Articles:

Categories:

The articles have been categorized into topic areas. Some articles are relevant for several topics. Choose from one of the following topics in order to find an abstract and/or article relevant to your interest.

CHURCH

Gaudium et Spes and Biological Advance

By Father Robert A. Brungs, SJ At the invitation of the editors of the Antonianum in 1995, Father Brungs wrote this article on the 30th anniversary of the promulgation of the encyclical. The ITEST editorial board decided to reprint this article because it still has...

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Science and the Church: A Plea for Dialogue

Author: Archbishop Joseph M. Zycinski Article Abstract: This paper, presented in England at the 1998 PAX ROMANA CONFERENCE, contains encouragement for scientists and theologians alike to accept and take advantage of the opportunities “…for enriching dialogue between...

read more

A Jesuit Scientist in a State University 

Author: Fr. Augustin Udias, SJ Article Abstract: The author, a Jesuit priest, reflects on his role, indeed his "place" in the scientific community. Since science is an important influence in today's world, the field of the natural sciences seems to be the place where...

read more

The Christian Notion of Freedom 

Author: Fr. John Sheets, SJ  Article Abstract: In this article, the late author, Jesuit Priest and Auxiliary Bishop, attempts to give a global description of the Christian meaning of freedom. Does the Christian notion of freedom differ from the merely “human” notion...

read more

Excerpts from Fides et Ratio 

Author: Pope John Paul II Article Abstract: In the introduction to his encyclical Pope John Paul II makes very clear his intention: “to draw attention to certain fundamental truths of Catholic doctrine which, in the present circumstances, risk being distorted or...

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The Church & Scientists Synod ’77

Author: Delegation of the American Bishops Article Abstract: This article explores the relationship between the church and the scientific community. It takes up questions concerning the catechesis of scientists, the relationship between Christian and non-Christian...

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EARTH SCIENCE

Consumption of Natural Resources

Author: Gregory W. Pouch, PhD Article Abstract: Using well reasoned arguments, the author, a geologist, refutes the Malthusian thesis of 1798 that “there is a fixed supply of material being consumed and that this amount imposes an absolute limit to growth.” Pointing...

read more

Theologians Visit the Environment

Author: John E. Kinney, PE, DEE Article Abstract: In an article bound to raise hackles and provoke reaction, Kinney, an engineer and long-time advocate of better living for the people of Uganda, Central Africa and the Pacific Islands, takes theologians, the hierarchy,...

read more

EDUCATION

The Pax Romana Science Secretariat

Author: Peter Hodgson, PhD Article Abstract: Encouraging Catholic scientists to play their full part in the life of the Church, is the main role of the SIQS. In this article the author asks in different words what Father Robert Brungs, SJ often voiced, “Where are the...

read more

The Carbon Dioxide Problem and You

Author: Jerry Hannan,PhD Doc. ID: HANNA001 Article Abstract: In this brief article the author states that people, emissions from cars, trucks, lawn mowers and use of herbicides are among the big contributors to CO2 in the atmosphere. See Eric Karlstrom's article in...

read more

Neutrality? Alliance? or What?

Author: Fr. Robert A. Brungs, SJ Article Abstract: The author comments on the book, Higher Superstition: The Academic Left and Its Quarrels with Science by Paul R. Gross and Norman Levitt (1994). Brungs proposes another model to consider in the science and faith...

read more

Computing and Convergence: Bigger, Faster, Better? 

Author: John Ashby, MA Article Abstract: Computing and Convergence: Institutional technology planning today often centers around an unspoken premise - Technology=Computers. Yet the forces of technological change in the digital era go far beyond the limited impact of...

read more

A Jesuit Scientist in a State University 

Author: Fr. Augustin Udias, SJ Article Abstract: The author, a Jesuit priest, reflects on his role, indeed his "place" in the scientific community. Since science is an important influence in today's world, the field of the natural sciences seems to be the place where...

read more

Excerpts from Fides et Ratio 

Author: Pope John Paul II Article Abstract: In the introduction to his encyclical Pope John Paul II makes very clear his intention: “to draw attention to certain fundamental truths of Catholic doctrine which, in the present circumstances, risk being distorted or...

read more

FAITH AND SCIENCE

A Communication from Fr. William A. Wallace

Author: Fr. William A. Wallace, OP Article Abstract: The author updates the article above in light of the 1992 report of the Galileo Commission and Pope John Paul II’s address when presenting its results to the members of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences. Download...

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Religion and Science: Must There Be Conflict 

Author: Fr. William A. Wallace, OP Article Abstract: Wallace cites examples of the early Fathers of the Church to show "...that a premature divorce between reason and faith could do more to hurt Christian apologetics than the attempt to promote a marriage between...

read more

Daddy, Why Do Angels Have Wings?

Author: Thomas P. Sheahen, PhD Article Abstract: This question, posed with a Christmastime flavor, leads into an explanation of the importance of images when discussing spiritual concepts that do not directly connect to our customary ways of thinking and speaking....

read more

What is our Agenda in the Faith/Science Area?

Author: Fr. Joop Schopman, PhD Article Abstract: Given the Laplacian contention that the world around us can be understood (and our lives can be lived) without a God, and that secularization (of religion) is often interpreted as the natural outcome of the process...

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Response to Paper by Dr. Rudy Brun

Author: Lucien Morren, PhD Article Abstract: The author takes issue with the perceived thesis of Brun’s that an updating of the Christian Theology of Nature necessitates the systematic rejection of God’s action in the case of humankind. Morren lists and describes four...

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Reflections on the Missions of a Catholic Scientist

Author: Lucien Morren, PhD Article Abstract: The author, a professor emeritus of engineering at the Catholic University of Louvain-la-Neuve, states at the outset that Catholic scientists are no different from any other Christian in the responsibility and privilege of...

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Two Modes of Thought: Science and Religion

Author: Fr. Donald P. Merrifield, SJ Article Abstract: Although a member of the administration at Loyola Marymount University, Fr. Merrifield has not lost interest in faith/science. Biology, anthropology and evolutionary psychology have always attracted him more than...

read more

The Science/Religion Dialogue – A Catholic Perspective

Author: Alfred Kracher, PhD Article Abstract: Professor Kracher of Iowa State University, in Part Two of this report, on a recent European Conference on Science and Theology, offers his reflections on the role of Catholic thought in the science/religion dialog in...

read more

Science Meets Theology in Cracow, Poland

Author: Alfred Kracher, PhD Article Abstract: The increasingly common practice of prenatal and preimplantation genetic diagnosis risks fostering in society a eugenic type of mentality. While a distinction must be made between compulsory, state organized, eugenics and...

read more

Faith, Science and Sacramental Realism

Author: Fr. Donald J. Keefe, SJ Article Abstract: In this essay it is argued that it is only sacramental realism, and specifically the realism proper to the Eucharistic sacrifice, that permits the optimism characterizing the experimental sciences, and underlying their...

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The Starry Messenger

Author: The Most Reverend Pierre DuMaine Article Abstract: The article originally appeared as a Christmas message in the diocesan newspaper, The Valley Catholic, from the then Bishop of San Jose to the people of his diocese. Using the “Star of Bethlehem” representing...

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The Faith of a Neurologist

Author: Danielle Darriet, MD, PhD Article Abstract: Dr. Danielle Darriet, a neurologist, relates her experiences in dealing with brain damaged patients in a rehabilitation hospital in northern France. Darriet who left her position of medical research, now serves as...

read more

A Very, Very Modest Proposal

Author: Fr. Robert A. Brungs, SJ Article Abstract: In this article, written during the last year of the 20th century, the author extends a challenge not only to ITEST members, but to all readers. Brungs strongly advises a specific set of proposals – but perhaps the...

read more

The Theological Task

Author: Fr. Robert A. Brungs, SJ Article Abstract: “The base of any Christian theology is belief in a person, Jesus Christ, and a response to him on the personal level.” Fides quaerens intellectum (faith seeking understanding) – with these words the author sets the...

read more

Some Elements of the Faith/Science Apostolate

Author: Fr. Robert A. Brungs, SJ Article Abstract: The author reflects on his 30 years of active involvement in the faith/science apostolate, stating that in the beginning he was convinced that "the real problem was the Church's lack of knowledge and concern about...

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Neutrality? Alliance? or What?

Author: Fr. Robert A. Brungs, SJ Article Abstract: The author comments on the book, Higher Superstition: The Academic Left and Its Quarrels with Science by Paul R. Gross and Norman Levitt (1994). Brungs proposes another model to consider in the science and faith...

read more

LAW

Patenting of Biological Materials

Doc. ID: SALIW001 Article Abstract: In this article the author, a practicing patent attorney in Florida, seeks to allay the fears of those who are concerned about the patenting of “biological materials” by clearly stating “a summary of the relevant principles of the...

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Neutrality? Alliance? or What?

Author: Fr. Robert A. Brungs, SJ Article Abstract: The author comments on the book, Higher Superstition: The Academic Left and Its Quarrels with Science by Paul R. Gross and Norman Levitt (1994). Brungs proposes another model to consider in the science and faith...

read more

LIFE SCIENCE

Human Genome Editing – A Catholic Perspective

Author: Fr. Kevin FitzGerald, SJ Once again, news of the promise and peril of human genetic and genomic medicine is before the public, in particular, advances in genome editing. Considering the global attention genetic knowledge and possible treatments have received...

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Anthropology and Ecoethics

Author: Fr. Jean Kitahara-Frisch, SJ Article Abstract: Although seeing man as unique had been criticized as a form of speciesism responsible for our ecological crisis, it is argued here that a recognition of human uniqueness forms the necessary foundation for...

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Excerpt from Evolution AND Creation

Author: S. Joan Gormley, PhD Article Abstract: This short excerpt is part of a longer essay written for the ITEST conference on Creation AND Evolution. The foreword and table of contents of the book may be found on this web site under books. In her article the author...

read more

Genes, Evolution, and the Word of God in Creation

Author: Rudolf Brun, PhD Article Abstract: In this article the author treats “… the mechanisms that increase genetic complexity in evolution”; then he ponders the question “…whether evolution is goal-oriented.” Finally he attempts “…to update the Christian theology of...

read more

A Very, Very Modest Proposal

Author: Fr. Robert A. Brungs, SJ Article Abstract: In this article, written during the last year of the 20th century, the author extends a challenge not only to ITEST members, but to all readers. Brungs strongly advises a specific set of proposals – but perhaps the...

read more

MORALITY

China Weaponizes Global Trade to Become a Colonial Empire

Edward J. O’Boyle PhD Mayo Research Institute www.mayoresearch.org   edoboyle737@gmail.com Will the extreme volatility of U.S. equity markets, the massive declines in production and employment, and the large and growing numbers of deaths here and around the world, all...

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Eugenics and Assisted Reproduction Technology

Author: Fr. Jean Kitahara-Frisch, SJ Article Abstract: The increasingly common practice of prenatal and preimplantation genetic diagnosis risks fostering in society a eugenic type of mentality. While a distinction must be made between compulsory, state organized,...

read more

Kyoto and Population Control

Author: Fr. Robert A. Brungs, SJ Article Abstract: Although written during the years of the Clinton administration, this article and commentary strikes a familiar note today – the hidden issue, for example, of population control as a prerequisite for averting the...

read more

Hybrids, Genes and Patents

Author: Fr. Robert A. Brungs, SJ Article Abstract: A commentary on the 1995 petition (signed by many church and religious leaders) to "oppose the patenting of human and animal life forms...We (the church leaders) believe that humans and animals are creations of God,...

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The Worldview of Genesis 1-11

Author: Rev. Hubert Beck Article Abstract: The author, a Lutheran Pastor and Campus Minister, examines the first eleven chapters of Genesis, recounting how they set the stage for the universal world view of God’s relationship with creation in a “covenantal” bond. This...

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The Vision of Man

Author: Elmer J. F. Arndt, PHD Article Abstract: What is man? What is man’s destiny? These are questions the author discusses in this article. While admitting the many and diverse “understandings” of man, the author focuses on the distinctive traits evident in the...

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PHILOSOPHY AND THEOLOGY

A Time-Dependent God?

Author: Thomas P. Sheahen, PhD Article Abstract: Imagine, if you will, a meeting of two “time-dependent” gods! We know that God is not bound by time, in fact the concept of time has no relevance to an omniscient, omnipresent, omnipotent God. But what would happen if...

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On the Elimination of Human Freedom

Author: Fr. James Schall, SJ Article Abstract: Could human freedom ever be eliminated from the human condition; not at the hands of brutal dictators but from within the very center of the human being himself? Fr. Schall studies this phenomenon from an historical...

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ITEST for the Future: Science, Philosophy, Theology

Author: Eric A. Reitan, PhD Article Abstract: Catholic priest, professor of philosophy and teacher of seminarians writes how his scientific curiosity, the desire to understand the world of nature led him from a stand of avowed atheism to acknowledge the existence of...

read more

Reflections on the Natural and the Supernatural in Man

Author: Lucien Morren, PhD Article Abstract: The author probes the question of "natural" and "supernatural" applied to the human. "Thus, the anthropology that one might consider as the official one in the Catholic Church is bipartite; man is a unity with a body and a...

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Sociobiology: The New Religion

Author: Richard J. Blackwell, PhD Article Abstract: Blackwell provides an insightful analysis of E.O. Wilson's view of man in his trilogy on sociobiology. Rejecting a purely environmental model of the causes of human behavior, "... Wilson's writings make it clear...

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Who’s Counting

Author: Fr. Bert Akers, SJ Article Abstract: In this imaginative article the author almost playfully leads the reader through a series of juxtapositions in Western civilization’s fascination with quantity and number. Akers shows that, scientists, philosophers and...

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Hybrids, Genes and Patents

Author: Fr. Robert A. Brungs, SJ Article Abstract: A commentary on the 1995 petition (signed by many church and religious leaders) to "oppose the patenting of human and animal life forms...We (the church leaders) believe that humans and animals are creations of God,...

read more

The Vision of Man

Author: Elmer J. F. Arndt, PHD Article Abstract: What is man? What is man’s destiny? These are questions the author discusses in this article. While admitting the many and diverse “understandings” of man, the author focuses on the distinctive traits evident in the...

read more

Excerpt from Evolution AND Creation

Author: S. Joan Gormley, PhD Article Abstract: This short excerpt is part of a longer essay written for the ITEST conference on Creation AND Evolution. The foreword and table of contents of the book may be found on this web site under books. In her article the author...

read more

Genes, Evolution, and the Word of God in Creation

Author: Rudolf Brun, PhD Article Abstract: In this article the author treats “… the mechanisms that increase genetic complexity in evolution”; then he ponders the question “…whether evolution is goal-oriented.” Finally he attempts “…to update the Christian theology of...

read more

The Science/Religion Dialogue – A Catholic Perspective

Author: Alfred Kracher, PhD Article Abstract: Professor Kracher of Iowa State University, in Part Two of this report, on a recent European Conference on Science and Theology, offers his reflections on the role of Catholic thought in the science/religion dialog in...

read more

Science Meets Theology in Cracow, Poland

Author: Alfred Kracher, PhD Article Abstract: The increasingly common practice of prenatal and preimplantation genetic diagnosis risks fostering in society a eugenic type of mentality. While a distinction must be made between compulsory, state organized, eugenics and...

read more

The Theological Task

Author: Fr. Robert A. Brungs, SJ Article Abstract: “The base of any Christian theology is belief in a person, Jesus Christ, and a response to him on the personal level.” Fides quaerens intellectum (faith seeking understanding) – with these words the author sets the...

read more

Theologians Visit the Environment

Author: John E. Kinney, PE, DEE Article Abstract: In an article bound to raise hackles and provoke reaction, Kinney, an engineer and long-time advocate of better living for the people of Uganda, Central Africa and the Pacific Islands, takes theologians, the hierarchy,...

read more

Science and the Church: A Plea for Dialogue

Author: Archbishop Joseph M. Zycinski Article Abstract: This paper, presented in England at the 1998 PAX ROMANA CONFERENCE, contains encouragement for scientists and theologians alike to accept and take advantage of the opportunities “…for enriching dialogue between...

read more

The Christian Notion of Freedom 

Author: Fr. John Sheets, SJ  Article Abstract: In this article, the late author, Jesuit Priest and Auxiliary Bishop, attempts to give a global description of the Christian meaning of freedom. Does the Christian notion of freedom differ from the merely “human” notion...

read more

PHYSICAL SCIENCE

Your Role in the “Greenhouse Effect”

Author: Jerry Hannan, PhD Article Abstract: Jerry Hannan now retired from the Naval Research Labs in Washington, DC spends roughly 30 hours a week at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The following article is drawn from one of his many lectures delivered...

read more

The Carbon Dioxide Problem and You

Author: Jerry Hannan,PhD Doc. ID: HANNA001 Article Abstract: In this brief article the author states that people, emissions from cars, trucks, lawn mowers and use of herbicides are among the big contributors to CO2 in the atmosphere. See Eric Karlstrom's article in...

read more

Theologians Visit the Environment

Author: John E. Kinney, PE, DEE Article Abstract: In an article bound to raise hackles and provoke reaction, Kinney, an engineer and long-time advocate of better living for the people of Uganda, Central Africa and the Pacific Islands, takes theologians, the hierarchy,...

read more

PUBLIC POLICY

On the Domestication of Science

Author: John Matschiner, PhD Article Abstract: *This use of the expression, the domestication of science was inspired by Fr. Donald J. Keefe’s expression on “the domestication of worship.” It is interesting to speculate how this may be an expression -- more than that,...

read more

Environmental Crisis — International Justice

Author: Charles Elliott, PhD Article Abstract: That there are finite limits to the Earth’s carrying capacity seemed self-evident to this author, a respected world economist, as far back as 1972. He points out though that, “To the Third World,” (or as we would say...

read more

Radiation and Social Ethics

Author: Fr. Thomas Cullen, SJ Article Abstract: An excerpt from a paper of the late Father Cullen dealing with the ethical obligation of the scientific community to inform and educate the public in general on what is happening in science. In this paper originally...

read more

The Pax Romana Science Secretariat

Author: Peter Hodgson, PhD Article Abstract: Encouraging Catholic scientists to play their full part in the life of the Church, is the main role of the SIQS. In this article the author asks in different words what Father Robert Brungs, SJ often voiced, “Where are the...

read more

RELIGION

Religion and Science: Must There Be Conflict 

Author: Fr. William A. Wallace, OP Article Abstract: Wallace cites examples of the early Fathers of the Church to show "...that a premature divorce between reason and faith could do more to hurt Christian apologetics than the attempt to promote a marriage between...

read more

Daddy, Why Do Angels Have Wings?

Author: Thomas P. Sheahen, PhD Article Abstract: This question, posed with a Christmastime flavor, leads into an explanation of the importance of images when discussing spiritual concepts that do not directly connect to our customary ways of thinking and speaking....

read more

Two Modes of Thought: Science and Religion

Author: Fr. Donald P. Merrifield, SJ Article Abstract: Although a member of the administration at Loyola Marymount University, Fr. Merrifield has not lost interest in faith/science. Biology, anthropology and evolutionary psychology have always attracted him more than...

read more

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

The Vineyard – Excerpts from Chapter 2 – Technology

Author: S. Eva Maria Amrhein, PhD Article Abstract: The author, a physicist and a native of Germany is interested in serving the mission of the church by enabling faith and science to meet and unfold their full potential within the person of the scientist. This...

read more

On the Domestication of Science

Author: John Matschiner, PhD Article Abstract: *This use of the expression, the domestication of science was inspired by Fr. Donald J. Keefe’s expression on “the domestication of worship.” It is interesting to speculate how this may be an expression -- more than that,...

read more

Environmental Crisis — International Justice

Author: Charles Elliott, PhD Article Abstract: That there are finite limits to the Earth’s carrying capacity seemed self-evident to this author, a respected world economist, as far back as 1972. He points out though that, “To the Third World,” (or as we would say...

read more

Your Role in the “Greenhouse Effect”

Author: Jerry Hannan, PhD Article Abstract: Jerry Hannan now retired from the Naval Research Labs in Washington, DC spends roughly 30 hours a week at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The following article is drawn from one of his many lectures delivered...

read more

ITEST for the Future: Science, Philosophy, Theology

Author: Eric A. Reitan, PhD Article Abstract: Catholic priest, professor of philosophy and teacher of seminarians writes how his scientific curiosity, the desire to understand the world of nature led him from a stand of avowed atheism to acknowledge the existence of...

read more

Kyoto and Population Control

Author: Fr. Robert A. Brungs, SJ Article Abstract: Although written during the years of the Clinton administration, this article and commentary strikes a familiar note today – the hidden issue, for example, of population control as a prerequisite for averting the...

read more

Hybrids, Genes and Patents

Author: Fr. Robert A. Brungs, SJ Article Abstract: A commentary on the 1995 petition (signed by many church and religious leaders) to "oppose the patenting of human and animal life forms...We (the church leaders) believe that humans and animals are creations of God,...

read more

Religion and Science: Must There Be Conflict 

Author: Fr. William A. Wallace, OP Article Abstract: Wallace cites examples of the early Fathers of the Church to show "...that a premature divorce between reason and faith could do more to hurt Christian apologetics than the attempt to promote a marriage between...

read more

The Science/Religion Dialogue – A Catholic Perspective

Author: Alfred Kracher, PhD Article Abstract: Professor Kracher of Iowa State University, in Part Two of this report, on a recent European Conference on Science and Theology, offers his reflections on the role of Catholic thought in the science/religion dialog in...

read more

Science Meets Theology in Cracow, Poland

Author: Alfred Kracher, PhD Article Abstract: The increasingly common practice of prenatal and preimplantation genetic diagnosis risks fostering in society a eugenic type of mentality. While a distinction must be made between compulsory, state organized, eugenics and...

read more

The Faith of a Neurologist

Author: Danielle Darriet, MD, PhD Article Abstract: Dr. Danielle Darriet, a neurologist, relates her experiences in dealing with brain damaged patients in a rehabilitation hospital in northern France. Darriet who left her position of medical research, now serves as...

read more

Neutrality? Alliance? or What?

Author: Fr. Robert A. Brungs, SJ Article Abstract: The author comments on the book, Higher Superstition: The Academic Left and Its Quarrels with Science by Paul R. Gross and Norman Levitt (1994). Brungs proposes another model to consider in the science and faith...

read more

Computing and Convergence: Bigger, Faster, Better? 

Author: John Ashby, MA Article Abstract: Computing and Convergence: Institutional technology planning today often centers around an unspoken premise - Technology=Computers. Yet the forces of technological change in the digital era go far beyond the limited impact of...

read more

Consumption of Natural Resources

Author: Gregory W. Pouch, PhD Article Abstract: Using well reasoned arguments, the author, a geologist, refutes the Malthusian thesis of 1798 that “there is a fixed supply of material being consumed and that this amount imposes an absolute limit to growth.” Pointing...

read more

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