Edgar Andrews

Edgar H. Andrews
Born (1932-12-16)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.

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

References

  1. ↑ PhD thesis of P. E. Reed: The influence of Crystalline Texture on the Tensile Properties of Natural Rubber University of London (1970).
  2. ↑ "An Interview with Who Made God? author, Edgar H. Andrews". Christianity.com. August 2010. Archived from the original on 3 March 2012. Retrieved 2011-01-07.
  3. ↑ Campus Church
  4. ↑ 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.
  5. ↑ Articles published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society
  6. ↑ Numbers, Ronald (30 November 2006). The Creationists: From Scientific Creationism to Intelligent Design, Expanded Edition. Harvard University Press. p. 358. ISBN 0-674-02339-0.
  7. ↑ 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
  8. ↑ Fraudulent report at AAAS and the 1986 Oxford University debate

External links

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