Astronomy and General Physics Considered with Reference to Natural Theology

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.