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Science is firmly at the center of both our contemporary understanding of the world and our hope for the future. For some, it has displaced religion, and those who remain religious must contend with challenges posed by science. Few, however, have direct scientific knowledge. Rather the impression of science held by the wider culture is based on the work of science popularizers -- public figures who create the image of science received by ordinary people. Furthermore, the opinions of these public intellectuals on the relationship between science and religion are often controversial, personal, and even idiosyncratic. Nevertheless they become widely known and perceived by many as authoritative conclusions derived from science. The Oracles of Science examines the popular writings of the six scientists who have been the most influential in shaping our perception of science, how it works, and how it relates to other fields of human endeavor, especially religion. Biologists Stephen Jay Gould, Richard Dawkins, and Edward O. Wilson, and physicists Carl Sagan, Stephen Hawking, and Steven Weinberg, have become public intellectuals, articulating a much larger vision for science and what role it should play in the modern worldview. The scientific prestige and literary eloquence of each of these great thinkers combine to transform them into what can only be called oracles of science. Their controversial, often personal, sometimes idiosyncratic opinions become widely known and perceived by many to be authoritative. Curiously, the leading "oracles of science" are predominantly secular in ways that don't reflect the distribution of religious beliefs within the scientific community. Many of them are even hostile to religion, creating a false impression that science as a whole is incompatible with religion. Karl Giberson and Mariano Artigas offer an informed analysis of the views of these six scientists, carefully distinguishing science from philosophy and religion in the writings of the oracles. This book will be welcomed by many who are disturbed by the tone of the public discourse on the relationship between science and religion and will challenge others to reexamine their own preconceptions about this crucial topic.
Show moreScience is firmly at the center of both our contemporary understanding of the world and our hope for the future. For some, it has displaced religion, and those who remain religious must contend with challenges posed by science. Few, however, have direct scientific knowledge. Rather the impression of science held by the wider culture is based on the work of science popularizers -- public figures who create the image of science received by ordinary people. Furthermore, the opinions of these public intellectuals on the relationship between science and religion are often controversial, personal, and even idiosyncratic. Nevertheless they become widely known and perceived by many as authoritative conclusions derived from science. The Oracles of Science examines the popular writings of the six scientists who have been the most influential in shaping our perception of science, how it works, and how it relates to other fields of human endeavor, especially religion. Biologists Stephen Jay Gould, Richard Dawkins, and Edward O. Wilson, and physicists Carl Sagan, Stephen Hawking, and Steven Weinberg, have become public intellectuals, articulating a much larger vision for science and what role it should play in the modern worldview. The scientific prestige and literary eloquence of each of these great thinkers combine to transform them into what can only be called oracles of science. Their controversial, often personal, sometimes idiosyncratic opinions become widely known and perceived by many to be authoritative. Curiously, the leading "oracles of science" are predominantly secular in ways that don't reflect the distribution of religious beliefs within the scientific community. Many of them are even hostile to religion, creating a false impression that science as a whole is incompatible with religion. Karl Giberson and Mariano Artigas offer an informed analysis of the views of these six scientists, carefully distinguishing science from philosophy and religion in the writings of the oracles. This book will be welcomed by many who are disturbed by the tone of the public discourse on the relationship between science and religion and will challenge others to reexamine their own preconceptions about this crucial topic.
Show moreINTRODUCTION: ORACLES OF SCIENCE; CONCLUSION: SCIENCE AND BEYOND
Karl Giberson is Professor of Physics at Eastern Nazarene College
in Quincy, MA. For years he served as editor in chief of both
Science & Theology News and Science & Spirit. Widely published in
science and religion, Oracles of Science is his third book in this
area.
Mariano Artigas is Professor of Philosophy of Science at the
University of Navarra in Pamplona, Spain. He holds Ph.D.'s both in
physics and in philosophy, and is a Roman Catholic priest. Oracles
of Science is his fourteenth book on the relationship between
science, philosophy, and religion.
"The authors make a good case for how the misuse of science to
advance philosophical and quasi-religious or antireligious ideas
fails to reckon with the limitations of science...The book is
highly recommended." --Journal of the American Scientific
Affiliation
"Six great science luminaries antagonistic to religious belief,
among the most distinguished and best known scientists of our
times, are subjected to scrutiny. The portrayal of their ideas is
accurate and insightful, as well as fair. The criticisms are, by
and large, gentle, but pointed. Will you be convinced? Read on.
You'll be glad you did. You'll learn much and be prepared to make
your own determination." --Francisco J. Ayala, University Professor
at the
University of California, Irvine, recipient of the 2001 National
Medal of Science, and author of Darwin and Intelligent Design
"One of our modern values is freedom of thought in philosophy,
theology, and science as well, despite the perennial turf wars
between all three. This concise biographical study, both
sympathetic and critical, shows how six celebrity scientists have
muddled these boundaries, using their eminence and literary skill
to debunk traditional religion. Though this is a story of science
"oracles" trespassing on theology's turf, it also cautions
believers against a
similar abuse of science." --Larry Witham, journalist and author of
Where Darwin Meets the Bible
"Few writers have poured more fuel on the recent science-religion
controversies than such religion-bashers as Richard Dawkins, Carl
Sagan, and Stephen Weinberg. In six perky profiles two Christian
scholars critically, but fairly, examine the anti-religious claims
of these and other scientific "oracles," finding them no more
"scientific" than the mutterings of creationists."" --Ronald L.
Numbers, author of The Creationists: From Scientific Creationism
to
Intelligent Design
"Six great science luminaries antagonistic to religious belief,
among the most distinguished and best known scientists of our
times, are subjected to scrutiny. The portrayal of their ideas is
accurate and insightful, as well as fair. The criticisms are, by
and large, gentle, but pointed. Will you be convinced? Read on.
You'll be glad you did. You'll learn much and be prepared to make
your own determination." --Francisco J. Ayala, University Professor
at the
University of California, Irvine, recipient of the 2001 National
Medal of Science, and author of Darwin and Intelligent Design
"One of our modern values is freedom of thought in philosophy,
theology, and science as well, despite the perennial turf wars
between all three. This concise biographical study, both
sympathetic and critical, shows how six celebrity scientists have
muddled these boundaries, using their eminence and literary skill
to debunk traditional religion. Though this is a story of science
"oracles" trespassing on theology's turf, it also cautions
believers against a
similar abuse of science." --Larry Witham, journalist and author of
Where Darwin Meets the Bible
"Few writers have poured more fuel on the recent science-religion
controversies than such religion-bashers as Richard Dawkins, Carl
Sagan, and Stephen Weinberg. In six perky profiles two Christian
scholars critically, but fairly, examine the anti-religious claims
of these and other scientific "oracles," finding them no more
"scientific" than the mutterings of creationists."" --Ronald L.
Numbers, author of The Creationists: From Scientific Creationism
to
Intelligent Design
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