The World at the Time of Sir Isaac Newton Essay -- History, Protestant

When most people hear the name Isaac normality, they think of various laws of physics and the story of the apple falling from the tree in addition, some may even think of him as the inventor of calculus. However, there was much more to newtons life which was in part form by the happenings around the world. The seventeenth century was a time of great upheaval and change around the world. The tumultuousness of this era was due mostly to governmental and religious unrest which in effect had a great impact on the mathematics and science discoveries from the time Newton was born in 1646 until the aboriginal 1700s. Newtons birth in 1646 came at the tail-end of the 30-years war which was fought in Central Europe. The war began in 1618 in Bohemia over religious differences between Protestants and Catholics moreover as time passed, the war became more political and soon most countries in Europe were involved (Ellis & Esler, 1999). The war ended in 1648 by a series of treaties know s as the Pease of Westphalia with France coming out victorious gaining land from both Spain and Germany (Ellis & Esler, 1999). The tension felt between the Protestants and Catholics was mirrored in England where there was a obliging war beginning in 1640 and continuing until 1659. Early in the civil war Oliver Cromwell was chosen as leader of Parliament with his staunch Puritan beliefs he soon became a leader of the Protestant side of the war. During this time, many considered England to be almost in anarchy with groups such as the Ranters, Levellers, and Diggers battling over various religious and political beliefs (Merriman, 1996). In 1649 Charles I, who had been King of England prior to the civil war, was beheaded and England became a Commonwealth and ... ... the true founder of calculus however, much of the notation used directly is courtesy of Leibniz because, according to many mathematicians, his notation is far superior to Newtons (OConnor & Robertson, Calculus Histo ry, 1996). So, how did the events around the world during the seventeenth century help Newton develop calculus? In England and much of Europe science became a part of public life of the seventeenth century (Merriman, 1996). Charles II created the Royal nightclub of London for Improving Natural Knowledge in 1662 where many scientists studied and discussed their theories (Merriman, 1996). The Reformers victory in the English civil war gave Newton and other scientists their voice and the courage to study and find many of the scientific discoveries, as this was not the case with Galileo and many other scientists in Catholic countries (Merriman, 1996).

Pope Pius XII and the Jews Essay -- essays research papers

The twentieth century was marked by genocides on an monstrous scale. one of the most terrible was the Holocaust wrought by national socialist Germany, which killed an estimated six jillion European Jews and almost as many other victims. During this dark time, the Catholic Church was shepherded by Pope Pius XII, who proved himself an untiring foe of the Nazis, determined to celebrate as many Jewish lives as he could. Yet immediately Pius XII gets almost no credit for his actions onward or during the war. Anti-Catholic author Dave hightail it writes, "The Vatican had no excuse for its Nazi partnership or for its continued approving of Hitler on the one hand and its thunderous silence regarding the Jewish question on the other hand. . . . The popes continued in the alliance with Hitler until the end of the war, reaping hundreds of millions of dollars in payments from the Nazi government to the Vatican."1 Jack chick, infamous for his anti-Catholic comic books, tells us i n Smokescreens, "When World war II ended, the Vatican had egg all over its face. Pope Pius XII, after construction the Nazi war machine, saw Hitler losing his battle against Russia, and he immediately jumped to the other array when he saw the handwriting on the wall. . . . Pope Pius XII should incur stood before the judges in Nuremberg. His war crimes were worthy of death."2 One is tempted simply to thaw these accusations, so wildly out of touch with reality, as the deluded ravings of persons with no experience of historical truth. This would underestimate the power of such erroneous charges to influence people some take these writers at their word. Stepping out of the nightmare fantasyland of Hunt and Chick and mainstay into sunlight of the real cosmos, we discover that, not only was Pius XII no helpmate of the Nazis, but that his opposition to them began years before the War, before he was take to the papacy, when he was still Cardinal Eugenio Pacelli, the Vatican Secretary of State. On April 28, 1935, four years before the War even started, Pacelli gave a speech that aroused the attention of the world press. Speaking to an audience of 250,000 pilgrims in Lourdes, France, the future Pius XII stated that the Nazis "are in reality only miserable plagiarists who dress up old errors with rude(a) tinsel. It does not make any difference whether they flock to the banners of social revolution, whether ... ...Catholic Church protested against the Hitlerian onslaught on liberty. Up till then I had not been interested in the Church, but today I feel a colossal admiration for the Church, which alone has had the courage to struggle for spiritual truth and lesson liberty."23 ---------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------- FOOTNOTES 1 Dave Hunt, A Woman Rides the Beast (Eugene, Oregon Harvest House, 1994), 284.2 Jack Chick, Smokescreens (China, California Chick Publications, 1983), 45.3 Robert Graham, S.J., ed. , Pius XII and the Holocaust (New Rochelle, New York Catholic League for Religious and urbane Rights, 1988), 106.4 Joseph Lichten, "A Question of Moral Judgement Pius XII and the Jews," in Graham, 107.5 Pinchas E. Lapide, Three Popes and the Jews (New York Hawthorn, 1967), 118.6 Ibid., 121.7 Lichten, 107.8 Graham, 18.9 Ibid., 19.10 Lichten, 30.11 Ibid., 99.12 Ibid., 120.13 Ibid., 125.14 Ibid., 126.15 Lapide, 133.16 Lichten, 127.17 Graham, 62.18 Lichten, 130.19 American Jewish Yearbook 1944-1945, 233.20 Lapide, 133.21 Ibid., 215.22 Ibid., 227-228.23 Ibid., 251. Pope Pius XII and the Jews Essay -- essays research text file The twentieth century was marked by genocides on an monstrous scale. One of the most terrible was the Holocaust wrought by Nazi Germany, which killed an estimated six million European Jews and almost as many other victims. During this dark time, the Catholic Church was shepherded by Pope Pius XII, who proved himself an untiring foe of the Nazis, determined to save as many Jewish lives as he could. Yet today Pius XII gets almost no credit for his actions before or during the war. Anti-Catholic author Dave Hunt writes, "The Vatican had no excuse for its Nazi partnership or for its continued commendation of Hitler on the one hand and its thunderous silence regarding the Jewish question on the other hand. . . . The popes continued in the alliance with Hitler until the end of the war, reaping hundreds of millions of dollars in payments from the Nazi government to the Vatican."1 Jack Chick, infamous for his anti-Catholic comic books, tells us in Smokescreens, "When World War II ended, the Vatican had egg all over its face. Pope Pius XII, after building the Nazi war machine, saw Hitler losing his battle against Russia, and he immediately jumped to the other side when he saw the handwriting on the wall. . . . Pope Pius XII should have stood before the judges in Nuremberg. His war crimes were worthy of death." 2 One is tempted simply to dismiss these accusations, so wildly out of touch with reality, as the deluded ravings of persons with no sense of historical truth. This would underestimate the power of such erroneous charges to influence people Many take these writers at their word. Stepping out of the nightmare fantasyland of Hunt and Chick and back into sunlight of the real world, we discover that, not only was Pius XII no friend of the Nazis, but that his opposition to them began years before the War, before he was elected to the papacy, when he was still Cardinal Eugenio Pacelli, the Vatican Secretary of State. On April 28, 1935, four years before the War even started, Pacelli gave a speech that aroused the attention of the world press. Speaking to an audience of 250,000 pilgrims in Lourdes, France, the future Pius XII stated that the Nazis "are in reality only miserable plagiarists who dress up old errors with new tinsel. It does not make any difference whether they flock to th e banners of social revolution, whether ... ...Catholic Church protested against the Hitlerian onslaught on liberty. Up till then I had not been interested in the Church, but today I feel a great admiration for the Church, which alone has had the courage to struggle for spiritual truth and moral liberty."23 ---------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------- FOOTNOTES 1 Dave Hunt, A Woman Rides the Beast (Eugene, Oregon Harvest House, 1994), 284.2 Jack Chick, Smokescreens (China, California Chick Publications, 1983), 45.3 Robert Graham, S.J., ed., Pius XII and the Holocaust (New Rochelle, New York Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights, 1988), 106.4 Joseph Lichten, "A Question of Moral Judgement Pius XII and the Jews," in Graham, 107.5 Pinchas E. Lapide, Three Popes and the Jews (New York Hawthorn, 1967), 118.6 Ibid., 121.7 Lichten, 107.8 Graham, 18.9 Ibid., 19.10 Lichten, 30.11 Ibid., 99.12 Ibid., 120.13 Ibid., 125.14 Ibid., 126.15 Lapide, 133.16 Lichten, 127.17 Graham, 62.18 Lichten, 130.19 American Jewish Yearbook 1944-1945, 233.20 Lapide, 133.21 Ibid., 215.22 Ibid., 227-228.23 Ibid., 251.