Astronomy and General Physics Considered with Reference to Natural Theology

A leading Victorian philosopher of science argues for the existence of a divine designer.

William Whewell was a leading Cambridge intellectual of the Victorian period, active in science, theology and philosophy, and a contemporary of Darwin and Faraday. In this 1833 contribution to The Bridgewater Treatises, Whewell argues that study of the laws of nature confirms the existence of a divine law-giver.A leading British intellectual of the Victorian era, William Whewell (1794-1866) was a contemporary and adviser of Herschel, Darwin and Faraday. A geologist, astronomer, theologian and Master of Trinity College, Cambridge, he was best known for his works on moral philosophy and the history and philosophy of science, and for coining, among others, the term 'scientist'. This book, originally published in 1833, is one of a series of treatises published with the help of a legacy from the Earl of Bridgewater (d.1829), intended to contribute to an understanding of the world as created by God. Though an advocate of religion, Whewell accepts that progress in science leads to an understanding of the laws and processes of the natural world. He argues, however, that ultimately the scientific understanding of creation, astronomy, and the laws of the universe only serves to confirm the idea of a divine designer.