The Passion of Science

“Newton saw an apple fall, and announced the law of gravitation. Paine watched a spider spin its web, and designed the first cast iron bridge,” (Roper 1944). It is through this quote that one can respect not just the philosophical views of Paine but his overlooked scientific genius. From bridges without pillars to smokeless candles to steamboats to a planing machine, it is easy to see Paine’s broad range of expertise and makes it easier for one to focus on his scientific background. As in the case of Benjamin Franklin, Paine believed in different types of deistic values that contributed to his beliefs in the importance of science and the nature of the world (Roper 1944). It is a result of his scientific mindset and criticisms of institutional religion that many denounced his beliefs in God and labeled him atheist, but it must be seen that it was his beliefs in science that actually furthered his love for nature and God.

As a young boy hitting his teens, after failing at a couple jobs, he found work as an officer of the excise to catch smugglers of liquor and tobacco. Though he barely made any money, he used most of his earnings to buy books and science apparatuses (“Thomas Paine”). It can be seen that his love of science started at a young age. Roper explains in his article that, “The scientific activities of Paine cannot be considered separately from his religious opinions…To him, the study of science was the study of God,” (1944). Prochaska also explained in his article that “it was quite likely that Paine’s love of the formal and abstract purity of mathematics led him to extrapolate its objectivity to the natural world,” (1972). It is through these two quotes that we can see not only his love of science but his corporation of science into the love of God.

As he went on later in life, he noticed a conflict between deistic values and that of institutional religion. He denied the ambiguity of the mysteries and “magical” revelations that brought about Christianity and instead developed a love for mathematical clarity and creation’s simplicity. Even in doing so, people denied his non-atheistic ideas claiming him a “filthy little atheist” as in the words of Theodore Roosevelt. One of the most ironic parts of The Age of Reason is that it was used as “proof” to condemn him as an atheist when the real motive of the book was to prevent the French from becoming atheists (Smith). Basing his ideas and beliefs off of logic and clear facts, I actually find it hard not to agree with Paine in his arguments.

Prochaska, Franklyn. "Thomas Paine's The Age of Reason Revisited." Journal of the History of Ideas 33. (1972): 561-576. Web. 7 Oct 2009.

Roper, Ralph. "Thomas Paine: Scientist-Religionist." Scientific Monthly 58.2 (1944): 101-111. Web. 7 Oct 2009.

Smith, Jay. " THOMAS PAINE AND THE AGE OF REASON'S ATTACK ON THE BIBLE." Academic Search Premier 58.4. Web. 7 Oct 2009.

"Thomas Paine." Encyclopædia Britannica. 2009. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. 05 Oct. 2009. Web.