Mehdi Golshani

Mehdi Golshani (Persian: مهدی گلشنی, born 1939 in Isfahan, Iran) is a contemporary Iranian theoretical physicist, academic, scholar, philosopher and distinguished professor at Sharif University of Technology. He is a member of the Iranian Science and Culture Hall of Fame, a senior fellow of the Academy of Sciences of Iran and a founding fellow of the Institute for Studies in Theoretical Physics and Mathematics. He is a former member of the Supreme Council of the Cultural Revolution.

History

He received his B.Sc. in physics from Tehran University in 1959 and his Ph.D. in physics with a specialization in particle physics in 1969 from the University of California, Berkeley. The title of his doctoral dissertation is "Electron impact excitation of heavily ionized atoms".

Life

Career

Mehdi Golshani is a distinguished lecturer. His main research areas include foundational physics, particle physics, physical cosmology and philosophical implications of quantum mechanics. He is known as a thinker for his writings on science, religion and their interrelation.

Golshani is the founder and chairman of the Faculty of Philosophy of Science at Sharif University of Technology. He is also the director of the Institute of Humanities and Cultural Studies, Tehran, Iran, and a professor at Physics Department of Sharif University of Technology, as well as a Senior Fellow of School of Physics at Institute for Studies in Theoretical Physics and Mathematics (IPM).

He has been among the winners of the first year of the Templeton Science & Religion course program and also among the Former Judges of The Templeton Prize. Golshani is a fellow of Islamic World Academy of Sciences IAS.

He has written numerous books and articles on physics, philosophy of physics, science and religion, as well as science and theology. In most of Golshani's works, there is a clear attempt to help revive the scientific spirit in the Muslim world.

Views

On the foundation of quantum mechanics

• he is mainly concerned with the orthodox interpretation of quantum mechanics and the possible more realistic alternatives, particularly Bohmian Mechanics.

On the interrelationship of science and religion

• He is a Muslim scientist and thinker who has deep roots in both science and religion.

On Christianity and the development of modern science

• The biblical world view has had a significant impact in the development of science. Professor Mehdi Golshani connotes a connection between a belief in the Biblical God and scientific breakthroughs by stating that Copernicus, Kepler, Galileo, Boyle, Newton and many other founders of science were all devout Christians. Western Science was largely constructed within the framework of a Christian world view, and was influenced by the following Biblical concepts:

Works

Books

• تحليلى بر ديدگاههاى فلسفى فيزيكدانان معاصر (a Probe into the Philosophical Viewpoints of Contemporary Physicists). in Persian.
• علم دینی و علم سکولار (Secular and religious science). in Persian.
• Golshani, Mehdi. Holy Quran and the Sciences of Nature. Paperback ed. Studies in Contemporary Philosophical Th., 1997.
• From Physics to Metaphysics, Institute for Humanities and Cultural Studies, Tehran, 1998
• Golshani, Mehdi. Can Science Dispense with Religion? Hardcover ed. I.H.C.S., 1998.
• English Translation of the Holy Qur'an, Vol. 1, Islamic Propagation Organization, Tehran, 1991

As a contributor

• "The Sciences of Nature in an Islamic Perspective" in The Concept of Nature in Science & Theology (SSTh 4/1996), ed. by N. H. Gregersen et al. (Geneva: Labor et Fides, 1998), pp. 56–62.
• _ and Shojai, A. "Direct Particle Quantum Interaction" in Contemporary Fundamental Physics, 1, ed. by V.V. Dvoeglazor (Huntington, New York: Nova Publishers, Inc., 2000), p. 270.
• "Ways of Understanding Nature in the Qur’anic Perspective" in The Interplay between Scientific and Theological Worldviews (SSTh 6/1998), ed. by N. H. Gregersen et al. (Geneva: Labor et Fides, 1999), p. 183.
• "Philosophy of Science from the Qur’anic Perspective" in Towards Islamization of Disciplines (Hendon, Virginia: International Institute of Islamic Thought, 1989), p. 71.
• "Theistic Science" in God for the Twenty First Century (USA: John Templeton Foundation, 2000).
• "Have Physicists Been Able to Dispense with Philosophy?" in Recent Advances in Relativity Theory, ed. by M. C. Duffy & M. Wegener (Palm Harbor, Fl. : Hadronic Press, 2001) p. 90.
• "The Ladder of God" in Faith in Science: Scientists Search for Truth (London: Routledge, Fall 2001).
• "Causality in the Islamic Outlook and in Modern Physics" in Studies in Science and Theology, Vol. 8, ed. by N. H. Gregersen (ESSSAT, Fall 2001).

Articles

• Golshani, Mehdi. "Does Science Offer Evidence of a Transcendent Reality and Purpose:." Islam and Science (Refereed) 1 (2003): 45-65.
• Golshani, Mehdi. "Some Important Questions Concerning the Relationship Between Science and Religion." Islam and Science 3.1 (2003): 63-83.
• Scientific Papers

References

External links

• Homepage - Sharif Univ. of Tech.
• Webpage - Islamic World Academy of Sciences
• Webpage - Institute for Studies in Theoretical Physics and Mathematics
• Webpage - Centre for Islam and Science
• Interview (audio) - Meta Library