Jeremiah Joseph Callahan Quotes
Einstein is an analytical mathematician seeking to give a physical interpretation to the conclusions of his mathematical process. In this he is hampered by a load of contradictory and absurd assumptions of the school that he follows, which throws him in to all manner of difficulty. Einstein has such a faculty for embracing both sides of a contradiction that one would have to be of the same frame of mind to follow his thought, it is so peculiarly his own. The whole Relativity theory is as easy to follow as the path of a bat in the air at night.
In almost every age and with each new advancement of science there have been those experts, acknowledged or self-styled, who have maintained that the advancement was not valid, useless or prematurely stated. Even Einstein’s Theory of Relativity was subjected to attack long after it had essentially been established.
Jeremiah Joseph Callahan, *, Roman Catholic Priest, President of Duquesne University, Critique of Albert Einstein and his Theory of Relativity, Einstein or Euclid: A Proof of the Parallel Theory and a Critique of Metageometry,1931
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There have always been critics and scientists differing on the most significant findings of science. Even as late as 1931, there were those who would oppose Relativity.
He was known as “The Christian Cicero” because of his rhetoric. He contributed little original Christian thought but communicated it more so than anyone had done before. Interestingly, the early church fathers did not see the concept of a round earth as heretical—just absurd. When the idea began to be seen as potentially serious heresy would be almost 1000 years later.
We have two opposite dynamics operating today. On the one hand the scientific breakthroughs like Quantum Mechanics and genetic engineering widen the intellectual gap immensely between the average person (and politicians) and the scientist—at a time when society must make enormous decisions on scientific matters. On the other hand, there have never been so many people before educated in the sciences. There are many (not a majority) high school students who today understand Relativity and even well and broadly educated non-science college graduates are often familiar with Relativity, Quantum Mechanics, and other scientific breakthroughs of the 20th century. The world as a whole has never had so many scientifically literate people as today, nor has it ever had so many scientifically illiterate people today.
This quotation was a milestone on scientific and technological development. For the first time in human history the smartest and most creative and visionary people, could not understand or comprehend the direction in which science and technology was moving. It now took people with specialized mathematical capability. Experience and intuitive insight was actually counter-productive in understanding the world as it was being revealed. Intelligence, creativity, perseverance and hard work, for the first time was insufficient. Education and training was the new requirement in addition to the others.
