Home » Reading & Literature » Contemporary Fiction » Schweitzer, Scientific Truth, and What If?

Schweitzer, Scientific Truth, and What If?

© Robert Powers

Dr. Albert Schweitzer could be ranked high in any list of the great individuals of the waning 20th century. As a physician, humanitarian, theologist, philosopher and writer, Schweitzer made a deep impression on those varied fields during his 90 years of life. He won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1952.

Since his death in 1965, it has become clear that his life and works should be held in highest regard. To that end, The Albert Schweitzer Institute for the Humanities went in partnership with Johns Hopkins University Press to re-issue some of Schweitzer's greatest creations as a writer.

So far titles include Out of My Life and Thought and The Primeval Forest, both personal accounts of his life, the former his autobiography and the latter his story of his many years in the jungles of Africa. As a theologist, Schweitzer wrote some distinguished works of scholarship. Last year, Johns Hopkins published his The Quest of the Historical Jesus.

Just out in a handsome paperback edition is another excursion into theology. The Mysticism of Paul the Apostle. This book, originally published in 1930, gives what at the time was a fresh and original perspective on the influence of the apostle whose life meant so much to the history of the early Christian church.

In typical fashion, Schweitzer introduces readers to his point of view, that Paul was mysticism was profound, liberating, and precise. Then Schweitzer explains carefully how he came to his conclusions about Paul. For anyone interested in the early Christian church, this is an invigorating and important book. It's good to have it back in print once more.

CREATION OF TRUTH

In May of 1997, science writer John Casti led a dozen writers to a village called Abisko in Sweden, above the Arctic Circle. The idea was to discuss the nature of scientific truth. Casti and his contemporaries were interested in how storytelling influences science.

The results of that debate can be found in the pages of the new book, Mission to Abisko: Stories and Myths in the Creation of Scientific 'Truth' (Perseus Books, $25).

The book contains chapters by writers who are scientists as well as scientists who dabble in writing. There are a number of science fiction authors represented in the text, including Greg Bear, Larry Niven, and Ian Stewart.

Not surprisingly, some of the tales that scientists tell each other tend to be stranger or more fanciful than those they tell the public. If you have any interest in how scientific truth is achieved, this book should offer excellent entertainment with its wide variety of views.

The copyright of the article Schweitzer, Scientific Truth, and What If? in Contemporary Fiction is owned by . Permission to republish Schweitzer, Scientific Truth, and What If? in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.