The Faith of Scientists: In Their Own Words [Hardcover]

Nancy K. Frankenberry (Editor)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0691134871 | ISBN-13: 978-0691134871 | Publication Date: August 11, 2008

The Faith of Scientists is an anthology of writings by twenty-one legendary scientists, from the dawn of the Scientific Revolution to the frontiers of science today, about their faith, their views about God, and the place religion holds--or doesn't--in their lives in light of their commitment to science. This is the first book to bring together so many world-renowned figures of Western science and present them in their own words, offering an intimate window into their private and public reflections on science and faith.

Leading religion scholar Nancy Frankenberry draws from diaries, personal letters, speeches, essays, and interviews, and reveals that the faith of scientists can take many different forms, whether religious or secular, supernatural or naturalistic, conventional or unorthodox. These eloquent writings reflect a spectrum of views from diverse areas of scientific inquiry. Represented here are some of the most influential and colossal personalities in the history of science, from the founders of science such as Galileo, Johannes Kepler, Francis Bacon, Isaac Newton, Charles Darwin, and Albert Einstein, to modern-day scientists like Carl Sagan, Stephen Jay Gould, Jane Goodall, Freeman Dyson, Stephen Hawking, Edward O. Wilson, and Ursula Goodenough. Frankenberry provides a general introduction as well as concise introductions to each chapter that place these writings in context and suggest further reading from the latest scholarship.

As surprising as it is illuminating and inspiring, The Faith of Scientists is indispensable for students, scholars, and anyone seeking to immerse themselves in important questions about God, the universe, and science.

Editorial Reviews

Review

[T]his is one classroom anthology that will hold wider appeal to general readers. . . . [F]rankenberry's new collection is very different and broader in scope. -- Library Journal



The Faith of Scientists, a stout anthology of primary sources compiled by Dartmouth religion professor Nancy Frankenberry . . . makes clear the rich variety of religious experience of scientists from Galileo and Darwin through Rachel Carson and Stephen Hawking. -- Amy E. Schwartz, Washington Post Book World



[A] valuable collection of source materials for your own quest for knowledge. Equally rewarding is Frankenberry's juxtaposition of scientists with differing views. -- Christopher Fenoglio, National Catholic Reporter



I suggest reading Nancy Frankenberry's anthology of writings by 21 notable scientists from the 16th century to the present. The selections center on faith, their views about God and the place religion holds--or does not hold--in their lives in light of their commitment to science. Drawn from their own words in many primary sources, the essays show a spectrum of views from many areas of scientific inquiry. -- Mark M. Wilkins, St. Anthony Messenger



The Faith of Scientists presents a series of excerpts from researchers' own writings on the subject, accompanied by short biographical sketches from editor Nancy Frankenberry, a religion scholar at Dartmouth College in the US. The resulting collection spans the period from Galileo Galilei to Stephen Hawking and encompasses both devout believers like Freeman Dyson and ardent atheists like Richard Dawkins. -- Physics World



This is the first book to bring together so many world-renowned figures of Western science and present them in their own words, offering an intimate window into their private and public reflections on science and faith. -- Spartacus Educational Review



This book raises important issues. . . . I would recommend this book for the explorer in all of us-whether we think we've found what we're looking for, or are still searching. -- Patrick Chan, CASE Magazine



As an introductory text that offers a fair and accurate treatment of the roles and non-roles of faith for important scientists, one would be hard pressed to do better. -- Jason Robinson, European Legacy

From the Inside Flap

"Nancy Frankenberry provides a rare glimpse into the interior lives of scientists as they talk about their faith, their views about God, and spirituality. From Galileo to Ursula Goodenough, she shows critical acumen in selecting the source material and authoritative scholarship in interpreting it. This book offers an unsurpassed treatment of a vital subject."--Max Jammer, author of Einstein and Religion

"Frankenberry has given us a great gift, a groundbreaking collection of writings by preeminent scientists, past and present, on religion and its relation to mathematics and science. The breadth of sources dazzles as does the range of views, from Pascal's Catholicism to Goodenough's religious naturalism. One emerges from this heady mix with the firm conviction, as Einstein puts it, that 'science without religion is lame; religion without science is blind.' This is a magnificent achievement, one of the most important books of the year."--Philip Zaleski, editor of The Best American Spiritual Writing series

"Nancy Frankenberry writes lucidly on the long interplay between scientific and religious ideas. With the eye of a professional philosopher of religion she has selected a fascinating parade of scientists and has illuminated their views on religion with particularly perceptive analyses."--Owen Gingerich, author of God's Universe

"An important contribution to the ongoing dialogue between science and religion. I know of no work that deals with a broader chronological and disciplinary range of scientists than does Frankenberry's collection. This book promises to be useful to general readers and members of the academic community. It constitutes an important addition to the burgeoning library of books on the relationship between science and religion."--Jon H. Roberts, coauthor of Darwinism and the Divine in America

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 542 pages
• Publisher: Princeton University Press (August 11, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0691134871
• ISBN-13: 978-0691134871
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.2 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #710,283 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Conversations with Scientists about Faith, November 23, 2008

By 

Eric Ribbens (Macomb, IL USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Faith of Scientists: In Their Own Words (Hardcover)

We live in a society that wants to pit science against faith. I am a scientist and a Christian; many of my science friends that I am quaint, and my Christian friends worry that I'm a heretic. I have chosen to stake my life to the conviction that science is a search for truth, my religious beliefs are truth, and that the truths must mesh.

Within that context of the interface between faith and science this is a superb book. It contains 21 chapters that present what 21 scientists have had to say about their spirituality. It is my opinion that Nancy Frankenberry has done a very good job of presenting each scientist as a separate readable authentic voice.

This is not a book of theology. Do not read it in search of a consistent vision of the juxtaposition of science and faith. It is not written by theologians but by scientists. What it is is an extended conversation, a conversation in which you can dip into the minds of the scientists and their musings about spirituality.

From a historical view, it is interesting to watch the shifting patterns of questions and concerns that the writers grapple with. Clearly, our collective understanding of the interplay between religion and science has shifted substantially over the centuries covered by this volume. However, personally I am most intrigued by my reaction; as I read it I feel as if I am sipping coffee with the author sitting at my table as we discuss these issues. I don't fully agree with any of the writers, and often I want to interject clarifications or questions.

But this is a book that leaves ideas to linger in your mind. For example, from Stephen Hawkins (p. 410): "Is everything determined? The answer is yes, it is. But it might as well not be, because we can never know what is determined." Now there's a thought to chew on.

In conclusion, I like this book very much. It will be one I pick up and quasirandomly read segments from time to time. The writers have left intellectual thrusts and parries that I will mull and modify. But do not read this book in a search for prescriptive answers and tidy solutions. Rather, read it as a prolonged exploration into the minds of scientists, scientists who end up spread considerably over the cognitive map of the interplay between science and faith.

So, congratulations to Nancy Frankenberry on a great addition to my bookshelf. A book to read and think about, and a great addition to our grappling with faith and science today.

8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Faith IN Science, January 27, 2009

By 

D. S. Bornus (St. Paul, MN) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Faith of Scientists: In Their Own Words (Hardcover)

This is an anthology of the writings of selected scientists from the 1600's to the present, regarding their views and thoughts about transcendence. Each section begins with a short biography of the scientist, as well as a review of their contributions to science.

The anthology begins with Galileo, and an inauguration of the apparent conflict with his empirically-established views regarding the solar system, and the dogma of the Church.

Through the subsequent readings we slowly trace the evolution of a perspective which begins with an empirical view that will only "know" based on observable evidence, to one that will eventually come to hold that measureable reality is all there is. In thus allowing no place for an intelligent supernatural god, we come to the hypothesis that reality and the life in it are simply emergent through an inherent tendency of self-organization. The final selections describe a viewpoint wherein we accept this state of affairs as sufficient, calling it "Mystery" and sacralizing physical existence in the cosmos and biosphere, holding this as the foundation of morality and social relationships, replacing the function of obsolete god-centered religious structures.

According to this "faith," however, when we are dead there is still nothing after. In my view, this is simply nihilism dressed up in prettier clothing, and a "faith" based on it just as unsatisfying.

The fundamental issue with religion is what happens to individual consciousness after death. A "faith" that does not provide a satisying answer to this question will not attract many adherents. It is easier however, to defer the question until the moment of one's own demise, when Pascal's Wager must still be made.

It's my opinion that some of the scientists profiled in the latter half of the book are selected in order to arrive at a particular viewpoint, a "religious naturalist" perspective. But that is just my suspicion. It's my impression that a more balanced presentation would have included other viewpoints of scientists such as geneticist Francis Collins (who is mentioned in passing in the Introduction).

Also, it is important to appropriately weight the views of any scientist, even a scientist of great stature, if he/she presumes to speculate regarding disciplines of study in which he/she is not credentialed.

In any case, this is an interesting book to chronicle the evolution of the dialogue between faith and science, and perhaps trace the initial root of Biblical literalism in the time of Galileo that led to today's exclusion of traditional religion from empirical credibility.