Practical Mystic: Religion, Science, and A. S. Eddington Hardcover – Illustrated, November 1, 2007

Undoubtedly one of the best historically influenced biographies I have ever read. For those who do not know about A.S. Eddington, I highly suggest this read, especially to those interested in the dialogue that occurs between science and religion. Props to Matthew Stanley for composing this excellent work!

'Practical Mystic' sets out the thesis that 'valence values', that is, values which tend and are able to facilitate interaction between science and culture (p.6), affect the practice and role of science. Eddington (1882-1944) was a gifted and eminent British mathematician, astronomer and physicist, one of the most important scientists of the early twentieth century. He was widely known internationally in his time for his analysis of data from the 1919 eclipse expedition which evidenced Einstein's law of relativity. Eddington was pivotal in disseminating Einstein's theory of relativity both academically and popularly. He was also a birthright and practising Quaker, a pacifist and internationalist in and immediately after a time of war. He gave the 1929 Swarthmore Lecture, Science and the Unseen World.Stanley examines incidents from Eddington's professional life to show how Eddington's seeking, mysticism, internationalism, pacifism and experience transferred from his personal life to his scientific methodology. Stanley takes a synoptic approach: this is neither a biography of Eddington, nor an exposition of Eddington's scientific achievements, but rather draws on episodes in his career to argue powerfully that science and religion are not mutually exclusive categories.Stanley argues convincingly that Eddington's methodology in his early work on stellar structure arose directly from his Quaker seeking. Eddington eschewed the accepted mathematical deductive approach (that is, to proceed only after defending his assumptions) and instead moved beyond what he could prove and simply attempted to advance the theory. The uncertainty of Eddington's foundations was justified at the end when he was able to demonstrate that his theory was insensitive to variations in the basic parameters (p55). Similarly, in his 1927 Gifford Lectures Eddington emphasised that his interest was in the use rather than the truth of the theory of relativity. His main goal in the Lectures, however, was to show that religion was not incompatible with physical science.The chapter on pacifism gives a keen insight into the jingoistic nature of British patriotism and the complex difficulties conscientious objectors (including Eddington) experienced during the First World War. Stanley shows how episodes of difference brought out aspects of Eddington's approach. Eddington's dispute with James Jeans (Chapter 2) revealed his innovative methodology; his later philosophical dispute with Chapman Cohen (Chapter 6) how his science influenced his religious thinking.Stanley argues rather grandly in his final chapter that his use of the vocabulary of values allows investigation of a field of interaction between science and religion which the theological presuppositions and scientific a priori of traditional historiography on science and religion has missed. This may be true of the history of science, but not of Quaker Studies.The book reads as though it were a PhD thesis. Stanley received his PhD from Harvard in 2004 and has published several articles (2003; 2007; 2008) whose abstracts suggest a striking resemblance to the contents of chapters 3, 2 and 6 respectively, so it may indeed be the book of the thesis, although no such reference is made. Using the term 'valence value' for seeking, mysticism and experience rather forces a point, since they are not values at all and personal experience (whether religious or not) influences the choices anyone makes. Unlike in an examined piece of work, the book's main argument does not need to rely on such a device.A general reader might struggle to understand all the scientific nuances (several times Stanley refers to Gμν without explaining what it is or what it means) , but the drift of the argument can be followed nonetheless.Whilst Stanley is strong on the history and science, his references to mysticism and religious experience are slight. He neither defines what he means by, nor describes the content of, Eddington's religious experience. To be fair, however, Eddington's personal papers were destroyed in 1944, so there is unlikely to be any record of his religious experience. Stanley relies solely on Rufus Jones's peculiar 1917 definition of mysticism as 'affirmative', 'practical' and 'conative' with no distinction between the inner and outer life (p38), whereas a scholar of religion would expect reference to fleeting experiences of God (Stace 1960; James 1982 [1902]; Hay 1990). Stanley seems unaware of scholarly discussion of mysticism. The book's index is also irritatingly sparse.For the Quaker scholar there are some glaring misunderstandings and omissions. Stanley describes 'the Quaker value' as reliance on 'individual' experience (p190), ignoring the corporate dimension which is so germane to Quakers. He uses secondary, largely American sources to discuss British Quakerism. This can be justified only where Stanley discusses Rufus Jones' influence on Eddington, but some of the references post-date the point under discussion, for example, he refers to the 1908 Kendal Summer School with Jones' 1912, 1917, 1922 and 1928 writings (pp37-38 and ENs p253) – only the 1909 reference could be justified by its proximity. His usage also morphs without explanation from 'Inward Light' in the book's early discussion to 'Inner Light' in its later conclusions. He consistently uses the misnomer 'Society of Friends' instead of the correct 'Religious Society of Friends'. Whilst Stanley quotes minutes from Monthly Meeting business, he nowhere describes how Quaker meeting for worship differs from other Christian practice of the period, concentrating instead on activism, thought and belief. A fruitful consequent speculation might have been that there was a link between the unique way in which an insight can occur unexpectedly in the stillness of meeting with Eddington's innovative methodology in his early work. (But perhaps only a Quaker insider could apprehend that possibility.)Overall, however, such criticisms are minor; the book is excellent value and well worth the attention of any reader interested in the period in general or in the history of developments in early twentieth century science and philosophy in particular.

Sir Arthur Eddington and Sir James Jeans had a powerfulimpact on the thinking of Benjamin Lee Whorf, the famousanthropological linguist. How Whorf absorbed and transformedtheir ideas in his polemical and academic writings is afascinating chapter in the history of ideas."The Benjamin Lee Whorf Legacy" CD-ROM is described in detailat petercrollins.com and can be purchased for libraries at thatsite.So much of what was explored by Eddington, Jeans, and Whorf isdirectly relevant to current debates about the age of the earth,Darwinism, etc. It is upsetting to watch the current defenders offaith NOT use this information to help their argument; then andnow, the defense of faith has not been without sophisticated andscientific advocates!Peter [email protected][...]

This is the first work I've read by Matthew Stanley - he is insightful and thorough, using Eddington as a focus for delving into the hot topic of science and religion. The book is extremely well-written, and clear enough for the lay reader to understand. I highly recommend it for anyone interested in the interaction of science and religion.