New Heavens and a New Earth: The Jewish Reception of Copernican Thought

Author:   Jeremy Brown (Associate Professor of Emergency Medicine, Associate Professor of Emergency Medicine, George Washington University)
Publisher:   Oxford University Press Inc
ISBN:  

9780199754793


Pages:   416
Publication Date:   13 June 2013
Format:   Hardback
Availability:   Manufactured on demand   Availability explained
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New Heavens and a New Earth: The Jewish Reception of Copernican Thought


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Overview

"In this ground-breaking study of the Jewish reception of the Copernican revolution, Jeremy Brown examines four hundred years of Jewish writings on the Copernican model. Brown shows the ways in which Jews ignored, rejected, or accepted the Copernican model, and the theological and societal underpinnings of their choices.Throughout New Heavens and a New Earth are deft historical studies of such colorful figures as Joseph Delmedigo, the first Jewish Copernican and a student of Galileo's; Tuviah Cohen, who called Copernicus the ""Son of Satan;"" Zelig Slonimski, author of a collection of essays on Halley's Comet; and contemporary Jewish thinkers who use Einstein's Theory of Relativity to argue that the Earth does not actually revolve around the sun. Brown also provides insightful comparisons of concurrent Jewish and Christian writings on Copernicus, demonstrating that the Jewish reception of Copernicus was largely dependent on local factors and responses.The book concludes with the important lessons to be learned from the history of the Jewish reception of Copernican thought, and shows how religions make room for new scientific descriptions of reality while upholding their most cherished beliefs."

Full Product Details

Author:   Jeremy Brown (Associate Professor of Emergency Medicine, Associate Professor of Emergency Medicine, George Washington University)
Publisher:   Oxford University Press Inc
Imprint:   Oxford University Press Inc
Dimensions:   Width: 16.10cm , Height: 2.50cm , Length: 23.60cm
Weight:   0.718kg
ISBN:  

9780199754793


ISBN 10:   0199754799
Pages:   416
Publication Date:   13 June 2013
Audience:   College/higher education ,  Undergraduate ,  Postgraduate, Research & Scholarly
Format:   Hardback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   Manufactured on demand   Availability explained
We will order this item for you from a manufactured on demand supplier.

Table of Contents

Introduction Chapter 1 - Nicolas Copernicus and His Revolution Chapter 2 - The Talmudic View of the Universe Chapter 3 - David Gans and the First Mention of Copernicus in Hebrew Literature Chapter 4 - The First Jewish Copernican: Rabbi Joseph Solomon Delmedigo Chapter 5 - ''Copernicus Is the Son of Satan.'' The First Jewish Rejections of Copernicus Chapter 6 - David Nieto and Copernicanism in London Chapter 7 - The Jewish Encyclopedias Chapter 8 - The Eighteenth Century. Jews and Copernicus in the Newtonian Era Chapter 9 - ''I Have Written a Book For the Young People.'' David Friesenhausen's Mosdot Tevel Chapter 10 - The Nineteenth Century: Copernicus Without Hesitation Chapter 11 - ''Let Copernicus and a Thousand Like Him Be Removed From the World.'' Reuven Landau's Rejection Chapter 12 - The Modern Period Chapter 13 - Relativity and Contemporary Jewish Geocentrists Chapter 14 - Conclusions Appendix Bibliography

Reviews

Jeremy Brown has written a deeply researched and insightful account of a fascinating chapter in the often-fraught encounter between religion and science: the impact of the Copernican revolution on Jewish thinkers from its first appearance to today. This is an enthralling work, a wonderful addition to scholarship on a subject that continues to engage us today. --Chief Rabbi Lord Sacks, author of The Great Partnership: God, Science and the Search for Meaning This fascinating volume offers both a definitive history of the Jewish encounter with Copernican thought and a carefully-nuanced analysis of how religion and science interact. A model study. --Jonathan D. Sarna, Braun Professor of American Jewish History, Brandeis University and Chief Historian, National Museum of American Jewish History, Philadelphia, PA New Heavens and a New Earth presents a fascinating study of a major subject of early modern and modern Jewish intellectual history. Jeremy Brown has written a comprehensive, intelligent, well researched, and well-written survey of the long history of Jewish responses to Copernicus. His masterful treatment of the subject is clearly the best written to date, revising, correcting, and significantly enlarging all previous accounts. Brown's work is a major contribution not only to the history of Jewish thought on cosmology and science but is also important in providing scholars a comparative lens through which to consider Jewish responses with those already well-known within the Christian world and beyond. --David B. Ruderman, Joseph Meyerhoff Professor of Modern Jewish History, University of Pennsylvania Reams have been written about the gradual acceptance of Copernicus's sun-centered system, but this book blazes a new trail: the Jewish reception of heliocentric cosmology. A moving earth challenged the tenets of the Jewish faith, and, as in Catholic and Protestant circles, it took centuries to shake off a strictly literal reading of t


<br> Jeremy Brown has written a deeply researched and insightful account of a fascinating chapter in the often-fraught encounter between religion and science: the impact of the Copernican revolution on Jewish thinkers from its first appearance to today. This is an enthralling work, a wonderful addition to scholarship on a subject that continues to engage us today. --Chief Rabbi Lord Sacks, author of The Great Partnership: God, Science and the Search for Meaning<br><p><br> This fascinating volume offers both a definitive history of the Jewish encounter with Copernican thought and a carefully-nuanced analysis of how religion and science interact. A model study. --Jonathan D. Sarna, Braun Professor of American Jewish History, Brandeis University and Chief Historian, National Museum of American Jewish History, Philadelphia, PA<p><br> New Heavens and a New Earth presents a fascinating study of a major subject of early modern and modern Jewish intellectual history. Jeremy Brown has written a comprehensive, intelligent, well researched, and well-written survey of the long history of Jewish responses to Copernicus. His masterful treatment of the subject is clearly the best written to date, revising, correcting, and significantly enlarging all previous accounts. Brown's work is a major contribution not only to the history of Jewish thought on cosmology and science but is also important in providing scholars a comparative lens through which to consider Jewish responses with those already well-known within the Christian world and beyond. --David B. Ruderman, Joseph Meyerhoff Professor of Modern Jewish History, University of Pennsylvania<p><br> Reams have been written about the gradual acceptance of Copernicus's sun-centered system, but this book blazes a new trail: the Jewish reception of heliocentric cosmology. A moving earth challenged the tenets of the Jewish faith, and, as in Catholic and Protestant circles, it took centuries to shake off a strictly literal reading of t


Brown has provided a major work of historical scholarship which is sure to provide a vital point of reference in the science-religion debate for years to come. * Mark Harris, The Expository Times *


Author Information

Jeremy Brown is associate professor of emergency medicine at the George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences in Washington DC. He has written for Discover Magazine, and his op-ed pieces have appeared in The New York Times and The Washington Post.

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