Abstract

This book was planned as a joint work by the two authors, but the death of Nogar in 1967 left Deely to carry out the original plan alone. The purpose of the book is to challenge the reader to think about the evidence for an evolving world and the impact of such a world on diverse areas of human concern. The authors have assembled nineteen articles written by fifteen different authors. Introducing each article is an essay which places it in the context of the whole work. An extensive introductory essay by the authors shows that the development of evolutionary science has offered a model alternative to that presented by mathematical physics. Tracing the historical and philosophical origins of these two models, the editors suggest that the static world view going back to Aristotle is not the only conclusion which can be drawn from the great philosopher’s work. Rather, this world view depends on emphasizing his work on the apparently non-changing heavens; another picture would have emerged had more emphasis been placed on the dynamism of the living world. Unfortunately, the involved structure of this introductory essay may dissuade some readers from pondering its important insights.