Matthew Stanley

In 1916, Arthur Eddington, a war-weary British astronomer, opened a letter written by an obscure German professor named Einstein. The neatly printed equations on the scrap of paper outlined his world-changing theory of general relativity. Until then, Einstein's masterpiece of time and space had been trapped behind the physical and ideological lines of battle, unknown. Many Britons were rejecting anything German, but Eddington realized the importance of the letter- perhaps Einstein's esoteric theory could not only change the foundations of science but also lead to international co-operation in a time of brutal war. Einstein's name is now synonymous with 'genius', but it was not an easy road. He spent a decade creating relativity and his ascent to global celebrity, which saw him on front pages around the world, also owed much to against-the-odds international collaboration, including Eddington's crucial expedition of 1919 - which was still two years before they finally met. We usually think of scientific discovery as a flash of individual inspiration, but here we see it is the result of hard work, gambles and wrong turns - in this case subject to the petty concerns of nations, religions and individuals. Einstein's War is a moving human story of a pair on opposite sides of history who came together for science. It sheds light on science through history, and the physics is more accessible as a result- we see relativity built brick-by-brick in front of us, as it happened 100 years ago.

How Relativity Triumphed Amid the Vicious Nationalism of World War I

Einstein's War

During the Victorian period science shifted from being practiced in a theistic context (integrating religious considerations and ideas) to a naturalistic context (explicitly forbidding religious matters). This book examines the foundations of that change. While it is generally thought that the transformation was due to the methodological superiority of naturalistic science, Matthew Stanley shows that most of the methodological values underlying scientific practice were virtually identical between the theists and the naturalists. Each agreed on the importance of the uniformity of natural laws, the use of hypothesis and theory, the moral value of science, and intellectual freedom. This was despite the claims by both groups that those fundamentals were intrinsic to their worldview, and completely incompatible with that of their opponents. Stanley goes on to argue that the victory of the scientific naturalists came from deliberate strategies executed over a generation to gain control of the institutions of scientific education and to re-imagine the history of their discipline. Rather than a sudden revolution, the similarity between theistic and naturalistic science allowed for a relatively smooth transition in practice from the old guard to the new. "Huxley's Church and Maxwell's Demon" explores this shift through a parallel study of two major scientific figures: James Clerk Maxwell, a devout Christian physicist, and Thomas Henry Huxley, the iconoclast biologist who coined the word agnostic. Both were deeply engaged in the methodological, institutional, and political issues that were crucial to the theistic-naturalistic transformation. The author s astute examination of the ascendance of scientific naturalism sheds new light on the controversies over science and religion in modern America. "

From Theistic Science to Naturalistic Science

Huxley's Church and Maxwell's Demon

Be a Hero! the Quest for Authentic Leadership

Chris Heivly

In Build the Fort, Heivly breaks down his personal fort-building experiences and uses them as an analogy to his journey as co-founder of MapQuest as well as The Startup Factory (a seed-stage investor & mentorship program).Build the Fort outlines five basic elements that are common to both fort-building and startups:* Socializing Your Idea without fear or inhibition,* Identifying and Marshaling the People You Trust, * Gathering the Minimal Resources Closest To You, * Acting on the Smallest and Simplest of the Idea, and* Build the Fort.Whether you are 16 or 60, Build The Fort will provide the reader a better understanding of the earliest micro-steps of starting your own business by overlaying Chris's 30 years of experiences in startups, investments, big-company intrapreneurship and community development.

Why 5 Simple Lessons You Learned As a 10 Year-Old Can Set You Up for Startup Success

Build the Fort

Pre-publication subtitle: The birth of relativity amid the vicious nationalism of World War I.

During the Victorian period, the practice of science shifted from a religious context to a naturalistic one. It is generally assumed that this shift occurred because naturalistic science was distinct from and superior to theistic science. Yet as Huxley’s Church and Maxwell’s Demon reveals, most of the methodological values underlying scientific practice were virtually identical for the theists and the naturalists: each agreed on the importance of the uniformity of natural laws, the use of hypothesis and theory, the moral value of science, and intellectual freedom. But if scientific naturalism did not rise to dominance because of its methodological superiority, then how did it triumph? Matthew Stanley explores the overlap and shift between theistic and naturalistic science through a parallel study of two major scientific figures: James Clerk Maxwell, a devout Christian physicist, and Thomas Henry Huxley, the iconoclast biologist who coined the word agnostic. Both were deeply engaged in the methodological, institutional, and political issues that were crucial to the theistic-naturalistic transformation. What Stanley’s analysis of these figures reveals is that the scientific naturalists executed a number of strategies over a generation to gain control of the institutions of scientific education and to reimagine the history of their discipline. Rather than a sudden revolution, the similarity between theistic and naturalistic science allowed for a relatively smooth transition in practice from the old guard to the new.

Lost World, is a political thriller with a twist: the protagonist is a strong, female pacifist. Tessa Thurston is enjoying a pre-wedding vacation with her fiancé Corbin Carswell at a five-star resort, when a series of simultaneous terrorist attacks occur across the US. Tessa is touring the underground bunker of The Lost Springs Resort, when the bunker—a supposedly decommissioned safe site utilized by the Vice President in the event of war—locks down, trapping Tessa with a few of her friends and handsome tour guide Sam Houston. Tessa and Sam soon discover that there is a second, secret part of the bunker where a covert militia has been training for a political takeover opportunity, such as these terrorist attacks. Tessa must fight for what she believes in when she learns that her beloved Corbin isn't just a wealthy banker, but a key figure in an international plan to strip the US of her power and create a New World Order.

Matthew Stanley

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