The Single Science

By Leonardo Duque

The Single Science has been progressively in the making for over three decades.

In this book, when introducing the Exploratory Me

• Language: English
• Publisher: Leonardo Duque
• Release date: May 28, 2022
• ISBN: 9781732008144

Leonardo Duque

The author worked as a professor in Colombia for FUNDAEC's University for Rural Wellbeing (Non-Profit Foundation for the Application and Teaching of Science) and the Javeriana University. His search for profound answers to the farmers' dire situation started when three indigenous leaders from Latin American tribes, among others, were invited in 1989 to a seminar about FUNDAEC's almost 80 textbooks fruit of research about agriculture, engineering, education, and agroindustry for rural communities wellbeing. After having presented the results of 15 years of research, he asked them about their opinion. There were a Mapuche from Chile, a Kariña from Venezuela, and a Quechua from Bolivia. At the end of the seminar, he asked them what they thought about FUNDAEC's work during a break. They look at each other and the oldest, Sabino Ortega the Amauta Quechua, said: Leo, what you have is good, but indigenous people perceive nature differently. When Leo asked Sabino, how come? Sabino answered: When I observe a special bird flying over my home, I know visitors started walking to visit us, and they will be here in two or three days. Leo told them that he would study their concern and look for an answer. Their response transformed the course of his life. From the writings of Bahá'u'lláh, he was aware of focusing the search on the ancient Greek philosophers. I have vast experience working with NGOs in Colombia and Central America as a consultant and as a teacher. Specifically, I developed and teach a methodology that allows Businesses and Non-Profits to define parameters and formulate indicators to measure their progress in solving their problems. In Atlanta, I have volunteered at the Latin American Association, teaching a course titled Domestic Violence Issues and designing and teaching a course to train Hispanics to monitor and evaluate their job performance to increase job stability. These experiences have given me solid, extensive management skills, which, when coupled with my experiences at HCAG (Hispanic Contractor's Association of Georgia), mainly a course, that I developed and taught on Risk Management, have prepared me to continue to work in education with the diverse, multicultural populations of Georgia. Because of the US 2008 economic recession I have been taking care of little kids for the last three and half years and I have learn patience and understanding of little ones curiosity and how to guide them and take care of them.I am very goal oriented, a skill I learned as the Academic Coordinator of a graduate program in Management of Non-Profits the equivalent of a Masters in Social Management. As a result of my academic and professional training, I am methodical and organized in my approach to education. The author dedicated his other books to the relentlessly persecuted Bahá'ís of Iran. This book is also in their honor for being so resilient and steadfast human beings.My eternal gratitude to my wife and our dear children, their spouses, and grandkids; I will never forget the joy of being with them and their support, patience, and love in accepting the long hours I dedicate to my research.

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Biographic Note About the Author

The author worked as a professor in Colombia for FUNDAEC's University for Rural Wellbeing (Non-Profit Foundation for the Application and Teaching of Science) and the Javeriana University. 

His search for profound answers to the farmers’ dire situation started when three indigenous leaders from Latin American tribes, among others, were invited in 1989 to a seminar about FUNDAEC’s almost 80 textbooks fruit of research about agriculture, engineering, education, and agroindustry for rural communities wellbeing. After having presented the results of 15 years of research, he asked them about their opinion. There were a Mapuche from Chile, a Kariña from Venezuela, and a Quechua from Bolivia. At the end of the seminar, he asked them what they thought about FUNDAEC’s work during a break. They look at each other and the oldest, Sabino Ortega the Amauta¹ Quechua, said: Leo, what you have is good, but indigenous people perceive nature differently. When Leo asked Sabino, how come? Sabino answered: When I observe a special bird flying over my home, I know visitors started walking to visit us, and they will be here in two or three days. Leo told them that he would study their concern and look for an answer. Their response transformed the course of his life. From the writings of Bahá’u’lláh, he was aware of focusing the search on the ancient Greek philosophers.

In his first publication, Edmundo Gutiérrez, President of FUNDAEC’s University Center for Rural Well-Being, in the prologue of, En Síntesis: ¡La Ciencia es Amor! Aplicaciones Prácticas en los Organismos No Gubernamentales (1992), wrote: Leonardo Duque in his book addressed to Non-Governmental Organizations which in the last two decades are showing signs of having become a powerful force for change, proposes a new way to face their challenges; his proposal is framed in a context of integration that includes the understanding of man as a multidimensional being, a close link of theory with practice and a fusion between the material and the spiritual.

I can affirm that when reading it, the book forces us to think, to reflect deeply on each of its approaches and leads to the need for a deeper exploration of that fundamental and complementary border, the relationship between the material and the spiritual.

In a second publication, En la Encrucijada: Una Perspectiva Nueva. En Honor a las Mujeres del Mundo (1999), Dr. Jairo Roldan, Ph.D. in Philosophy of Science from the Sorbonne University and one of Colombia's foremost physicists, said in the prologue: Professor Leonardo Duque argues in this book, and this constitutes one of his main theses, that the complete clarification of the art of governing requires the analysis of what is understood as Science.  He maintains that Science and Power are fundamentally in harmony with tenderness, love and mercy.  That conviction, together with the fact that the aforementioned qualities have been predominant distinctive attributes in women, inspires him to dedicate his book to the women of the world. 

The third chapter, as mentioned above, forms the core of the conceptual framework of the book, a framework that is based on Aristotle's four causes.  The author carries out a personal and original interpretation of these difficult topics in order to find the way to a synthesis of knowledge and apply it to the work of grassroots organizations.  The most original approach is the attempt to link the four causes to different powers, laws, properties, principles and values, referring to God, nature, and the human being; and the effort to transform a highly abstract topic into a valuable tool to solve practical problems.

It is also in this chapter that the author presents another of his main theses according to which Science is Love.  Inspired by Plato's Dialogue 'The Banquet', where the great philosopher speaks of 'the Science of the Beautiful', and in the Writings of Abdu'l-Bahá where Love is identified as the great power that holds the Universe together, Professor Duque identifies Science with Love.  The question arises: Love to what?  It is not difficult to imagine that one answer would be: love of Beauty.  However, it is possible to attempt an identification of Truth with Beauty and, in a mystical sense, to identify true science with a search for the attributes of the Creator, including Beauty.  With the Creator being One Reality, love for His beauty, for His reality, would be one thing.  By having Religion as a purpose, the search for spiritual truths, and since reality is one, both Science and Religion would seek the same thing in the background.  Hence the essential harmony between them, which is one of the fundamental principles accepted by Professor Duque.  His thesis, as can be seen, is inspiring novel research on the nature of Science.

Finally, in the ninth chapter, the author presents a summary of the advantages that he believes will be derived from the application of his conceptual framework in the resolution of the various problems that afflict the world today.

In closing, I would like to add that the book is an honest effort to help those most in need solve their problems.  The task that the author has set himself is enormous and he does so inspired by his love for humanity and his religious convictions.  To what extent Professor Duque achieves his tasks is up to the readers to decide.

Dr. Farzam Arbab, in January 7, 2000 wrote the following in reference to the same book: At the crossroads, A New Perspective. In honor of the Women of the World, in Spanish: 

Dear Leonardo,

Just a note to thank you for the copies of your book En la Encrucijada: Una Perspectiva Nueva. l have finally had a chance to look through it, especially the sections you suggested. It is really wonderful that you have been confirmed in carrying out this work. Doors are steadily opening for the Faith in Colombia in ways we could not have imagined a couple of decades ago, and the community is fortunate to have members like you who can walk through them. Be assured of my prayers in the Holy Shrines for you and your family.

In a third publication, Dr. Stephen Beebe -  a senior bean researcher at the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) in the prologue to A New Approach to Science (Duque 2018), said: A hallmark of the age in which we live is the freedom to investigate reality and truth. Indeed, beyond the common concept of freedom, which implies the possibility of a take-it-or-leave-it attitude toward a search for truth, it is indeed the responsibility of each individual to investigate reality. Search is part of our essential being; it is not an option. 

If science is the study of cause and effect in the material world, then the causes of phenomena occur at multiple levels: as the raw substance of material reality, as the form that material reality takes, as the action or influence that shapes material reality, and as the purpose or intention behind a given expression of material reality. When put in the context of human decisions, man’s spiritual reality and social context, the maturity engendered in light of the Revelation of Bahá’u’lláh guides this process of knowledge toward a more just and peaceful society. The current study investigates the implications of bringing such maturity to bear on the current state of agriculture and smallholder farmers that are prominent in the so-called developing world. It is another contribution to the search after knowledge that the Bahá’í Revelation has provoked in the collective life of humanity.

Leonardo was a member of the National Spiritual Assemblies of the Bahá'ís of Costa Rica (1979-1981) and Colombia (1983-2006) and served in the Local Spiritual Assembly of Central Dekalb in Atlanta from 2007 to today.

He says that: without continuously serving God’s Cause, none of his books will realize fruition. The tests and challenges endured while practicing and teaching His Cause became opportunities to advance and serve.

Preface

This book enriches the four causes of Aristotelian thought—i.e., the material, formative, efficient and final causes (Duque, 1.992) – and a previously suggested fifth cause (Duque, 1.999), the Maturity Cause, using the same methodology discovered while working with the four causes.

The evolving conceptual framework took the author to suggest in The New Approach to Science (2018), the four causes taught by the Greeks became associated with the qualitative, the formative, the experimental, and the explanatory methods. Because the author concluded that science is the attraction to the beauty of truth, he discarded the quantitative approach. Beauty is related to the desire form, shape, or arrangement, searching for justice, unity, harmony, symmetry, and moderation. The exploratory and propositional methods emerged from the Maturity Cause. The art of inter-weaving the causes horizontally and vertically, using the grouping criteria for constructing the single science also appears from a very challenging question from the distinguished scholar, Ian Kluge. A total of six methods of science and one art.

Each of the causes is associated with a group of crucial notions and a set of human faculties. The coordinated interaction of those notions and faculties results in the development of each method of science.

Later, the author found a quote from Baha'u'llah in The Summons of the Lord of Hosts:

Say: We have revealed Our verses in nine different modes. Each one of them bespeaketh the sovereignty of God, the Help in Peril, the Self-Subsisting. A single one of them sufficeth for a proof unto all who are in the heavens and on the earth; yet the people, for the most part, persist in their heedlessness. Should it be Our wish, We would reveal them in countless other modes.

That quote inspired the author to continue searching. In this book, the author suggests the Root Cause and the Destiny Method of Science and the Art of Persuasion, chapter XIV.

This conceptual framework is a valuable tool for solving everyday common issues and resolving significant individual and collective challenges; its framework to perceive, interpret and transform reality profoundly questions the definition of science today. The spiritual world is like unto the phenomenal world. They are the exact counterpart of each other. Whatever objects appear in this world of existence are the outer pictures of the world of heaven.² What would be the synergic effect when science and religion, the two most potent forces in human life,³ become reconciled?

The author dedicated his other books to the relentlessly persecuted Bahá'ís of Iran. This book is also in their honor for being so resilient and steadfast human beings.

My eternal gratitude to my wife and our dear children, their spouses, and grandkids; I will never forget the joy of being with them and their support, patience, and love in accepting the long hours I dedicate to my research.

ȸȹ

To the readers unfamiliar with the Bahá’í Faith, its Central Figures, Institutions, and Writings the author suggests looking for further information in the Bahá’í Reference Library www.bahai.org. Besides English, on this web page, you can find information in the following languages: Arabic, Chinese, French, Hindi, Kiswahili, Persian, Portuguese, Russian, and Spanish. Because the Bahá’í Faith is a world religion, most likely, you will find a web page in your mother’s tongue.

Bahá’ís do not proselytize. Individuals use their intelligence to find the truth; however, imitation is a considerable obstacle to seeing it:

The divine Prophets have revealed and founded religion. They have laid down certain laws and heavenly principles for the guidance of mankind. They have taught and promulgated the knowledge of God, established praiseworthy ethical ideals and inculcated the highest standards of virtues in the human world. Gradually these heavenly teachings and foundations of reality have been beclouded by human interpretations and dogmatic imitations of ancestral beliefs. The essential realities, which the Prophets labored so hard to establish in human hearts and minds while undergoing ordeals and suffering tortures of persecution, have now well nigh vanished. Some of these heavenly Messengers have been killed, some imprisoned, all of Them despised and rejected while proclaiming the reality of Divinity. Soon after Their departure from this world, the essential truth of Their teachings was lost sight of and dogmatic imitations adhered to.

Inasmuch as human interpretations and blind imitations differ widely, religious strife and disagreement have arisen among mankind, the light of true religion has been extinguished and the unity of the world of humanity destroyed. The Prophets of God voiced the spirit of unity and agreement. They have been the Founders of divine reality. Therefore, if the nations of the world forsake imitations and investigate the reality underlying the revealed Word of God, they will agree and become reconciled. For reality is one and not multiple.

The nations and religions are steeped in blind and bigoted imitations. A man is a Jew because his father was a Jew. The Muslim follows implicitly the footsteps of his ancestors in belief and observance. The Buddhist is true to his heredity as a Buddhist. That is to say, they profess religious belief blindly and without investigation, making unity and agreement impossible. It is evident, therefore, that this condition will not be remedied without a reformation in the world of religion. In other words, the fundamental reality of the divine religions must be renewed, reformed, revoiced to mankind.⁴

There is no clergy in the Bahá’í Faith and voluntary contributions to support teaching efforts come exclusively from bahá’ís:

The crucial point in deciding whether or not funds may be accepted from non-Bahá’í sources is the purpose for which the funds are to be used. As you know, it is absolutely forbidden in the Faith to accept from non-Bahá’ís contributions towards the work of the Cause itself. However, in addition to the work of spreading the Faith and establishing its institutions, Spiritual Assemblies also engage in humanitarian activities, and contributions from non-Bahá’í sources may be accepted towards such activities. Indeed, although we never ask individual non-Bahá’ís for funds, it sometimes happens that a person who has a great admiration for the Faith insists on contributing. In such a case the contribution may be accepted, with the express provision that it will be used only for charitable and humanitarian purposes.⁵

Introduction to The Single Science

While living in Atlanta, Georgia, let me introduce this chapter with a recent discovery when serving the Local Spiritual Assembly of Central Dekalb to establish a solid foundation for the core activities.

When reflecting on the following outcomes, coordinated sets of small groups of students and researchers should form to get used to practicing team research, which seems to be the future of interdisciplinary analysis of a complex reality. Here is an example of the challenge ahead: ‘Abdu’l-Bahá said: The more microscopic animals exist in the soil, the better the plants will grow.⁶ ⁷

Will the Master’s quote affect the world's farmers for a least one thousand years? Is that the lasting period for the line of inquiry given to us by the Master?

What is the situation of the soils today? (Hobson, Jeremy, 2019),⁸ (Lori, Martina, et al., 2017)⁹

Will it increase the productivity of the harvest meaningfully? ≈ -13% (Pearsons, Kirsten Ann, et al., 2022)¹⁰, ≈ 47% and 60% (de Kroon, Hans, et al., 2011.)¹¹, ≈ 200% (Kevin E. Mueller, et al. 2013.)¹², ≈ 500% (Schnitzer, Stefan A., et al. 2011.)¹³. Will it improve the profit of organic farmers?

Will it contribute to addressing climate change by sequestering carbon in the soil? (Thakur, Madhav Prakash, et al., 2015)¹⁴, (Prommer, Judith, et al., 2019)¹⁵, (Renee Cho, 2018)¹⁶

If productivity increases, would it be a motif for farmers to gradually expand the heterogeneity of polycultures, cover crops (Finney, D.M., et al., 2017)¹⁷,(Vukicevich, Eric, et al., 2016)¹⁸, (Kima, Nakian, et al., 2020)¹⁹, and microorganisms in the soil? (Tilman, David, et al. 2014)²⁰, (Steinauer, Katja, et al. 2016)²¹, (Thakur, Madhav Prakash, et al., 2015)²², (Prommer, Judith, et al., 2019)²³, (Chen, Chen, et al. 2019)²⁴, (Mueller, Kevin, et al., 2013)²⁵. Will it reduce the number of square miles planted with monocultures?

If we want to increase the diversity of microorganisms in the soil, what are the sources of abundant diversity of microscopic organisms? (Noah Fierer and Robert B. Jackson, et al., 2006)²⁶, (Baldrian, Petr, 2016)²⁷ (Clemmensen, K. E. et al., 2013)²⁸. Will farmers gradually opt for agroforestry because the grounds where you find a greater variety of microorganisms are in the forest? (Smith, Laurence G., et al., 2022)²⁹

What lab equipment is requiredto test the diversity and quantity of microbes at the farmers’ farms and in the soil amendment? (Laboratory Equipment, University of Maine)³⁰, (microBIOMETER®)³¹

What are the methods (Pearsons, Kirsten Ann, et al., 2022)³², (Chen, Chen, et al. 2019)³³, (Zhen, Zhen, et al., 2014)³⁴, and requisites (Björn Berg, 2000)³⁵ to be used by the storehouse to collect, reproduce, preserve, and distribute them? Will it increase our willingness to recycle organic matter, food leftovers, and garden waste? activity of fungi especially in litter where their contribution to microbial transcription was > 50% (Žifčáková,Lucia, et al., 2016)³⁶, ≈ 32 % of the global yield gap for maize, and 60 % of the gap for wheat (Oldfield, Emily E., et al., 2019)³⁷, compost with manure ≈ 45% and 200% (Ouédraogo, E., et al., 2001)³⁸

If productivity increases meaningfully, would it be a motive for farmers to refrain from applying insecticides, herbicides, and fungicides? (Gunstone, Tari, et al., 2021)³⁹, (Barros-Rodríguez, Adoración, et al., 2021)⁴⁰, and heavy machinery? (Sekara, Udayakumar and Sandeep Kumar, 2021)⁴¹

If seeds descendants are planted during several cycles in soils with a greater diversity of microorganisms and the loving care of a good gardener, what perfections may start to appear?

Will it generate millions of jobs? How many barriers will farmers grow, and how many durable terraces will farmers decide to build to deal with soil erosion?

One of the reasons for the productivity increase and host-specific disease decrease is increasing microbial community diversity (Schnitzer, Stefan A., et al., 2011)⁴². Will it improve the health of plants? (Garbeva, P., et al., 2005 )⁴³, (Eric Vukicevich, et al., 2016)⁴⁴, (Mommer, Liesje, et al., 2018)⁴⁵, (Cao, Xia, et al., 2022)⁴⁶, (, et al., ). Soils in organic systems had 32% to 84% greater microbial biomass carbon, in a meta-analysis that integrated data from 56 mainly peer-reviewed papers (Lori, Martina, et al., 2017)⁴⁷. Organic farming brings better nutritional value (Pearsons, Kirsten Ann, et al., 2022)⁴⁸.  Yet, it seems not evident that animals’ health improves (Sutherland, Mhairi A., et al., 2013)⁴⁹ (Brodziak, Aneta, et al., 2021).⁵⁰ In humans? (Mayo Clinic Staff).⁵¹

The author believes that ‘Abdu’l-Bahá was the most outstanding scientist ever! Those are some of the potentialities of a meaningful quote from the Master, with only 14 words.

In the Writings is clear that moderation is crucial to success, we want to protect farmers being cautious. Implement the above mentioned guidance gradually without putting the harvest at risk.

It is evident that if productivity increases meaningfully, it will not guarantee food security for all. The problem is not just productivity: United Nations says:

In Ending Poverty, the UN says: According to the most recent estimates, in 2015, 10 percent of the world’s population or 734 million people lived on less than $1.90 a day. One out of five children live in extreme poverty, and the negative effects of poverty and deprivation in the early years have ramifications that can last a lifetime. In 2016, 55% of the world’s population – about 4 billion people – did not benefit from any form of social protection.⁵² ⁵³

About 3 billion people worldwide lack adequate facilities to safely wash their hands at home.⁵⁴ ⁵⁵

The author believes that Eduardo Galeano accurately described the The Nobodies’ situation:

Fleas dream of buying themselves a dog, and nobodies dream of escaping poverty: that one magical day good luck will suddenly rain down on them–will rain down in buckets. But good luck doesn’t rain down yesterday, today, tomorrow, or ever. Good luck doesn’t even fall in a fine drizzle, no matter how hard the nobodies summon it, even if their left hand is tickling, or if they begin the new day with their right foot, or start the new year with a change of brooms.

The nobodies: nobody’s children, owners of nothing. The nobodies: the no ones, the nobodied, running like rabbits, dying through life, screwed every which way.

Who are not, but could be.

Who don’t speak languages, but dialects.

Who don’t have religions, but superstitions.

Who don’t create art, but handicrafts.

Who don’t have culture, but folklore.

Who are not human beings, but human resources.

Who do not have faces, but arms.

Who do not have names, but numbers.

Who do not appear in the history of the world, but in the police blotter of the local paper.

The nobodies, who are not worth the bullet that kills them.

Continuing the conversation about the potentialities of the quote, The more microscopic animals exist in the soil, the better the plants will grow,⁵⁶ this book is about empowering the nobodies populating the grassroots of society with scientific methods to become peaceful protagonists of social change. They own an untapped wealth that will benefit the whole earth. Regard man as a mine rich in gems of inestimable value. Education can, alone, cause it to reveal its treasures, and enable mankind to benefit therefrom.⁵⁷

ȸȹ

Harmony between science and religion is one of the principles of the Bahá’í Faith. For a long time, they have been considered incompatible.

Jacques Monod, said:

Armed with all the powers, enjoying all the wealth they owe to science, our societies are still trying to practice and to teach systems of values already destroyed at the roots by that very science. Man knows at last that he is alone in the indifferent immensity of the universe, whence which he has emerged by chance. His duty, like his fate, is written nowhere. —⁵⁸

I am aware that prejudices and ideologies cause bias that distorts the truth, and I believe that Truthfulness is the foundation of all human virtues. Without truthfulness, progress and success, in all the worlds of God, are impossible for any soul. When this holy attribute is established in man, all the divine qualities will also be acquired⁵⁹, I sought to explore the harmony of science and religion by scrutinizing the four causes taught by the ancient Greek philosophers, which I explained more fully below. I did this for the below mentioned three reasons: The first reason is outlined in the following quotes by Roger Walsh, from his "Staying Alive: the psychology of human survival":

Our current crises are seen as expressions of the mistaken desires, fears, and perceptions that arise from our mistaken identity. Since all the major threats to human survival and wellbeing are human-caused, they are of course, deeply, though not exclusively, psychological in origin. The state of the world, then, is a reflection of the state of our individual and collective minds. He points out psychological, educational, and sociological strategies that may mitigate our situation. 

World issues proceed, as a last resort, from human minds and from the actions that these minds unleash; because of this, the efforts to subdue our fears and egoisms; to overcome people's mistaken beliefs or transcend non-solidary attitudes are keys in the planetary evolution.

Inasmuch as the state of the world reflects the state of our minds, then what we have called our global ‘‘problems’’ are actually global ‘‘symptoms’’: symptoms of our individual and collective pathologies and immaturities. Therefore, truly curative responses will need to address these internal sources. We will need multifaceted interventions in which we not only try, for example, to feed the hungry and work for peace, but also attempt to address the psychological roots of these problems: the greed, hatred and delusion, and lack of Love, compassion, and wisdom, which created them in the first place. We are in a race between consciousness and catastrophe.⁶⁰

The perennial philosophy, which lies at the heart of the great religions and is increasingly said to represent their deepest thinking, suggests a very different view.  It views consciousness as central and its development as the primary goal of existence.  This development is said to culminate in the condition variously known in different traditions as enlightenment, liberation, salvation …

The descriptions of this condition show remarkable similarities across cultures and centuries.  Its essence is said to be the recognition that the distortions of our usual state of mind are such that we have been suffering from a case of mistaken identity.⁶¹

The second reason is that the Greek philosophers have been, throughout history, universally recognized for their great wisdom, and their books amply disseminated.

Third, and most importantly, is that Bahá'u'lláh, when referring to the Greek philosophers, said,

Although it is recognized that the contemporary men of learning are highly qualified in philosophy, arts and crafts, yet were anyone to observe with a discriminating eye he would readily comprehend that most of this knowledge hath been acquired from the sages of the past, for it is they who have laid the foundation of philosophy, reared its structure and reinforced its pillars. Thus doth thy Lord, the Ancient of Days, inform thee. The sages aforetime acquired their knowledge from the Prophets, inasmuch as the latter were the Exponents of divine philosophy and the Revealers of heavenly mysteries.

Consider Hippocrates, the physician. He was one of the eminent philosophers who believed in God and acknowledged His sovereignty. After him came Socrates who was indeed wise, accomplished and righteous. … He is the most distinguished of all philosophers and was highly versed in wisdom.

After Socrates came the divine Plato who was a pupil of the former and occupied the chair of philosophy as his successor. He acknowledged his belief in God and in His signs which pervade all that hath been and shall be. Then came Aristotle, the well-known man of knowledge. He it is who discovered the power of gaseous matter. These men who stand out as leaders of the people and are pre-eminent among them, one and all acknowledged their belief in the immortal Being Who holdeth in His grasp the reins of all sciences.⁶²

The great Greek philosophers based their explanation of all phenomena on four fundamental causes, or reasons for phenomena: the Material Cause, the Formative Cause, the Efficient Cause, and the Final Cause. Today’s academic world seems uninterested in the significance of the four Causes taught by the Greek philosophers. Academics seem apprehensive and uncertain regarding the possibility of unifying knowledge. 

Consider, for example, Mikael Stenmark’s conception of science:

The idea seems to be that science should be free from not merely ideological or religious values but also ideological or religious beliefs. … With this clarification in mind, I propose that we define the value-free view of science more precisely in this way: The value-free view of science is the standpoint that science should be autonomous, neutral, impartial, non-responsible, and non-normative. ⁶³

In supporting his perspective about an impartial science, Stenmark says: Science should be impartial in the sense that it should not presuppose the truth of any particular political vision, religion or ideology in the validation of scientific theories.⁶⁴

About Stenmark’s statement, I would not waste my time trying to demonstrate that God’s teachings are false; I would dedicate my ephemeral life to understanding their validity.

Let us go back to what Roger Walsh said: our current crises are seen as expressions of the mistaken desires, fears, and perceptions that arise from our mistaken identity, and that "the current threats to human survival and wellbeing are actually symptoms, symptoms of our individual and collective mindset. The state of the world is, therefore, a creation and expression of our own minds, and it is to our own minds that we must look for solutions."⁶⁵

The following questions, among many others, arise from these reflections:

Which options do I have once I reach the age of maturity?

How do I envision myself?

What am I?

Am I unique?

Why do I exist?  For what do I exist?

Who am I?

To examine the approach to answering these questions, I will start the philosophical discussion of the causes with two quotes by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá that served as the foundation for this search: Essential pre-existence is an existence which is not preceded by a cause; essential origination is preceded by a cause. Temporal pre-existence has no beginning; temporal origination has both a beginning and an end. For the existence of each and every thing depends upon four causes: the efficient cause, the material cause, the formal cause, and the final cause. So this chair has a creator who is a carpenter, a matter which is wood, a form which is that of a chair, and a purpose which is to serve as a seat. Therefore, this chair is essentially originated, for it is preceded by, and its existence is conditioned upon, a cause. This is called essential or intrinsic origination.⁶⁶

‘Abdu’l-Bahá is reported to have said:

Someone desires an explanation of the terms soul, mind and spirit. The terminology of ancient and modern philosophers differs. According to the great ancient philosophers the words soul, mind and spirit implied the underlying principles of life; the essence was expressed under different names and these three terms designated the various functions of the absolute reality, or the operations of the one single essence; for instance, when they dealt with the sensations of emotion they called it the soul; when they desired to express that power which discovers the reality of phenomena they gave it the appellation of mind and when they discussed the consciousness which pervades the world of creation they gave it the title of spirit.⁶⁷

When I started my research, I was not aware of the epistemological discussions about understanding that would allow one to say that one owes the knowledge of something, nor had I read about the metaphysical search for the meaning of truth. I did not receive guidance on comprehending the philosophical questions related to the concepts of causes and principles. I believe that I likely would have lost the path if I had these things!

The assumption upon which I based my investigation started believing deeply in my heart that it was possible to bring about harmony between science and religion. In this book, the reader will find faith and all science disciplines fused in a common conceptual framework: a single science. The problem today is the fragmentation of knowledge into scientific specialties and the separation of science and religion in two entirely separate domains. I started the puzzle, putting a few notions next to each of the four causes that the Greek philosophers taught and then searching their writings for a meaningful connection. It was frustrating but ultimately rewarding with patience and perseverance.

Each of the six causes, the four original Causes taught by the Greek philosophers, the Maturity Cause and the Root Cause, is associated with one or two scientific methods and a set of human faculties. The Formative Cause to the formative method; the Material Cause to the qualitative method; the Final Cause, taught by the Greeks, to the explanatory method, and the Efficient Cause to the descriptive and experimental methods. The exploratory and propositional methods emerged from the Maturity Cause and the Root Cause to the Destiny Method of Science.

The author will refer to Diotima’s text, Socrates’s teacher, the wise woman Diotima of Mantineia, in each one of the causes taught by the Greek Philosophers to support the conclusion that a single science is Love: attraction to the beauty of truth.

Classes: clusters, groups, categories, sets, conglomerates, and the answer to: What type of object or being?  What species of plants or insects?

Socrates explains why categories should be included in the Efficient Cause, which we will study later on in this document:

Stranger- Then, not to exclude anyone who has ever speculated at all upon the nature of being, let us put our questions to them as well as to our former friends.

Theaetetus- What questions?

Stranger- Shall we refuse to attribute being to motion and rest, or anything to anything, and assume that they do not mingle, and are incapable of participating in one another? Or shall we gather all into one class of things communicable with one another? Or are some things communicable and others not? Which of these alternatives, Theaetetus, will they prefer?

Theaetetus- I have nothing to answer on their behalf. Suppose that you take all these hypotheses in turn, and see what are the consequences which follow from each of them. …

Stranger- And now, if we suppose that all things have the power of communion with one another -what will follow?

Theaetetus- Even I can solve that riddle.

Stranger- How?

Theaetetus- Why, because motion itself would be at rest, and rest again in motion, if they could be attributed to one another.

Stranger- But this is utterly impossible.

Theaetetus- Of course.

Stranger- Then only the third hypothesis remains.

Theaetetus- True.

Stranger- For, surely, either all things have communion with all; or nothing with any other thing; or some things communicate with some things and others not.

Theaetetus- Certainly.

Stranger- And two out of these three suppositions have been found to be impossible.

Theaetetus- Yes.

Stranger- Every one then, who desires to answer truly, will adopt the third and remaining hypothesis of the communion of some with some.

Theaetetus- Quite true.

Stranger- This communion of some with some may be illustrated by the case of letters; for some letters do not fit each other, while others do.

Theaetetus- Of course.

Stranger- And the vowels, especially, are a sort of bond which pervades all the other letters, so that without a vowel one consonant cannot be joined to another.

Theaetetus- True.

Stranger- But does every one know what letters will unite with what? Or is art required in order to do so?

Theaetetus- What is required.

Stranger- What art?

Theaetetus- The art of grammar.

Stranger- And is not this also true of sounds high and low?-Is not he who has the art to know what sounds mingle, a musician, and he who is ignorant, not a musician?

Theaetetus- Yes.

Stranger- And we shall find this to be generally true of art or the absence of art.

Theaetetus- Of course.

Stranger- And as classes are admitted by us in like manner to be some of them capable and others incapable of intermixture, must not he who would rightly show what kinds will unite and what will not, proceed by the help of science in the path of argument? And will he not ask if the connecting links are universal, and so capable of intermixture with all things; and again, in divisions, whether there are not other universal classes, which make them possible?

Theaetetus- To be sure he will require science, and, if I am not mistaken, the very greatest of all sciences.

Stranger- How are we to call it? By Zeus, have we not lighted unwittingly upon our free and noble science, and in looking for the Sophist have we not entertained the philosopher unawares?

Theaetetus- What do you mean?

Stranger- Should we not say that the division according to classes, which neither makes the same other, nor makes other the same, is the business of the dialectical science?

Theaetetus- That is what we should say.

Stranger- Then, surely, he who can divide rightly is able to see clearly one form pervading a scattered multitude, and many different forms contained under one higher form; and again, one form knit together into a single whole and pervading many such wholes, and many forms, existing only in separation and isolation. This is the knowledge of classes which determines where they can have communion with one another and where not.

Theaetetus- Quite true.⁶⁸

Including categories as part of this proposal allows others to bring about higher levels of excellence. The author tried to delineate the grouping criterion used for each of the causes, carefully setting the group's identity. For example, some of the notions closely associated with the Material Cause imply to develop a spiritual foundation and to acquire valuable knowledge, as wellsprings of material wellbeing in determining prosperity in the quality of life. An honest individual, a faithful husband, a clean person will have a much better quality of life than the contrary. Be mindful that all the notions closely associated with the other causes are complementary sets of the one considered. For example, collective responsibility, unity of thought, unity of vision, and collective volition are part of the ideal to reach a better quality of life for all and are mentioned in other Causes, but not in the Material Cause. The reader will find that all causes are intertwined.

In a search for a harmonious relationship between science and religion, the task implied exploring linking concepts in both realms: the Book of Creation and the Book of Revelation. As the reader can perceive, to suggest a new idea of science, the author grouped a carefully chosen set of notions to each cause. The novelty of the way of the adopted grouping is that each cause has a conceptual framework that includes:

a principle that encompasses all creation,

concepts closely related to that principle,

certain general laws,

a structure of relationships,

a method,

a set of human faculties,

some spiritual values,

and the associated parameters and indicators.

‘Abdu'l-Bahá, in Some Answered Questions, taught:

That is why man is said to be the greatest sign of God—that is, he is the Book of Creation—for all the mysteries of the universe are found in him. Should he come under the shadow of the true Educator and be rightly trained, he becomes the gem of gems, the light of lights, and the spirit of spirits; he becomes the focal centre of divine blessings, the wellspring of spiritual attributes, the dawning-place of heavenly lights, and the recipient of divine inspirations. Should he, however, be deprived of this education, he becomes the embodiment of satanic attributes, the epitome of animal vices, and the source of all that is oppressive and dark.⁶⁹

Scientific research can either be a journey with different stages, as shown in the graphic below. We can examine a problem using all the methods or just utilizing some of them. Both ways are valid. Individuals or groups can begin exploring a problem and, after some reflection, propose a solution.

The single science I have been looking for requires the capacity to classify into one of the causes, any notion relevant to the problem.  Then, in a systematic search for the beauty of truth, proceed through the phases of the cycle of scientific research.

Please refer to the table below, showing the methodology followed in constructing the Single Science by inter-weaving the causes horizontally and vertically.

Ian Kluge, a bahá’í scholar philosopher, revised the first draft of my previous book, The New Approach to Science". He started asking some questions, and one of them was very profound. It took me several weeks to answer it because the methodology gradually emerged when applying the scientific methods proposed in my previous books for decades.

When Ian received the below-mentioned chart, he said: I think the idea underlying the chart is excellent and draws attention to correspondences within reality as analyzed from the perspective of Aristotle’s four-fold causality. Contemporary world-views are very weak vis-à-vis correspondences in reality because they lack the vision of reality as made up of different ontological levels. This literally blinds them to some of the relationships that your chart makes apparent.