Pictures
Paintings from Chauvet cave, southern France, dated around 30,000 years before present.
[photo: wikimedia commons] |
![]() [picture from Faithful to Science, p.85] |
The jigsaw puzzle pieces will make either a fish or a cat, but only one of these constructions will fit correctly into the rest of the puzzle. In a similar way, natural processes can be interpreted in more than one way, making two different pictures of the universe: either meaningless and directionless, or meaningful and purposeful. Scientific analysis on its own will not tell you which is right. It is only when we take seriously the intangible but no less real context of our full experience that the universe can be interpreted correctly—the realities of justice and injustice, hope and fear, love and hate. We have to decide which of these is the truth of things, and which the distortion. |
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If you search on the web, you can readily find some more beautiful images relating to the evolutionary story of life on Earth, but I picked this one because it does a good job of showing the fact that many branches come to an end, and it hints at the fact that the full picture is not tidy. No tree picture shows this perfectly; the full story has cross-links and complications, like a bush rather than a tree, but a tree is the right metaphor for the main lines of the story. Here are some links where you can explore this further:
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![]() Periodic table by f–l–A–r–k |
This lovely artwork by f–l–A–r–k shows the periodic table of the elements, with each element evoked by a fractal or other image that suggests something of its chemical nature or ordinary form. For the original, see here. |
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Pisum sativum subsp. elatius: the common garden pea plant. [image source] |
![]() A scientific gathering in early 1860s Moravia |
Friars of the Augustinian Abbey in Old Brno, Moravia (Czech Republic), early 1860s. From left to right: B. Vogler, A. Rambousek, A. Alt (mathematics teacher), T. Bratránek (philosopher, with a special interest in natural sciences), J. Lindenthal, G. Mendel (teacher of physics, meteorologist and botanist), V.Sembera, P. Krízkovský (musician and composer), J. B. Vorthey, Abbot N. C. Napp (expert in biblical studies and botanist), M. Klácel (philosopher, with a special interest in natural sciences). Mendel holds a fuchsia in his hand. [source: Mendel Museum of Genetics] |
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A notable feature of the leap shown here is that there is something nice and solid to land on on the other side. |
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