The Role of Society in the Evolution of Natural Philosophy

There was a deep, sincere faith amongst most of the figures we're talking about. Not all to 100% orthodox, I think it's probably fair to say,. But nonetheless, by no means famous or feigned. To take one example, Boyle argues that science, excuse the modern term, was acceptable to do on the Sabbath. So contemplating nature through natural philosophy was a perfectly acceptable activity to conduct on the day of rest. One of them says, this is the kind of thing we'll be doing in heaven. That would fill many people with terror today: so this is what you do in heaven.