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==''Forbidden Archeology''==
==''Forbidden Archeology''==
I==Forbidden Archeology==
In 1993 Thompson and Michael Cremo co-wrote ''Forbidden Archeology''. The book attracted vehement criticism as a [[pseudoscience|pseudoscientific]] tract proposing [[antievolutionism]] from a Hindu perspective.<ref>For example:
In 1993 Thompson and Michael Cremo co-wrote ''Forbidden Archeology''. The book attracted vehement criticism as a [[pseudoscience|pseudoanthropological]] proposing [[antievolutionism]] from a a Hindu perspective.<ref>For example:
*[http://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/mom/lepper.html Hidden History, Hidden Agenda], Bradley T. Lepper
*[http://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/mom/lepper.html Hidden History, Hidden Agenda], Bradley T. Lepper
*[http://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/mom/groves.html Creationism: The Hindu View], [[Colin Groves]]
*[http://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/mom/groves.html Creationism: The Hindu View], [[Colin Groves]]
Line 64: Line 65:
*{{cite journal|last1=Murray|first1=Tim|title=Forbidden Archeology|journal=British Journal of the History of Science|volume=37|issue=28|year=1995|pages=377-379}}
*{{cite journal|last1=Murray|first1=Tim|title=Forbidden Archeology|journal=British Journal of the History of Science|volume=37|issue=28|year=1995|pages=377-379}}
*"This remarkable compendium of pseudoscience [''Forbidden Archeology''] is premised on the assumption that modern science is a prisoner of Western cultural and religious biases..." ''Scientific Values and Civic Virtues'', Noretta Koertge, [[Oxford University Press]]
*"This remarkable compendium of pseudoscience [''Forbidden Archeology''] is premised on the assumption that modern science is a prisoner of Western cultural and religious biases..." ''Scientific Values and Civic Virtues'', Noretta Koertge, [[Oxford University Press]]
*{{cite journal | title = Eastern Thought Revisited | journal = [[Perspectives on Science and Christian Faith]] | date = June 2000 | first = David F. | last = Siemens | volume = 52 | issue = 2 | pages = 147| url = http://www.asa3.org/ASA/PSCF/2000/PSCF6-00Siemens.html| accessdate = 2011-07-18}}</ref> The book seeks to debunk the existing [[palaeoanthropology|palaeoanthropological]] consensus that [[Anatomically modern humans|anatomically modern hominids]] emerged of the order of a hundred thousand years ago, which contradicts Vedic Creationists' favoured hypothesis that human beings, as a distinct species, has existed (along with animal and plant species) since the beginning of the universe. They then argue that the scientific establishment either ignores or suppresses anomalous evidence.<ref>See for example:
*{{cite journal | title = Eastern Thought Revisited | journal = [[Perspectives on Science and Christian Faith]] | date = June 2000 | first = David F. | last = Siemens | volume = 52 | issue = 2 | pages = 147| url = http://www.asa3.org/ASA/PSCF/2000/PSCF6-00Siemens.html| accessdate = 2011-07-18}}</ref> The work sought to debunk the existing [[palaeoanthropology|palaeoanthropological]] consensus that [[Anatomically modern humans|anatomically modern hominids]] emerged of the order of a hundred thousand years ago, through a nine hundred page catalog of historical findings over the last two centuries which would appear to support a Vedic creationist hypothesis that human beings in a modern form could have existed on Earth far deeper into antiquity. The book argues that the scientific establishment either ignores or suppresses anomalous evidence too far outside its contemporary paradigm.<ref>See for example:
*{{cite journal|last1=Brown|first1=C. Mackenzie|title=Hindu and Christian Creationism: "Transposed Passages" in the Geological Book of Life|journal=Zygon?|volume=37|issue=1|year=2002|pages=95–114|issn=0591-2385|doi=10.1111/1467-9744.00414}}
*{{cite journal|last1=Brown|first1=C. Mackenzie|title=Hindu and Christian Creationism: "Transposed Passages" in the Geological Book of Life|journal=Zygon?|volume=37|issue=1|year=2002|pages=95–114|issn=0591-2385|doi=10.1111/1467-9744.00414}}
*{{cite book | last = Nanda | first = Meera | title = Prophets Facing Backward | publisher = Rutgers University Press | location = New Brunswick | year = 2003 | isbn = 0813533589 |page=120}}
*{{cite book | last = Nanda | first = Meera | title = Prophets Facing Backward | publisher = Rutgers University Press | location = New Brunswick | year = 2003 | isbn = 0813533589 |page=120}}

Revision as of 04:56, 26 July 2011

Richard L. Thompson
Richard L. Thompson
Born1947
Binghamton, New York
DiedError: Need valid birth date (second date): year, month, day
NationalityAmerican
Education
Alma mater
OccupationAuthor

Richard Leslie Thompson also known as Sadaputa Dasa[1] (February 4, 1947 - September 18, 2008) was an American author, mathematician and a Gaudiya Vaishnava religious figure. Thompson was a member of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (popularly known as the Hare Krishna movement or ISKCON) and a disciple of ISKCON's founder A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada.[2] Thompson was a founding member of the Bhaktivedanta Institute,[2] an ISKCON academic think tank.[2] He has been described as "ISKCON's dominating figure in science"[3] and as "the single dominating writer on science" in ISKCON.[4] In case with Thompson "ISKCON has chosen to let a single person cover the field of science more or less on his own".[4] Thompson introduced the concept of 'higher dimensional science' and wrote extensively on scientific subjects from this perspective.[1] He's been described as a "leading figure in ISKCON's work in this respect".[1]

Thompson published several books and articles, including Forbidden Archeology: The Hidden History of the Human Race (1993), co-authored with Michael Cremo. In particular, this work has been widely-criticised for pseudoanthropological claims that have been described as "Vedic Creationism".[5][6] He also wrote extensively on religion and science with reference to the Vaisnava tradition, as well as on ancient cosmology, astronomy, and worldview.[not verified in body]

Biography

Richard L. Thompson was born in Binghamton, New York, in 1947.[2] In 1974, Thompson received his Ph.D. in mathematics[1] at Cornell University.[2][7][failed verification] He specialized in probability theory and statistical mechanics.[2] Thompson was a founding member of the Bhaktivedanta Institute,[2] an ISKCON academic think tank. He died on September 18, 2008.[8]

Higher dimensional science

Mechanistic and Nonmechanistic Science

The book Mechanistic and Nonmechanistic Science: An Investigation Into the Nature of Consciousness and Form (1981) was described by Granville C. Henry in Zygon: Journal of Religion and Science review as "a clear apology for the religious philosophy of the Hare Krishna movement from the perspective of a scientist and mathematician".[9] Henry called the book "a very valuable addition to the current literature in science and religion".[9]

Thompson tried to show in the book "that the common mechanistic and reductionistic paradigms of science contain serious instabilities and internal contradictions" and therefore cannot explain what we know about human consciousness and the external world.[9] Henry notes that according to Thompson, it is "through the nonmechanistic though verifiable process of bhakti-yoga we can make sense of ourselves and our place in the world in strict compatibility with modern science".[9] According to Henry, one of the attractive qualities of this book is that "Thompson writes as a scientist about science with a clarity, accuracy, and objectivity that should engender respect both from scientists and from those whose religious persuasions are other than his own".[9] Henry is of the opinion that in Mechanistic and Nonmechanistic Science Thompson presented "the philosophical instabilities of contemporary scientific theory in a clear scientific language without a recourse to ad hoc religious explanations".[9] Henry also writes that Thompson shows throughout the book love and respect for good science.[9] Because of his love for science, "he is pained by its contradictions and seeks its intelligibility in a larger context".[9]

Vedic Cosmography and Astronomy

Forbidden Archeology

I==Forbidden Archeology== In 1993 Thompson and Michael Cremo co-wrote Forbidden Archeology. The book attracted vehement criticism as a pseudoanthropological proposing antievolutionism from a a Hindu perspective.[10] The work sought to debunk the existing palaeoanthropological consensus that anatomically modern hominids emerged of the order of a hundred thousand years ago, through a nine hundred page catalog of historical findings over the last two centuries which would appear to support a Vedic creationist hypothesis that human beings in a modern form could have existed on Earth far deeper into antiquity. The book argues that the scientific establishment either ignores or suppresses anomalous evidence too far outside its contemporary paradigm.[11] Meera Nanda in the Indian magazine Frontline called Cremo and Thompson "the intellectual force driving Vedic creationism".[6]

In 1996 Thompson and Cremo appeared on the NBC special The Mysterious Origins of Man, similarly criticized by the scientific community.[12]

Selected Bibliography

Books

  • Thompson, Richard L. (1981). Mechanistic and Nonmechanistic Science: An Investigation Into the Nature of Consciousness and Form. Lynbrook, NY: Bala Books. ISBN 0896470148.
  • Thompson, Richard L. (1989). Vedic Cosmography and Astronomy. Los Angeles: Bhaktivedanta Book Trust. ISBN 00892132698. {{cite book}}: Check |isbn= value: length (help)
  • Goel, Narendra S.; Thompson, Richard L. (1988). Computer Simulations of Self-Organizations in Biological Systems. London: Croom Helm. ISBN 0029479223.
  • Thompson, Richard L. (1995). Alien Identities: Ancient insights into modern UFO phenomena. Alachua, FL: Govardhan Hill Publishing. ISBN 0963530941.
  • Cremo, Michael A.; Thompson, Richard L. (1998). Forbidden Archeology: Hidden History of the Human Race. Los Angeles: Bhaktivedanta Book Publishing. ISBN 0892132949.
  • Thompson, Richard L. (2000). Mysteries of the Sacred Universe: The Cosmology of the Bhagavata Purana. Alachua, FL: Govardhan Hill Publishing. ISBN 0963530933.

Papers and other professional works

  • Thompson, R. L. (1970). "Open Mappings and the Fundamental Theorem of Algebra". Mathematical Magazine. 43 (1): 39–40.
  • Thompson, Richard L. (1974). Equilibrium States of Thin Energy Shells. Providence, RI: American Mathematical Society. ISBN 0821818503.
  • Thompson, Richard (1980). "A Measure of Shared Information in Classes of Patterns". Pattern Recognition. 12: 369–379.
  • Goel, N. S. (1983). "Estimation of Agronomic Variables using Spectral Signatures". Proceedings 2nd International Colloquium on Spectral Signatures of Objects in Remote Sensing, Les Colloquies de l'INRA. 23: 45–53. {{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  • Goel, Narendra S. (1984). "Inversion of Vegetation Canopy Reflectance Models for Estimating Agronomic Variables. IV. Total Inversion of the SAIL Model". Remote Sensing of Environment. 15: 237–253. {{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  • Thompson, Richard (1984). "A Stochastic Model of Sedimentation". Journal of Mathematical Geology. 16: 753–778.
  • Thompson, Richard L. (1985). "A Simulation of T4 Bacteriophage Assembly and Operation". Biosystems. 18: 23–45. {{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d Rothstein, Mikael (1996). Belief Transformations: Some Aspects of the Relation Between Science and Religion in Transcendental Meditation (TM) and the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON). Aarhus: Aarhus University Press. p. 122. ISBN 8772884215.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g А. С. Тимощук (2008). "Р. Томпсон – нестатистический махатма (1947 – 2008)". In А. С. Тимощук (ed.). Махабхарата, Бхагават-гита и неклассическая рациональность: материалы III Международной научно-теоретической конференции (in Russian). Владимир: Издательство Владимирского государственного университета. p. 141-144. ISBN 9785893689181. {{cite book}}: More than one of |pages= and |page= specified (help)
  3. ^ Rothstein, Mikael (1996). Belief Transformations: Some Aspects of the Relation Between Science and Religion in Transcendental Meditation (TM) and the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON). Aarhus: Aarhus University Press. p. 125. ISBN 8772884215.
  4. ^ a b Rothstein, Mikael (1996). Belief Transformations: Some Aspects of the Relation Between Science and Religion in Transcendental Meditation (TM) and the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON). Aarhus: Aarhus University Press. p. 126. ISBN 8772884215.
  5. ^ For example:
  6. ^ a b Nada, Merra. "Vedic creationism in America". Frontline. January 14–27, 2006. Retrieved on August 18, 2008.
  7. ^ Thompson, Richard Leslie (1974). Equilibrium states of thin energy shells. Providence, RI: American Mathematical Society. pp. vi. ISBN 0821818503.
  8. ^ "Bhaktivedanta Institute (Alachua): People". Bhaktivedanta Institute. Retrieved 18 July 2011.
  9. ^ a b c d e f g h Henry, Granville C. (June 1984). "Mechanistic and Nonmechanistic Science: An Investigation Into the Nature of Consciousness and Form by Richard L. Thompson". Zygon: Journal of Religion and Science. 19 (2): 377. ISSN 0044-561. {{cite journal}}: Check |issn= value (help); More than one of |pages= and |page= specified (help)
  10. ^ For example:
  11. ^ See for example:
    • Brown, C. Mackenzie (2002). "Hindu and Christian Creationism: "Transposed Passages" in the Geological Book of Life". Zygon?. 37 (1): 95–114. doi:10.1111/1467-9744.00414. ISSN 0591-2385.
    • Nanda, Meera (2003). Prophets Facing Backward. New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press. p. 120. ISBN 0813533589.
  12. ^ For example:

Further reading


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