Religion & Liberty Online Archives

Science

June 16, 2015

Michael Miller: First Reaction to Leaked Encyclical Draft

Michael Matheson Miller, Research Fellow and Director of Acton Media at the Acton Institute: “Pope Francis has spoken consistently about the need to end exclusion for the world’s poor.  Since the environmental movement often neglects the challenges of the poor, it will be interesting to see how the encyclical addresses the call to environmental stewardship in the context of poverty and economic development. Continue Reading...
April 14, 2015

In Colombia, Soda Bottles Make For Safer Streets

Electric street lamps are expensive. They are expensive to make, to maintain and to illuminate. However, cities are undoubtedly safer with them. So what to do in poorer countries? Liter of Light, an NGO that focuses on illuminating the developing world without electricity, has figured out a way to light streets using soda bottles. Continue Reading...
March 13, 2015

Clergy, Innovation, and Economics

This is a bit second-hand (a source drawing from another source), but I still think the following tidbit on the modern history of clergy and scientific and technological development and discovery in the nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries from Nassim Taleb’s Antifragile is notable: Knowledge formation, even when theoretical, takes time, some boredom, and the freedom that comes from having another occupation, therefore allowing one to escape the journalistic-style pressure of modern publish-and-perish [sic, probably intentionally] academia to produce cosmetic knowledge, much like the counterfeit watches one buys in Chinatown in New York City, the type that you know is counterfeit although it looks like the real thing. Continue Reading...
November 19, 2014

Medical Care As Marketplace Commodity

My mother, a registered nurse, worked for years for our small town doctor. She would drive around the countryside, going to check on elderly folks or those who didn’t drive. We had a number of people who came to our house regularly for things like allergy shots. Continue Reading...