "A Century of Darwin". William Heinemann, London.

Boyko, H. "Science and the Future of Mankind". Indiana University Press.

Crane, N. (2002). "Mercator - the Man who mapped the Planet". Weidenfeld and Nicolson,
    London. ISBN 0 297 64665 6

Darlington, C.D. (1953). "The Facts of Life". George Allen and Unwin, London.

Darlington, C.D. (1969). "The Evolution of Man and Society". George Allen and Unwin,
    London. ISBN 0 04 575011 4

Darwin, C. "The Voyage of the Beagle” (Wordsworth Classics of World Literature).
    Wordsworth Editions Ltd. ISBN 1853264768

Darwin, C. (1859). "The Origin of Species by means of Natural Selection". Penguin Classics
    (Ed. J.W. Burrow), Penguin Books, London, 1968.

Darwin, C. (1889). "The Descent of Man: Selection in Relation to Sex". Penguin Books Ltd,
    ISBN 1573921769

Darwin, C. "From so simple a beginning: Darwin’s four great books". W.W. Norton & Co.
    Ltd. ISBN 0393061345

Dawkins, R. "The Selfish Gene" (3rd ed.). Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK
    ISBN 0199291152

Dawkins, R. "The Blind Watchmaker". Penguin Books Ltd. ISBN 0141026162

Dawkins, R. (2006). "The God Delusion". Bantam Press, London. ISBN 059 30554 89

Dennett, D.C. "Breaking the Spell: Religion as a natural phenomenon". Penguin Books Ltd,
    ISBN 9780141017778

Harris, S. "The End of Faith: Religion, Terror and the Future of Reason". Simon and Schuster
    Ltd. ISBN 0743268091

Hume, D. "Dialogues concerning Natural Religion" (Oxford World Classics). Oxford
    University Press, Oxford, UK. ISBN 048645119

Grafen, A. & Ridley, M. "Richard Dawkins: How a scientist changed the way we think".
    Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK. ISBN 0199214662

Lewis, C. (2000). "The Dating Game - one man’s search for the age of the Earth".
    Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. ISBN 0 521 79051 4

Lyell, C. (1830-3). "Principles of Geology". Penguin Classics (Ed. J.A. Secord), Penguin
    Books, London, 1997.

McGrath, A., and McGrath, J.C. (2007). "The Dawkins Delusion? Atheist Fundamentalism
     and the Denial of the Divine". SPCK Publishing. ISBN 0281059276

Moorehead, A. (1969). "Darwin and the Beagle". Hamish Hamilton, London.
    ISBN 241 01731 9

Paley, W. (1854). "Natural Theology" (Oxford World Classics). Oxford University Press,
    Oxford, UK. ISBN 0766146669

Ridley, M. "The Red Queen: Sex and the Evolution of Human Nature". Penguin Books Ltd,
    ISBN 0140167722

Skelton, P. (Ed., 1993). "Evolution - a Biological and Palaeontological approach". Addison-
    Wesley and Open University, Wokingham, UK. ISBN 0 201 54423 7

Sobel, D. (1999). Galileo’s Daughter. Fourth Estate, London. ISBN 1 85702 861 9

Stace, C.A. (2nd ed.,1991). "Plant Taxonomy and Biosystematics". Cambridge University Press,
    Cambridge, UK. ISBN 0 521 42785 1

White, M.E. (1986). "The greening of Gondwana". Reed (William Heinemann), Chatswood,
    NSW, Australia. ISBN 07301 0390 0