Richard L. Thompson

Richard Leslie Thompson, also known as Sadaputa Dasa[2] (IAST: Sadāpūta Dāsa; February 4, 1947 – September 18, 2008), was an American mathematician,[3][4] author and Gaudiya Vaishnava religious figure. Historian Meera Nanda described him as a driving intellectual force of 'Vedic creationism' as co-author (with Michael Cremo) of Forbidden Archeology: The Hidden History of the Human Race (1993), a work that has attracted significant criticism from the scientific community.[5][6] Thompson also published several books and articles on the relationship between religion and science, Hindu cosmology and astronomy. He was a member of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (popularly known as the Hare Krishna movement or ISKCON) and a founding member of the Bhaktivedanta Institute, the branch of ISKCON dedicated to examining the relationship of modern scientific theories to the Vaishnava worldview.[1] In the 'science and religion' community he was known for his articulation of ISKCON's view of science.[2] Danish historian of religion Mikael Rothstein described Thompson as "the single dominating writer on science" in ISKCON whom ISKCON has chosen to "cover the field of science more or less on his own".[7] C. Mackenzie Brown, professor of religion at Trinity University, San Antonio, Texas, described him as "the leading figure" in ISKCON's critique of modern science.[1]

Richard L. Thompson
Born	February 4, 1947 Binghamton, New York
Died	September 18, 2008 (aged 61) Gainesville, Florida
Alma mater	Cornell University[1]

Biography

Richard L. Thompson was born in Binghamton, New York, in 1947.[8] In 1974 he received a Ph.D. in mathematics from Cornell University.[1] In the same year he formally became a member of ISKCON, receiving spiritual initiation from ISKCON's founder, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, and adopting the spiritual name Sadaputa Dasa.[1] Thompson carried out research in the fields of statistical mechanics, probability theory, and mathematical biology.[1] He published scholarly articles in refereed journals and series, such as Journal of the International Association for Mathematical Geology, Remote Sensing of the Environment, Biosystems, and International Review of Cytology.[1] In 1976 he became a founding member of the Bhaktivedanta Institute, the scientific branch of ISKCON dedicated to examining the relationship of modern scientific theories to Swami Prabhupada’s Vaishnava worldview.[1] Soon after joining ISKCON, Thompson became "ISKCON's dominating figure in science" and "established himself as the leading figure in the movement's critique of modern science in the light of Vedic spiritual (or 'higher-dimensional') science."[1] He formulated ISKCON's view on the concept of "higher-dimensional science" and wrote extensively on scientific subjects from this perspective.[2] In support of ISKCON's theology, he made research and analysis of the relation between the Vaishnava theological worldview and modern science.[9]

Thompson died on September 18, 2008, from a heart attack.[10]

Forbidden Archeology

The coauthor Michael Cremo writes in the Preface to the first edition that the work's central claim, that anomalous paleontological evidence dating in many hundreds of thousands of years, with examples such as the Laetoli footprints (generally considered by paleontologists to have been made by bipedal hominins) potentially stretching possibilities toward the low millions, suggests that modern human beings "perhaps ... coexisted with more apelike creatures," and that the scientific establishment, influenced by confirmation bias, has suppressed fossil evidence of extreme human antiquity. This argument has been criticised by mainstream scholars from a variety of disciplines.[11]

Selected bibliography

Books

• Thompson, Richard L. (1974). Equilibrium States of Thin Energy Shells. Providence, RI: American Mathematical Society. ISBN 978-0-8218-1850-3.
• Thompson, Richard L. (1981). Mechanistic and Nonmechanistic Science: An Investigation Into the Nature of Consciousness and Form. Lynbrook, NY: Bala Books. ISBN 978-0-89647-014-9.
• Goel, Narendra S.; Thompson, Richard L. (1988). Computer Simulations of Self-Organizations in Biological Systems. London: Croom Helm. ISBN 978-0-02-947922-3.
• Thompson, Richard L. (1989). Vedic Cosmography and Astronomy. Los Angeles: Bhaktivedanta Book Trust. ISBN 978-0892132690.
• Cremo, Michael A.; Thompson, Richard L. (1993). Forbidden Archeology: The Hidden History of the Human Race. San Diego: Bhaktivedanta Institute. ISBN 978-0-9635309-8-1.
• Thompson, Richard L. (1995). Alien Identities: Ancient Insights into Modern UFO Phenomena, 2nd Edition. Alachua, FL: Govardhan Hill Publishing. ISBN 978-0-9635309-4-3.
• Thompson, Richard L. (2003). Maya: The World as Virtual Reality. Alachua, FL: Govardhan Hill Publishing. ISBN 978-0-9635309-0-5.
• Thompson, Richard L. (2006). The Cosmology of the Bhagavata Purana: Mysteries of the Sacred Universe. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass. ISBN 978-8120819191.
• Thompson, Richard L. (2007). God and Science: Divine Causation and the Laws of Nature. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass. ISBN 978-81-208-3254-1.

Papers and other professional works

• Thompson, Richard (1980). "A Measure of Shared Information in Classes of Patterns". Pattern Recognition. 12 (6): 369–379. doi:10.1016/0031-3203(80)90013-8.
• Thompson, Richard (1984). "A Stochastic Model of Sedimentation". Journal of the International Association for Mathematical Geology. 16 (8): 753–778. doi:10.1007/bf01036703. S2CID 122598216.
• Thompson, Richard L.; Narendra S. Goel (1985). "A Simulation of T4 Bacteriophage Assembly and Operation". Biosystems. 18 (1): 23–45. doi:10.1016/0303-2647(85)90058-9. PMID 3840704.
• Thompson, Richard L.; Narendra S. Goel (1988). "Movable Finite Automata (MFA) Models for Biological Systems I: Bacteriophage Assembly and Operation". Journal of Theoretical Biology. 131 (3): 351–385. doi:10.1016/s0022-5193(88)80230-3. PMID 3193776.
• Goel, Narendra S.; Richard Thompson (1989). "Movable Finite Automata (MFA): A New Tool for Computer Modeling of Living Systems". Artificial Life: The Proceedings of an Interdisciplinary Workshop on the Synthesis and Simulation of Living Systems, Held September, 1987, in los Alamos, New Mexico, Edited by Christopher Langton: 317–340. ISBN 978-0-201-09346-9.
• Thompson, Richard; Narendra S. Goel (1990). "Biological Automata Models and Evolution II: The evolution of macromolecular machinery". Organizational Constraints on the Dynamics of Evolution, Edited by John Maynard Smith and G. Vida: 33–48. ISBN 978-0-7190-2670-6.
• Thompson, Richard L.; Narendra S. Goel (1998). "Two Models for Rapidly Calculation Bi-direction Reflectance of Complex Vegetation Scenes: Photon Spread (PS) Model and Statistical Photon Spread (SPS) Model". Remote Sensing Reviews. 16 (3): 157–207. doi:10.1080/02757259809532351.

See also

• Hindu views on evolution
• Quantum mysticism

Notes

1. Brown, C. Mackenzie (March 2002). "Hindu and Christian Creationism: "Transposed Passages" in the Geological Book of Life". Zygon: Journal of Religion and Science. 37 (1): 95–114. doi:10.1111/1467-9744.00414.
2. Rothstein 1996, p. 122
3. Henry, Granville C. (1984), "Review: Mechanistic and Nonmechanistic Science: An Investigation Into the Nature of Consciousness and Form by Richard L. Thompson", Zygon: Journal of Religion & Science, 19 (2): 377, doi:10.1111/j.1467-9744.1984.tb00936.x
4. Bakar, Osman (2003), "The Nature and Extent of Criticism of Evolutionary Theory", in Zarandi, Merhdad M. (ed.), Science and the Myth of Progress, Bloomington, Indiana: World Wisdom, p. 161, ISBN 978-0-941532-47-1. Readable online at Worldwisdom.com
5. Meera Nanda in the Indian magazine Frontline called Thompson and Michael Cremo "the intellectual force driving Vedic creationism." Vedic creationism in America Archived February 10, 2007, at the Wayback Machine. Frontline. January 14–27, 2006. Retrieved on August 18, 2008.
6. For example:
   • Numbers, Ronald (2006). The Creationists. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. pp. 564–565, footnote 47. ISBN 978-0-674-02339-0.
   • Wodak, J.; Oldroyd, D. (1996). "'Vedic Creationism': A Further Twist to the Evolution Debate". Social Studies of Science. 26 (1): 192–213. doi:10.1177/030631296026001012. ISSN 0306-3127. S2CID 170662013.
7. Rothstein 1996, p. 126
8. А. С. Тимощук (2008). "Р. Томпсон – нестатистический махатма (1947–2008)". In А. С. Тимощук (ed.). Махабхарата, Бхагават-гита и неклассическая рациональность: материалы III Международной научно-теоретической конференции (in Russian). Владимир: Издательство Владимирского государственного университета. pp. 141–144. ISBN 978-5-89368-918-1.
9. Rothstein, Mikael (1992). "Videoer og vismænd: Traditionel og moderne kanon i de nye religioner". Chaos: Dansk-Norsk Tidsskrift for Religionchistoriske Studier (in Danish). København: Museum Tusculanum Press. 18: 83–112. ISBN 9788772892306.
10. "ISKCON Scientist Sadaputa Dasa Passes Away", Sept. 20, 2008, at ISKCON.org website.
    Dead link: "Bhaktivedanta Institute (Alachua): People". Bhaktivedanta Institute. Retrieved July 18, 2011.
11. • Tarzia, Wade (1994). "Forbidden Archaeology: Antievolutionism Outside the Christian Arena". Creation/Evolution. 34: 13–25.
    • Wodak, J. and Oldroyd, D. (1996) ‘Vedic creationism’: a further twist to the evolution debate. Social Studies of Science, 26: 192–213 (quoted passages, p. 196, 206-207)
    • Morrow, Tom. Review of Forbidden Archeology's Impact by Michael A Cremo. RNCSE 19 (3): 14–17

References

• Brown, C. Mackenzie (2009), "Hindu Responses to Darwinism: Assimilation and Rejection in a Colonial and Post-Colonial Context", Science & Education, 19 (6–8): 705–738, doi:10.1007/s11191-009-9197-3, S2CID 195229923
• Henry, Granville C. (1984), "Review: Mechanistic and Nonmechanistic Science: An Investigation Into the Nature of Consciousness and Form by Richard L. Thompson", Zygon: Journal of Religion & Science, 19 (3): 377–380, doi:10.1111/j.1467-9744.1984.tb00936.x
• Rothstein, Mikael (1996), Belief Transformations: Some Aspects of the Relation Between Science and Religion in Transcendental Meditation (TM) and the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON), Aarhus: Aarhus University Press, ISBN 978-87-7288-421-9
• Wodak, Jo; Oldroyd, David (1996), "Review: 'Vedic Creationism': A Further Twist to the Evolution Debate", Social Studies of Science, 26 (1): 192–213, doi:10.1177/030631296026001012, JSTOR 285746, S2CID 170662013
• Raman, Varadaraja V. (April 25, 2005), "Hinduism and Physics Merge in 'God & Science'", Science & Theology News, 6, p. 42

Further reading

• Feder, K. L. (1994). "Forbidden archaeology (review)". Geoarchaeology. 9 (4): 337–340. doi:10.1002/gea.3340090408.
• Marks, J. (1994). "Forbidden archaeology (review)". American Journal of Physical Anthropology. 93: 140–141. doi:10.1002/ajpa.1330930113.
• Murray, T. (1995). "Michael A. Cremo and Richard L. Thompson, Forbidden Archeology (review)". The British Journal for the History of Science. 28 (3): 377. doi:10.1017/S0007087400033410.

External links

• Biography from an official website associated with the Bhaktivedanta Institute
• Richard L.Thompson Archives