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Written by Thomas E. Woods, Jr., Ph.D., 2005, published by Regnery Publishing, Inc.
I'm still reading this book, but all I can say is "Wow, the Church did all that?"
The premise of this book is to show that no institution has done more to advance Western Civilization than the Catholic Church. It touches on many subjects, but in my opinion doesn't dig deep enough in most. This 225 page book could have easily been 1000 pages. It covers:
Why modern science was born in the Catholic Church
How Catholic priests developed the idea of free-market economics five hundred years before Adam Smith
How the Catholic Church invented the university
Why what you know about the Galileo affair is wrong
How Western law grew out of Church canon law
How the Chruch humanized the West by insisting on the sacredness of all human life
Did you know the person credited as the father of geology is a Catholic Priest named Father Nicholas Steno? The father of Egyptology was Father Athanasius Kircher? The first person to measure the rate of acceleration of a freely falling body was another priest, Father Giambattista Riccioli. Father Roger Boscovich is often credited as the father of modern atomic theory. Jesuits so dominated the study of earthquakes that seismology became known as "the Jesuit science." There are 35 craters on the moon named after Jesuit priests? Did you know the Catholic Church gave more financial aid and social support to the study of astronomy for over six centuries, from the recovery of ancient learning during the late Middle Ages into the Enlightenment, than any other, and, probably, all other instituitions.
How about international law? This was developed in 16th century Spanish universities. Father Francisco de Vitoria earned the title of father of international law after studying Spanish mistreatment of the natives of the New World.
"Rights" come from the canon law of the Catholic Church, not John Locke or Thomas Jefferson. Modern economics? Credit Spanish theologians of the 15th and 16th century.
A very enlightening book. Frightenly, very little of this information is available in Western Civ textbooks in high school or college.
I'm still reading this book, but all I can say is "Wow, the Church did all that?"
The premise of this book is to show that no institution has done more to advance Western Civilization than the Catholic Church. It touches on many subjects, but in my opinion doesn't dig deep enough in most. This 225 page book could have easily been 1000 pages. It covers:
Why modern science was born in the Catholic Church
How Catholic priests developed the idea of free-market economics five hundred years before Adam Smith
How the Catholic Church invented the university
Why what you know about the Galileo affair is wrong
How Western law grew out of Church canon law
How the Chruch humanized the West by insisting on the sacredness of all human life
Did you know the person credited as the father of geology is a Catholic Priest named Father Nicholas Steno? The father of Egyptology was Father Athanasius Kircher? The first person to measure the rate of acceleration of a freely falling body was another priest, Father Giambattista Riccioli. Father Roger Boscovich is often credited as the father of modern atomic theory. Jesuits so dominated the study of earthquakes that seismology became known as "the Jesuit science." There are 35 craters on the moon named after Jesuit priests? Did you know the Catholic Church gave more financial aid and social support to the study of astronomy for over six centuries, from the recovery of ancient learning during the late Middle Ages into the Enlightenment, than any other, and, probably, all other instituitions.
How about international law? This was developed in 16th century Spanish universities. Father Francisco de Vitoria earned the title of father of international law after studying Spanish mistreatment of the natives of the New World.
"Rights" come from the canon law of the Catholic Church, not John Locke or Thomas Jefferson. Modern economics? Credit Spanish theologians of the 15th and 16th century.
A very enlightening book. Frightenly, very little of this information is available in Western Civ textbooks in high school or college.