Ronald Numbers

Short description: American historian of science (1942–2023)

Ronald Numbers

Numbers in 2008

Born| (1942-06-03)June 3, 1942
Died| July 24, 2023(2023-07-24) (aged 81)
Nationality| American
Education| Southern Missionary College (BA)
Florida State University (MA)
University of California, Berkeley (PhD)
Awards| George Sarton Medal
Scientific career
Fields| History of science
Institutions| University of Wisconsin–Madison
Website| Academic homepage

Ronald Leslie Numbers (June 3, 1942 – July 24, 2023) was an American historian of science. He was awarded the 2008 George Sarton Medal by the History of Science Society for "a lifetime of exceptional scholarly achievement by a distinguished scholar".[1]

## Contents

* 1 Biography
* 2 Writings
* 2.1 Prophetess of Health
* 2.2 The Creationists
* 2.3 Galileo Goes to Jail and Other Myths About Science and Religion
* 3 Bibliography
* 4 References
* 5 External links

## Biography

Ronald Leslie Numbers was the son of a fundamentalist Seventh-day Adventist preacher, and was raised in the Seventh-day Adventist religion and schools well into college.[1] Regarding religious beliefs, he described himself as agnostic, and has written, "I no longer believe in creationism of any kind".[2] He became a leading scholar in the history of science and religion and an authority on the history of creationism and creation science.

Numbers was educated at Southern Missionary College, and obtained his master's degree at Florida State University.[3] Numbers received his Ph.D. in history of science from University of California, Berkeley, in 1969.[4] He was Hilldale and William Coleman Professor of the History of Science and Medicine at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. From 1989 to 1993 he was editor of Isis, an international journal of the history of science. With David Lindberg, he has co-edited two anthologies on the relationship between religion and science. Also with Lindberg, he had edited the eight-volume Cambridge History of Science.

Ronald Numbers died on July 24, 2023, at the age of 81.[5]

## Writings

### Prophetess of Health

In 1976, while still a lecturer at Loma Linda University, he published the book Prophetess of Health. The book is about the relationship between Seventh-day Adventist Church co-founder and prophetess Ellen G. White and popular ideas about health that were fashionable in certain circles in America just prior to the time during which she wrote her books.[6]

### The Creationists

In 1992, he published The Creationists: The Evolution of Scientific Creationism, a history of the origins of anti-evolutionism. It was revised and expanded in 2006, with the subtitle changed to From Scientific Creationism to Intelligent Design. The book has been described as "probably the most definitive history of anti-evolutionism".[7] It has received generally favorable reviews from both the academic and the religious community.[8] Former archbishop of York John Habgood described it, in an article in The Times, as a "massively well-documented history" that "must surely be the definitive study of the rise and growth of" creationism.[9]

### Galileo Goes to Jail and Other Myths About Science and Religion

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In 2009, he was editor for Galileo Goes to Jail and Other Myths About Science and Religion, where the book focuses on popular misconceptions that are connected between science and religion.[10][11][12]

Among other things the work seeks to debunk various claims, such as that the medieval Christian Church suppressed science, that medieval Islamic culture was inhospitable to science, that the Church issued a universal ban on human dissection in the Middle Ages, that Galileo Galilei was imprisoned and tortured for advocating Copernicanism, or that the idea of creationism is a uniquely American phenomenon.

## Bibliography

* The Warfare Between Science and Religion: The Idea That Wouldn't Die, (Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2018) (ed. with Jeff Hardin, Ronald A. Binzley). ISBN 978-1421426181
* Science and Religion Around the World, (New York: Oxford University Press, 2011) (ed. with John Hedley Brooke). ISBN 978-0-195-32819-6
* "Wrestling with Nature: From Omens to Science", (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2011) (ed.with Peter Harrison and Michael H. Shank). ISBN 9780226317816
* Galileo Goes to Jail, and Other Myths About Science and Religion (ed.) (Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 2009). ISBN 0-674-03327-2
* Prophetess of Health: A Study of Ellen G. White, 3rd Ed. (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans Publishing, 2008).
* Science and Christianity in Pulpit and Pew, (New York: Oxford University Press, 2007).
* The Creationists: From Scientific Creationism to Intelligent Design, (Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 2006),
\- expanded version of The Creationists, (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1992. Reprinted by University of California Press, 1993.) ISBN 978-0-674-02339-0
* When Science and Christianity Meet, (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2003). ed. with David C. Lindberg
* Disseminating Darwinism: The Role of Place, Race, Religion, and Gender, (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999), ed. with John Stenhouse.
* Darwinism Comes to America. (Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 1998).
* God and Nature: Historical Essays on the Encounter Between Christianity and Science, (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1986) ed. with David C. Lindberg. ISBN 978-0-520-05538-4

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 History of Science Society. "2008 Award Winners". http://www.hssonline.org/about/society_awards2008.html.
2. ↑ See introduction to Ronald Number's book (page xvi): The Creationists. See also Prophetess of Health Reappears, an interview of Numbers by Alita Byrd of Spectrum. And Inside the Mind of a Creationist: Ron Numbers & Paul Nelson in discussion
3. ↑ "Ronald Leslie Numbers" (in en). https://www.amacad.org/person/ronald-leslie-numbers.
4. ↑ Numbers, Ronald Leslie (1969). The nebular hypothesis in American thought (Ph.D.). University of California, Berkeley.
5. ↑ "Ronald L. Numbers". July 25, 2023. https://memorials.compassioncremation.com/ronald-numbers/5238762/index.php#details.
6. ↑ Critiques and reviews include "A Critique of the Book Prophetess of Health" by the official church Ellen G. White Estate; Glenn Vandervliet. Isis 69:1 (March 1978), p146–47. JSTOR link. See also the reviews in Spectrum 8:2 (January 1977)
7. ↑ Steve Paulson, "Seeing the light -- of science", Interview with Ronald Numbers, Salon.com, Jan. 2, 2007.
8. ↑ See references in "notable reviews".
9. ↑ The creation of Creationism, John Habgood, The Times, July 23, 2008
10. ↑ Galileo Goes to Jail and Other Myths About Science and Religion — Ronald L. Numbers - Harvard University Press. Harvard University Press. 8 November 2010. ISBN 9780674057418. http://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog.php?isbn=9780674057418.
11. ↑ Dixon, Thomas (2010). "Galileo goes to jail and other myths about science and religion. Edited by Ronald L. Numbers. Pp. xiii+302. Cambridge, Ma.–London: Harvard University Press, 2009. £20.95. 978 0 674 03327 6". The Journal of Ecclesiastical History 61 (4): 789–790. doi:10.1017/S0022046910001703.
12. ↑ Numbers, Ronald L.. Book Reviews - Galileo Goes to Jail and Other Myths About Science and Religion. doi:10.1086/659668.

## External links

* PBS Evolution articles
* Interview with Science & Theology News
* Brief treatise on the history of creationism
* Interview in Salon
* Beyond War and Peace: A Reappraisal of the Encounter Between Christianity and Science
* Salon.com interview
* Video of discussion about creationism/intelligent design with Numbers and creationist Paul Nelson on Bloggingheads.tv
* Ronald Numbers on IMDb

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