A religious past to science: How Biblical stories have contributed to the construction of scientific knowledge

Authors

  • Daniel Gamito-Marques Interuniversity Center for the History of Science and Technology (CIUHCT), NOVA School of Science and Technology, Lisbon (Portugal). https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5734-3571

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.7203/metode.14.26559

Keywords:

Bible, Creation, Noah’s Flood, fossils, Darwin’s theory of evolution

Abstract

Stories captivate us by speaking to our imagination and by giving order and meaning to our world. Stories not only give us knowledge about society, but they can also shape our understanding of nature. In the Western world, Christianity has provided narratives that were used as references in scientific research for centuries. In this article I discuss two such examples, the Creation story and the story of Noah and the Great Flood, and explain their prevalence in scientific endeavors conducted in the West. These stories were only replaced by alternative ones when new scientific theories and concepts were given sufficient coherence to explain new discoveries.

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Author Biography

Daniel Gamito-Marques, Interuniversity Center for the History of Science and Technology (CIUHCT), NOVA School of Science and Technology, Lisbon (Portugal).

Historian of science at the Interuniversity Center for the History of Science and Technology (CIUHCT), NOVA School of Science and Technology, based in Lisbon (Portugal). His main academic interests are science and imperialism (19th–20th centuries), and the history of natural history (18th–19th centuries). He is also a published playwright interested in the power of storytelling to discuss complex scientific subjects in education, literature, and the performing arts.

References

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Gamito-Marques, D. (2020). In praise of a historical storytelling approach in science education. Isis, 111, 582–587. https://doi.org/10.1086/711126

Graham, D. W. (2018). Physical and cosmological thought before Aristotle. In A. Jones & L. Taub (Eds.), Cambridge history of science. Volume 1: Ancient science (pp. 163–180). Cambridge University Press.

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Stiling, R. L. (2000). The Genesis Flood. In G. B. Ferngren (Ed.), The history of science and religion in the Western tradition: An encyclopedia (pp. 453–457). Garland Publishing.

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Published

2024-01-11

How to Cite

Gamito-Marques, D. (2024). A religious past to science: How Biblical stories have contributed to the construction of scientific knowledge. Metode Science Studies Journal, (14), 145–149. https://doi.org/10.7203/metode.14.26559
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Storytelling. Science through stories

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