lew@ihuxr.UUCP (Lew Mammel, Jr.) (02/16/84)
I tried looking up Maxwell's view of origins but I found very little. Several books of the "Great Men of Science" variety only covered his achievements in E-M and molecular theory. The old edition of Encyclopedia Brittanica had nothing either. The new edition contained this statement, (quoting from memory): Maxwell was conservative by nature and conformist in religion. In the debates over evolution, which were at a peak at the time, he generally sided with the clerics. In the old edition of E.B. under COSMOGONY, we find that Maxwell was a severe critic of the Laplacian Nebular hypothesis. He argued quite effectively that the shear forces in the supposed primeval nebula would have prevented condensation of the planets. This closely relates to some work he did early in his career on the dynamics of Saturn's rings. It seems likely to me that he was motivated by his religious views to press this point as vigorously as he did. The E.B. COSMOGONY article stated that his criticism of the Nebular hypothesis was instrumental in its taking second place to the collision theory in the early 1900's. It also stated that the Nebular hypothesis regained prominence as a result of revised density and composition estimates. Actually, I think the collision, or accretion theory is the winner now. There was a cover article in SCI-AM within the last few years about computer simulations of planetary formation. So, it would seem to be fair to cite Maxwell as a "creationist", although I really wonder what his position was on earth chronology and the Flood. Perhaps Ray Miller can fill us in. I think it's noteworthy that his criticism's were so influential, regardless of his motivations. There have been other prestigious anti-evolutionists, most notably Louis Agassiz. Such critics were part of the scientific community and don't make a good comparison with the current creationist movement, which advances a variety of different cosmologies, none of which connect at any point with the established facts of geology, astronomy, paleontology, etc. Lew Mammel, Jr. ihnp4!ihuxr!lew