Historians From Denmark

"I have a certain weakness for alternative ideas, not because I think they are valid but because they tell us something about science and the psychological state of scientists."

"...It would be of value to have a comprehensive study of the relationship between philosophy and the physical sciences in the period after about 1970. My guess is that the impact of professional philosophers upon physics in this period has been minimal, but I am not sure."

"I read a great many books without finding one that satisfied my needs and so I decided to write one myself. (About his book An Introduction to the Historiography of Science, 1987.)"

"I was not brought up in a religious milieu but was (like most Danes) born into the Lutheran-Protestant church. Religion did not play much of a role and when I was in my early twenties I left the church; not because I became an atheist but just because of lack of interest and a certain dislike of organized religion as practiced in my country. My interest in religion is of relatively new date and mostly a result of my studies in history of science which showed how important Christian religion has been for the development of science (and at some stage also Islam). Especially after I turned toward history of cosmology I began thinking about religion in connection with, for example, the perennial question of the origin of the universe. Although I do not believe in traditional religious dogmas I have sympathy and respect for religious thought whereas I have no sympathy for hard-core atheism and materialism. Somehow, it seems to me, there must be something above and beyond the physical universe, a mystical spirit or divine principle. If this principle is called God, I believe in God. But this god has no interest at all in human beings. In a sense, my kind of religiosity is somewhat the same as the one Einstein expressed on various occasions."

"I am rather sure that the ultimate origin of the universe cannot be explained in scientific terms. That is impossible. From this one cannot infer a creative divine being, however. And even if such a being existed (which is an appealing possibility) the God-hypothesis rests on faith and cannot possibly be justified scientifically. I share the belief of most experts that one cannot use science in the service of religion, nor religion in the service of science. By and large I am a supporter of what is called the “independence thesis” in the science-religion discussion."

"Cui Regnerus in regnum succedit. Quo tempore rex Suetie Frø interfecto Noruagiensium rege Syuardo coniuges necessariorum eius prostibulo relegatas publice constuprandas exhibuit. Quo Regnerus audito auite ultionis studio Noruagiam petiuit. Eo ueniente matrone complures, que corporum suorum ludibria aut nuper passe fuerant aut in proximo pudicitie periculum uerebantur, uiriliter culte cupide castris eius adproperare coeperunt, profitentes se fatum contumelie prelaturas. Nec erubuit futurus muliebris improperii uindex aduersum auctorem turpitudinis, quarum ignominiam ulcisci uenerat, auxilia mutuari. Inter quas affuit et Lathgertha, perita bellandi foemina, que uirilem in uirgine animum gerens immisso humeris capillitio prima inter promptissimos dimicabat. Cuius incomparabilem operam admirantibus cunctis—quippe cesaries tergo inuolare conspecta foeminam esse prodebat..."

"Tanta autem Hermutrude charitate tenebatur, ut maiorem future eius uiduitatis quam proprie necis solicitudinem animo insitam gestaret omnique studio circumspiceret, qualiter ei secundas nuptias ante belli ingressum conscisceret. Quam ob rem Hermutruda uirilem professa fiduciam ne in acie quidem se eum deserturam spopondit, detestabilem inquiens foeminam, que marito morte conseri formidaret. Quam promissionis nouitatem parum executa est. Nam quum Amlethus apud Iutiam a Vigleco acie interemptus fuisset, ultro in uictoris predam amplexumque concessit. Ita uotum omne foemineum fortune uarietas abripit, temporum mutatio dissoluit, et muliebris animi fidem lubrico nixam uestigio fortuiti rerum casus extenuant, que sicut ad pollicendum facilis, ita ad persoluendum segnis uariis uoluptatis irritamentis astringitur atque ad recentia semper auidius expetenda ueterum immemor anhela preceps cupiditate dissultat."

"Danicam uero regionem giganteo quondam cultu exercitam eximie magnitudinis saxa ueterum bustis ac specubus affixa testantur. Quod si quis ui monstruosa patratum ambigat, quorundam montium excelsa suspiciat dicatque, si callet, quis eorum uerticibus cautes tante granditatis inuexerit."

"Tot iuuenis artibus Geuari filia Nanna admodum delectata amplexum eius expetere coepit. Fit enim, ut uirtute iuuenum uirgines incalescant et, quorum minus complacet forma, probitas acceptetur. Multiplices enim amor aditus habet. Aliis forme decor, aliis animi uirtus, quibusdam artium usus uoluptatis iter aperit. Nonnullis comitas ueneris copiam parat, complures fame candor acceptos facit, nec leuius uulnus fortes quam pulchri puellis infligere solent."

"Minus enim acceptantur dona, que prestat inuisus. Sane gratiora sunt, que ab amicis porriguntur. Adeo interdum ex offerente oblati precium pendet."

"At dii, quibus precipua apud Bizantium sedes habebatur, Othinum uariis maiestatis detrimentis diuinitatis gloriam maculasse cernentes collegio suo submouendum duxerunt. Nec solum primatu eiectum, sed etiam domestico honore cultuque spoliatum proscribendum curabant, satius existimantes probrosi antistitis potentiam subrui quam publice religionis habitum prophanari, ne uel ipsi alieno crimine implicati insontes nocentis nomine punirentur."

"As Crone puts it, “It is obvious that if the Meccans had been middlemen in a long-distance trade of the kind described in the secondary literature”—that is, works by Watt and other historians who take for granted the canonical Islamic account—“there ought to have been some mention of them in the writings of their customers. Greek and Latin authors had, after all, written extensively about the south Arabians who supplied them with aromatics in the past, offering information about their cities, tribes, political organization, and caravan trade.”"

"“The political and ecclesiastical importance of Arabia in the sixth century was such that considerable attention was paid to Arabian affairs, too; but of Quraysh and their trading center there is no mention at all, be it in the Greek, Latin, Syriac, Aramaic, Coptic, or other literature composed outside Arabia before the conquests. This silence is striking and significant.” Specifically, she says, “Nowhere is it stated that Quraysh, or the ‘Arab kings,’ were the people who used to supply such-and-such regions with such-and-such goods: it was only Muhammad himself who was known to have been a trader.”"