Religious conflicts

Factorial functions can be approximated by a formula called Stirling s formula. It is named after James Stirling (1692-1770), a Scot who began his career in mathematics amid political and religious conflicts. He was friends with Isaac Newton, but devoted most of his life after 1735 to industrial management. His ingenious formula for approximating factorial values is... 

Religious conflict broke early. Niels believed literally what he learnt from the lessons on religion at school, says Oskar Klein. For a long time this made the sensitive boy unhappy on account of his parents lack of faith. Bohr at twenty-seven, in a Christmastime letter to his fianc6e from Cambridge, remembered the unhappiness as paternal betrayal I see a little boy in the snow-covered street on his way to church. It was the only day his father went to church. Why So the little boy would not feel different from other httle boys. He never said a word to the little boy about belief or doubt, and the little boy believed with all of his heart. ... 

The existence of ethnic, cultural or religious differences within a state do not in themselves cause a conflict, but they contribute to the incidence or escalation of conflict, if they develop into a political problem... 

Many believe in a simple solution increase exploration and drilling in other areas. There may be as much as 270 billion barrels of oil in the Caspian Sea region, a part of the former Soviet Union. To use this oil we would have to deal with countries in an unstable area. The U.S. would also compete against other nations of the world, all of which are thirsty for oil which is also essential for the production of food and the manufacture of many products. Beyond these problems is a rapidly growing world population and an area with contested borders and conflicting political and religious ideologies. 

Although my research interests have broadened considerably since that time, in the last twenty years (all my work is referenced in the Bibliography) I have been a part-time parapsychologist, investigating a wide variety of psi phenomena. This book is my attempt to share some of the adventure, the frustration, and the satisfaction of those twenty years. I now understand that the personal conflict I experienced between my religious upbringing and the scientific world view was and is shared by many of us. 

Some people wonder if the big bang theory is in conflict with religious teachings. In view of such concerns, it is of interest to note that the first big-bang-like theory was proposed by a Belgian priest, Georges Edouard Lemaitre. 

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