Edgar Andrews
| Edgar H. Andrews | |
|---|---|
| Born | 16 December 1932 Didcot |
| Residence | Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire, UK |
| Citizenship | British |
| Nationality | British |
| Fields | Physics, Materials Science, Science and religion |
| Institutions | Imperial Chemical Industries; Natural Rubber Producers' Research Association; Queen Mary University of London; Biblical Creation Society |
| Alma mater | University College London |
| Thesis | Fracture phenomena in elastomers (1960) |
| Doctoral advisor | Leonard Mullins |
| Doctoral students | Anthony Kinloch, Keith Miller, Peter Reed[1] |
| Known for | Theory of fracture; Crystallisation of polymers; Structure-property relationships in polymers; Science and faith studies |
| Notable awards | A. A. Griffith Medal and Prize 1977 |
| Website http://whomadegod.org |
|
Edgar Harold Andrews (born 16 December 1932, Didcot, Berkshire, UK) is an English physicist and engineer. He is Emeritus Professor of Materials at Queen Mary, University of London.
Contents
Education, qualifications and specialisms
After completing a BSc degree in theoretical physics at the University of London in 1953, Edgar Andrews obtained a PhD in applied physics in 1960, and a DSc (higher doctorate) in physics in 1968.
He is a Fellow of the Institute of Physics (FInstP), Fellow of the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining (FIMMM), Chartered Engineer (CEng, UK) and Chartered Physicist (CPhys).
Andrews is also an international expert on the science of polymers (large molecules).
Career
From 1953 to 1955 he was a Technical Officer at Imperial Chemical Industries Ltd., Welwyn Garden City. From 1955 to 1963 he was a Senior Physicist at the Natural Rubber Producers’ Research Association, also in Welwyn. From 1963 to 1968 he was a Reader in Materials Science. In 1967 he set up the Department of Materials at Queen Mary College, University of London, and served both as its Head and later as Dean of Engineering (1971–1974). From 1968 to 1998 he was Professor of Materials at Queen Mary and Westfield College.
Besides his work at the university, he was also a director of: QMC Industrial Research London (1970–1988), Denbyware PLC (1971–1981, non-executive director), Materials Technology Consultants Ltd (1974–present), Evangelical Press (1975–2004) and Fire and Materials Ltd (1985–1988). For five years he was a member of the Scientific Advisory Board of Neste Oy, the national oil company of Finland (which later sold its chemical division and became Neste Oil). He was and remains the first president of the Biblical Creation Society, and was Editor of Evangelical Times (1998–2008).
Edgar Andrews was an international consultant to the Dow Chemical Company (USA) for over thirty years and to the 3M Company (USA) for twenty years. He also acted for many years as an expert scientific witness in a variety of cases in the British High Court and in courts in the USA and Canada.[2]
He has published well over 100 scientific research papers and books, together with two Bible commentaries and various works on science and religion and on theology. His book From Nothing to Nature has been translated into ten languages.
He is currently Acting Pastor of the Campus Church in Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire.[3]
Recognition and awards
On 28–30 September 1972, Edgar Andrews was one of four speakers invited to address an international audience of over 400 scientists at the Michigan Molecular Institute's Dedication Symposium, along with Nobel Laureates Paul J. Flory and Melvin Calvin, and Professor Donald Lyman.[4]
Several of his research articles have appeared in the Proceedings of the Royal Society, Britain’s leading scientific journal.[5]
In 1977 Edgar Andrews was awarded the A. A. Griffith Medal and Prize by the Materials Science Club for contributions to materials science. The prize is now awarded by the IOM3.
Creationist views
Edgar Andrews is described by historian of creationism Ronald Numbers as the United Kingdom's "most respected creationist scientist of the late twentieth century", a Reformed Baptist, and a convert to Whitcomb and Morris' flood geology since the 1960s. However, Andrews rejected some elements of the latter, particularly dogmatic acceptance of a young Earth, even going so far as to suggest that the first day of creation "might be of indefinite length".[6] However, on page 106 of his latest book Who made God?, Andrews notes - citing from his earlier work From nothing to Nature (chapter 9) - that he believes the whole universe, including the earth, was created ex-nihilo in verse 1, 'with no reference to how long ago that happened'. From verse 2 onward 'the account concentrates squarely on the earth itself'. Andrews follows E. J. Young in seeing Genesis 1:1 as describing the creation of the whole universe including the earth, with verse 2 onwards relating to the population of an 'old' earth with young features (both geographical and biological).
Huxley Memorial Debate
Edgar Andrews was invited by the Oxford Union Society to take part in the Huxley Memorial Debate on 16 February 1986, where he debated opposite Richard Dawkins on the motion ‘That the doctrine of creation is more valid than the theory of evolution’. The proposer of the motion was A. E. Wilder-Smith. The opposers, Richard Dawkins and John Maynard Smith, won the debate by 198 votes to 115.[7] Controversy surrounding the debate and the reported votes continues to this day.[8]
Publications
- 1963 - Chemistry and Physics of Rubberlike Substances - co-author. Editor: Leslie Bateman, then director of the Natural Rubber Producers' Research Association (where Andrews was a senior physicist), Welwyn Garden City, UK (London, Maclaren; New York, Wiley). ISBN 978-0853340607
- 1968 - Fracture in Polymers. A monograph.
- 1971 - The influence of morphology on the mechanical properties of crystalline polymers. Publication: London: Queen Mary College, Faculty of Engineering.
- 1971 - Deformation of Irradiated Single Crystals of Polyethylene - in collaboration with I. G. Voigt-Martin. Publication: London: Queen Mary College, Faculty of Engineering. Also published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society.
- 1971 - Solvent Stress Cracking and Crazing in Polymeric Glasses - Final Report (part 1 & 2 published in 1971, part 3 published in 1972) - co-authored with G. M. Levy and J. Willis. Publication: London: Queen Mary College, Faculty of Engineering.
- 1978 - Molecular Fracture in Polymers - co-author.
- 1979 - Developments in Polymer Fracture. ISBN 978-0853348191
- 1980 - God, Science and Evolution. [out of print]
- 1984 - Creationism in confusion? Correspondence letter in Nature. A response to this article: Evolution: Creationism in confusion
- 1989 - From Nothing to Nature - A Basic Guide to Evolution and Creation. Translated in ten languages (as at 2012). ISBN 978-0852341209
- 1994 - Christ and the Cosmos. ISBN 978-0852342206
- 1996 - Free in Christ, the message of Galatians. ISBN 978-0852343531
- 2003 - A Glorious High Throne, Hebrews Simply Explained. ISBN 978-0852345474
- 2009 - Who made God? Searching for a Theory of Everything. ISBN 978-0852347638
References
- ↑ PhD thesis of P. E. Reed: The influence of Crystalline Texture on the Tensile Properties of Natural Rubber University of London (1970).
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Campus Church
- ↑ Andrews refers to this on page 197 in his book Who made God? The four papers presented were later published in H. G. Elias's Trends in Macromolecular Science (Midland Macromolecular Monographs, vol. 1, Gordon & Breach, New York / London, 1973) and in Angewandte Chemie (Intern. Ed. 1974, vol. 13, nr. 2). The article in Angewandte Chemie can be read here.
- ↑ Articles published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ John Durant, "Critical-Historical Perspective on the Argument about Evolution and Creation", in Evolution and Creation: A European Perspective (eds. Sven Anderson, Arthus Peacocke), Aarhus University Press, Aarhus, Denmark. ISBN 978-8772881140
- ↑ Fraudulent report at AAAS and the 1986 Oxford University debate
External links
Audio
- Debate between Edgar Andrews and atheist Robert Stovold. Premier Christian Radio (November 26, 2011).
- Debate between Edgar Andrews and evolutionary biologist Lewis Wolpert. Premier Christian Radio (December 3, 2011).
- Interview with Edgar Andrews. By Brian Auten of Apologetics 315. Date: Monday, 30 August 2010. Length: 50 minutes.
- Edgar Andrews about The Grand Design, the latest book of Stephen Hawking. Interview by Bill Feltner of Pilgrim Radio. Date: Monday, 1 November 2010. Length: 25 minutes.
- Interview with The Poached Egg, 4 April 2012.
- Huxley Memorial Debate. The contribution of Edgar Andrews.
- Use dmy dates from September 2014
- Use British English from September 2014
- 1932 births
- Living people
- Alumni of the University of London International Programmes
- English physicists
- British materials scientists
- Polymer scientists and engineers
- People from Didcot
- Academics of Queen Mary University of London
- Christian creationists
- English Baptist ministers
