Mathematics – Logic
Scientific paper
Jan 2010
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2010aas...21540004l&link_type=abstract
American Astronomical Society, AAS Meeting #215, #400.04; Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, Vol. 42, p.216
Mathematics
Logic
Scientific paper
Famed fantasy writer C.S. Lewis (1898-1963) was known to friends as a well-read astronomy aficionado. However, this medieval scholar and Christian apologist embraced a pre-Copernican universe (with its astrological overtones) in his Chronicles of Narnia series and defended the beauty and relevance of the geocentric model in his final academic work, "The Discarded Image". In the "Ransom Trilogy” ("Out of the Silent Planet", "Perelandra", and "That Hideous Strength") philologist Ransom (loosely based on Lewis's close friend J.R.R. Tolkien) travels to Lewis's visions of Mars and Venus, where he interacts with intelligent extraterrestrials, battles with evil scientists, and aids in the continuation of extraterrestrial Christian values. In the final book, Ransom is joined by a handful of colleagues in open warfare against the satanic N.I.C.E. (National Institute for Coordinated Experiments). Geneticist and evolutionary biologist J.B.S. Haldane criticized Lewis for his scientifically inaccurate descriptions of the planets, and his disdain for the scientific establishment. Lewis responded to the criticism in essays of his own. Another of Lewis's favorite scientific targets was atheist Fred Hoyle, whom he openly criticized for anti-Christian statements in Hoyle's BBC radio series. Writer and Lewis friend Dorothy L. Sayers voiced her own criticism of Hoyle. In a letter, Lewis dismissed Hoyle as "not a great philosopher (and none of my scientific colleagues think much of him as a scientist.” Given Lewis's lack of respect for Hoyle, and use of creative license in describing the planets, and the flat-earth, "geocentric” Narnia, it is surprising that Lewis very carefully includes an astronomically correct description of red giants in two novels in the Narnia series ("The Magician's Nephew" and "The Last Battle"). This inclusion is even more curious given that Fred Hoyle is well-known as one of the pioneers in the field of stellar death and the properties of red giants.
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