Post by snacky on Mar 19, 2014 1:16:48 GMT
Watching Murdoch Mysteries has made me more and more curious about the relation of science (particularly challenges to Biblical chronology) relate to secularization and materialism, which are pretty much the roots of the modern world. The first topic I'm looking at is Darwin: declaring people to be a branch of animal instead of a special creation of God was pretty shocking - and the 19th century wasn't all that far from the era of burning heretics.
While William respects and admires the laws of physics and is fascinated by the idea of decidedly unbiblical dinosaurs roaming the earth, even he is aghast when Julia declares that "we are all animals." This made me curious about how Darwin was received at William's Jesuit school.
It turns out that the Jesuit school might have been teaching Darwin with enthusiasm. The hot science at the start of the 19the century was actually Geology, because it was being used to find evidence of the Flood and other seemingly impossible Biblical events. (hmm, how did that fossil fish get to the top of that mountain...?). Darwin himself was primarily interested in geology when he set sail on the Beagle. For religious folks, Darwin found "scientific" explanations of what was already in the Bible: the theory of evolution explained why animals had changed over time, but left them as descendents of God's prototype, working out the consequences of God's wise laws. They were willing to overlook the irritating question about whether the Human prototype wasn't actually human yet.
So the first thought is William could work on a case where science seriously challenges his faith.
Another thing that came up was how the Piltdown Man hoax succeeded because Darwin supporters were eagerly seizing upon any support for their methods they could find. Of course when the Piltdown Man was exposed as a fraud, that discredited Darwinist methods (as well as making them a laughing stock). There are even some theories that Sir Arthur Conan Doyle was involved. Doyle was involved in other hoaxes such as the Cottingley Fairies.
While the Piltdown Man is too late for Murdoch Mysteries, Murdoch could unmask a similar hoax meant to discredit Darwinists. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle might even be involved, as either the perpetrator or the dupe or just an extremely interested investigator. There were many other Bible-proving/disproving hoaxes in the late 19th century, such as the Cardiff Giant. The most likely Piltdown Perpetrator, Charles Dawson, was tinkering with the historic record well before William's career started.
The last interesting thing that caught my eye is that Darwin's father, who was apparently an authoritarian who kept his children in terror, claimed that Darwin's skull changed shape once Darwin started to accomplish stuff and gained the world's admiration. This might have been a reference to phrenology - measuring the skull to determine intelligence and character. I believe this has been casually mentioned before on Murdoch Mysteries, but probably in the context of explaining criminal behavior. The astounding thing is the thought of parents evaluating their children that way. Phrenology was also an important concept in psychiatry - Julia might get a case that hinges on phrenology.
While Darwin died in 1882, he had many colorful followers - social darwinists (re: the Eugenics Society), social materialists (Marxists, communists), and social reformers like the Fabian Society. This is a pretty rich vein of plot material.
While William respects and admires the laws of physics and is fascinated by the idea of decidedly unbiblical dinosaurs roaming the earth, even he is aghast when Julia declares that "we are all animals." This made me curious about how Darwin was received at William's Jesuit school.
It turns out that the Jesuit school might have been teaching Darwin with enthusiasm. The hot science at the start of the 19the century was actually Geology, because it was being used to find evidence of the Flood and other seemingly impossible Biblical events. (hmm, how did that fossil fish get to the top of that mountain...?). Darwin himself was primarily interested in geology when he set sail on the Beagle. For religious folks, Darwin found "scientific" explanations of what was already in the Bible: the theory of evolution explained why animals had changed over time, but left them as descendents of God's prototype, working out the consequences of God's wise laws. They were willing to overlook the irritating question about whether the Human prototype wasn't actually human yet.
So the first thought is William could work on a case where science seriously challenges his faith.
Another thing that came up was how the Piltdown Man hoax succeeded because Darwin supporters were eagerly seizing upon any support for their methods they could find. Of course when the Piltdown Man was exposed as a fraud, that discredited Darwinist methods (as well as making them a laughing stock). There are even some theories that Sir Arthur Conan Doyle was involved. Doyle was involved in other hoaxes such as the Cottingley Fairies.
While the Piltdown Man is too late for Murdoch Mysteries, Murdoch could unmask a similar hoax meant to discredit Darwinists. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle might even be involved, as either the perpetrator or the dupe or just an extremely interested investigator. There were many other Bible-proving/disproving hoaxes in the late 19th century, such as the Cardiff Giant. The most likely Piltdown Perpetrator, Charles Dawson, was tinkering with the historic record well before William's career started.
The last interesting thing that caught my eye is that Darwin's father, who was apparently an authoritarian who kept his children in terror, claimed that Darwin's skull changed shape once Darwin started to accomplish stuff and gained the world's admiration. This might have been a reference to phrenology - measuring the skull to determine intelligence and character. I believe this has been casually mentioned before on Murdoch Mysteries, but probably in the context of explaining criminal behavior. The astounding thing is the thought of parents evaluating their children that way. Phrenology was also an important concept in psychiatry - Julia might get a case that hinges on phrenology.
While Darwin died in 1882, he had many colorful followers - social darwinists (re: the Eugenics Society), social materialists (Marxists, communists), and social reformers like the Fabian Society. This is a pretty rich vein of plot material.
