THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, September 3, 1995 TAG: 9508310622
SECTION: COMMENTARY PAGE: J2 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Book Review
SOURCE: BY TOM ROBOTHAM
LENGTH: Medium: 98 lines
SCIENCE AND THE FOUNDING FATHERS
Science in the Political Thought of Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, John Adams and James Madison
I. BENHARD COHEN
W.W. Norton. 368 pp. $25.
Throughout history, scientific innovations have changed the way people think, not only about science itself but about religion, art, philosophy and politics. Darwinism is perhaps the best example of this phenomenon, but it is not the only one.
Unfortunately, good books about the cross-disciplinary impact of science are rare. Historians generally lack the scientific knowledge necessary to undertake such studies. And scientists tend to be too absorbed in their specialties to write about the broader implications of their work.
I. Bernard Cohen is an exception to this rule. As professor emeritus of the history of science at Harvard University, and the author of more than 20 books, he has demonstrated his skill at exploring scientific developments within broad cultural contexts. Now, in his most wide-ranging study yet, Cohen has examined the ways in which scientific theories shaped the political thought and writings of the founding fathers. In particular, he focuses on the founders' interest in the ideas of Isaac Newton.
As Cohen points out, the practice of using scientific metaphors and analogies in sociopolitical arguments was common in the 18th century. The English philosopher George Berkeley, for example, wrote that there is a ``principle of attraction'' in the ``Spirits or Minds of Men,'' which is analogous to the force of gravity in the Newtonian universe. This social force of gravity, Berkeley believed, was what drew people together into social and political organizations.
In a similar manner, Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin and James Madison all looked to science for ideas that would help them advance their political and philosophical views. ``The founding fathers used science as a source of metaphors,'' Cohen writes, ``because they believed science to be a supreme expression of human reason. Science, furthermore, represented knowledge that was certain, removed from metaphysical suppositions and from ungrounded hypotheses and speculations. . .. embodied. . . values that every builder of a political system wanted to emulate.''
After an informative if somewhat disjointed introductory chapter, Cohen explores specific instances of how scientific thought helped shape the nation's founding documents. His discussion of the ``Newtonian overtones'' in the Declaration of Independence is especially interesting because it reveals nuances of meaning that are generally overlooked. In particular, he sees a close association between Jefferson's ``self-evident'' truths and Newton's axioms. Neither man's theories were universally self-evident when they were initially espoused, Cohen writes. Rather, they were both axiomatic in a newer sense of the word: That is, they were basic truths ``accepted by those who had been converted to a new and correct way of thinking.''
``When Jefferson composed the declaration,'' writes Cohen, ``the validity of the beliefs expressed in this document was still unproved, was still a matter to be decided by the future course of history. The Newtonian axioms had been validated by. . . the return of Halley's comet in 1758. Jefferson and his colleagues were convinced that the beliefs set forth in the declaration would be similarly validated. . . by the future course of history.''
Later in the book, Cohen shows how scientific metaphors were sometimes invoked inaccurately. He asserts that John Adams, for example, misconstrued Newtonian physics in his arguments for a balance of powers within the U.S. government. But Cohen is no nitpicker. He keeps such errors in perspective and is ultimately impressed with the second president's respect for science, even if that respect did not always result in precise thinking.
In the end, the most interesting facet of this book is not its examination of specific scientific concepts. Rather, the book is important because it evokes an era that is strikingly different from our own - an era in which educated men cared passionately about science and its relationship to society as a whole.
- MEMO: Tom Robotham is a historian and free-lance writer who lives in Norfolk. ILLUSTRATION: Graphic
Photos
Isaac Newton
Ben Franklin
John Adams
Thomas Jefferson
James Madison
Shared ideas
The founding fathers drew from the ideas of Isaac Newton in
developing their political philosophies
by CNB