Reading Revolutions...holding the history of thought...

To offset the brain-draining effect of talking about ID, I want to share an amazing experience and program. If you are in or near Maine, plan to travel up to the Univ. of Maine at Farmington (I know, I know, “Like I need another reason to travel to Farmingont”) to see/experience “Reading Revolutions: Great Minds, Great Thoughts.” On display there are a sampling of materials held by the Remnant Trust, ranging from Euclid’s, “First Siz Elements of Geometry (1705, 1st English Edition) to Hobbes, “Leviathan (1615, 1st Edition) to Mill’s, “On Liberty” (1859, 1st Edition) to Paine’s, “Common Sense” (2nd Printing) to Newton’s, “The Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy” (1729, 1st Edition) and on and on (47 volumes in total).

One of the remarkable aspects of the Remnant Trust’s mission is that they *insist* that everything they put on loan be able to be handled…that is, you can hold, examine and read every single one of the items on display. After spending too much time over the last week on the specious debate surrounding ID, sitting for a spell with Newton’s Principia Mathematica in my hands was a soul cleansing experience. I suggest that holding Galileo’s Dialogues (1710, 1st Thus with “letters” and Kepler’s “commentario”) and Wollstonecraft’s, “Vindication of the Rights of Woman” is a remarkably “centering” experience. To have this exceptional collection of seminal works in one spot and available to handle is really a treat and I can not recommend taking advantage of the opportunity highly enough.