The Key to Modern Freemasonry: The Hidden Mysteries of Nature and Science

For a short period in the early 1700s a preponderance of the leading men of English science happened to be, or would soon become, members of one of the Freemasons lodges in and around London (Ninety-two were members of the Royal Society from 1720-1740 ['Freemasons who are or were Fellows of the Royal Society ...', paper prepared by Bruce B. Hogg (2009), for the Masonic Yearbook Historical Supplement ] ). Such was the strength of that bond of that truly committed caucus that they went on to found the Premier Grand Lodge and leave in perpetuity their scientific imperative upon it. No-one can be made a Freemason without professing a belief in a Supreme Being, but immediately he is admitted he is informed that the only way he may become a fit member of organised society (and particularly Freemasonry), is through education. On that day as a final recommendation he is told that he must study the Liberal Arts and Sciences and from this injunction there is no let-up throughout the whole of his ceremonial journey, including his progression through the Holy Royal Arch. Even after attaining the highest position possible he is informed that he is now considered to be a 'Master of the Liberal arts and Sciences' and in the Address to him he is told that it is henceforth his duty to instruct and guide his brethren. There is no better place to get to grips with this subject than to understand whence this instruction came and the '...the circumstances that led thereto'. This book explains in a precise, yet readable manner, the science which had an all pervading influence upon the Founders of the Premier Grand Lodge and why the ritual they adopted was necessarily predicated on contemporary science and why it is in all essentials, that which we practice today. It does so by first explaining that science, the Founders' involvement with it and then it puts into context their history, great strengths and weaknesses; their antecedence; contemporary politics and society and much else which caused Premier Grand Lodge style Freemasonry to thrive and become the amazing international success it is today.

Table of Contents:
Pt I Ch1 (Masonic) symbolical science 0f the early 1700s; Ch2 Architecture; Ch3 The two principal colours; Ch4 Geometry; Ch5 The five regular Platonic solids with respect to the four elements and the sphere of the Universe; Ch6 The four elements; Ch7 (Astronomy) Sphere of the Universe - a dodecahedron; Ch8 The science not included; Pt II Ch9 Introduction; Ch10 Factors affecting the investigation & proposed analytical model; Ch11 Raison d'etre of the Royal Arch, its content and its relationship to Craft Masonry; Ch12 Sociological factors behind the formation of Grand Lodge and the Royal Arch; Ch13 Education; Pt III Ch14 Persona of the Founders; Ch15 Bibliographies of the first three Grand Masters: 1717, 1718 & 21, 1719; Ch16 Grand Masters 1720-24; Ch17 Concurrent men of influence; Ch18 Grand Masters 1726-30; Ch19 Grand Masters 1731-39 and the Duke of Chandos; Pt IV Ch20 Introduction to a history of the preceding 130 years and the watershed of the death of Elizabeth I (1558-1603); Ch21 James I (England) and VI (Scotland), (1566-1625); Ch22 Charles I (1600-1649); Ch23 Commonwealth; Ch24 Charles II (1630-1685); Ch25 James II (1633-1701); Ch26 William III (1650-1702) and Mary (1662-1695); Ch27 Queen Anne (1665-1714); Ch28 George I (1660-1727); Ch29 George II (1683-1760); Pt5 Ch30 Social factors and their influence on Freemasonry; Ch31 Political changes prior to and during the founding of Grand Lodge; Ch33 Religion; Ch34 Progression of the (Masonic) sciences; Ch35 the science not embraced in the Ritual; Ch36 Newton, Newtonians and Newtonianism; Pt V Ch37 The 'Seven Liberal Arts and Sciences' and the 'Hidden Mysteries of Nature and Science'; Ch38 The Whys and Wherefores; Ch39 General discussion of findings; Ch40 In the final analysis; Appendix 1 Desaguliers' Poem; Appendix 2 Lexicography Appendix 3 Further explanation of a 'Set Theory' approach; Index.

About the Author :
Professor Charles Lawrence has been a scholar of Freemasonry for over forty years but he is also an internationally recognised scientist and engineer. These parallel disciplines have influenced his approach to Masonic historiography, demanding profound analysis and the same detached stringency he applies to his scientific work.

Review :
John M. Hamill: One of the pleasures of my almost forty years of involvement in Masonic research has been to meet with those who come not from a humanities background but from the sciences or technology but have a profound love for Freemasonry and Masonic research. They bring to their research the discipline and analytical mind set of their particular field combined with enormous curiosity unencumbered by formal historical training, which often leads to them giving us new insights and a different view of what are often regarded as incontrovertible truths. I have had many fascinating conversations with Charles Lawrence during his research for this book. The early days of organised Freemasonry have been neglected for too long, largely because there is not a huge store of documents to be poured over and analysed. What Charles has done is to look at the social, political, scientific, intellectual and religious background of the period in which we believe Freemasonry was originating and developing combined with the personalities whom we know to have been involved in the early Grand Lodge days and the major figures who formed part of their circles to see what impact they had on the development of our "gentle craft". We are speculative Masons and it is right that we should speculate about how and why modern Freemasonry developed. The reader will find herein a wealth of factual information together with a new and fascinating theory which deserves to be published and discussed.