ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. In Matter and Spirit in the Universe, a book published by Imperial College Press in 2004, examined the subject in connection with a broader investigation of the relationship between cosmology and Christian religion. The lack of scholarly interest in the debate concerning the cosmological implications of the entropy law is all the more surprising in light of the fact that it attracted a large number of scientists, intellectuals and social critics. The history of thermodynamics, starting about 1840 with the law of energy or 'force' conservation, has been thoroughly covered by historians of science, and there is no need to cover the same ground. The central theme of my study, the relationship between thermodynamics and religion in pre-Einsteinian cosmology, is focused around the concepts of decay and origin. Holton emphasizes- perhaps over-emphasizes -the persuasiveness and invariance of themata.
