Science and the Spiritual Quest: New Essays by Leading Scientists

Addressing fundamental questions about life, death and the universe Science and the Spiritual Quest examines the ways in which scientists negotiate the complex frontiers between their scientific and religious beliefs. Distinguished cosmologists, physicians, biologists and computer scientists of different faiths explore the connections between the domain of science and the realms of ethics, spirituality and the divine. Through essays and frank interviews, they offer honest, stimulating, and often intensely personal thoughts about life's most impenetrable mysteries. This unique volume presents radical new approaches to the religion/science debate and highlights the continued importance of the "spiritual quest" in a world transformed by the developments of science.

Contents

Preface, Kirk Wegter-McNelly

Introduction, W. Mark Richardson

1. Science, Spirituality and Religion: An Exploration of Bridges and Gaps, Jocelyn Bell Burnell

2. Must Not the Judge of All the Earth Do Justice? God's Nature and the Existence of Genetic Diseases in Man, Kenneth S. Kendler

3. Theology for Nerds, Kevin Kelly

4. Science and Religion: Separate Closets in the Same House, Allan Sandage

5. Does Science Offer Evidence of a Purpose and a Transcendent Reality?, Cyril Domb

6. What Price Reductionism?, Martinez J. Hewlett

7. Scientific Reduction: Adversary or Ally?, Robert B. Griffiths

8. Computer Science, the Informational, and Jewish Mysticism, Mitchell P. Marcus

9. The Islamic Worldview and Modern Cosmology, Bruno Guideroni

10. Darwinism and Atheism: A Marriage Made in Heaven?, Michael Ruse

11. An Historical Reality that Includes Big Bang, Free Will, and Elementary Particles, Geoffrey F. Chew

12. The Horrors of Humanity and the Computation of the Self, Michael A. Arbib

13. The Universe, Life, and Consciousness, Andrei Linde

14. God, Approximately, Brian Cantwell Smith

15. The Challenges and Possibilities for Western Monotheism, Arthur Peacocke

16. One Quest, One Knowledge, George Sudarshan

Some Concluding Reflections, Philip Clayton