Good Scientific American Articles About Religion

Scientists on Religion:  Theist and materialist ponder the place of humanity in the universe.   George Johnson reviews:

• God's Universe, by scientist-believer Owen Gingerich;


• The Language of God: A Scientist Presents Evidence for Belief, by scientist-believer Francis S. Collins


• The God Delusion, by scientist-atheist Richard Dawkins; and


• The Varieties of Scientific Experience: A Personal View of the Search for God, by astronomer-agnostic Carl Sagan, edited by Ann Druyan

Let There Be Light:  The SciAm editors observe that:

[...] Americans are famously religious, but according to studies by the National Science Foundation, they say that they hold science in higher regard than do the people of any other industrial country.

Surveys indicate that scientists are only half as likely as the general public to describe themselves as religious, but 40 percent still do. 

As Albert Einstein wrote, it takes fortitude to be a scientist--to persevere despite the frustrations and the long lonely hours--and religious inspiration can sometimes provide that strength.

Unquestionably, the findings of science conflict with certain religious tenets. Cosmology, geology and evolutionary biology flatly contradict the literal truths of creation myths from around the world. Yet the overthrow of religion is not a part of the scientific agenda. [...]

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