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Galileo’s Defence of Science
The greatest European scientist in the early 1600s was the Italian physicist and astronomer Galileo Galilei (1564–1642). In astronomy he pioneered the use of the telescope and defended the theory of a sun-centered universe, advanced by the Polish astronomer Nicholas Copernicus in 1543. His public support of Copernicus disturbed Catholic clergymen and theologians, who were Read more
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A Creation Myth from Ancient Egypt
In the beginning nothing existed but the deep, dark waters of Nun. There was no land and no sky. No gods, no people, no light and no time. Only the endless, motionless waters. But deep within the still waters of Nun there floated a perfect egg. And trapped within that perfect egg was a solitary Read more
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What Buddha Discovered While Sitting Under the Bodhi Tree
The monk Gautama awoke in the morning to the sound of birds singing. He was covered with dirt and dust, and his robe was so tattered and threadbare it no longer covered his body. He remembered seeing a corpse in the cemetery the day before, and he guessed that today or tomorrow people would lift Read more
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Pakistan and Islam: An Ideological Confusion
It would seem self-evident that, as a Muslim homeland built in the name of Islam, Pakistan would be better equipped than most states to define the role of Islam in national politics. Yet, the debate on the place of Islam in national life has raged on, muddied by the claims and counter-claims of its many Read more
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What Sex Meant in Ancient Greece
In Plato’s Symposium, Aristophanes tells a story about the origin of human beings. According to his myth, humans descend from creature who had spherical bodies, genitals on the outside, four hands and feet, two faces each, and were divided into three genders: one group had two male genitals; the second group had two female genitals; Read more
