Science and religion: are they compatible?

In recent years a noticeable trend toward harmonizing the distinct worldviews of science and religion has become increasingly popular. This is due in part to public curiosity but also to the financial sponsorship of The John Templeton Foundation, which has poured a great deal of money into awards, fellowships, conferences, university courses, and publications. Despite marked public interest, many leading scientists remain skeptical that there is much common ground between scientific knowledge and religious belief. In this stimulating collection of articles on the subject, the editors have assembled the thoughts of scientists from various disciplines. Among the distinguished contributors are Sir Arthur C. Clarke (author of many famous works of science fiction); Nobel Prize Laureate Steven Weinberg (professor of physics at the University of Texas at Austin); Neil deGrasse Tyson (astrophysicist and director of the Hayden Planetarium); James Lovelock (creator of the Gaia hypothesis); Kendrick Frazier (editor of the "Skeptical Inquirer); Steven Pinker (cognitive scientist at MIT); Richard Dawkins (zoologist at Oxford University); Eugenie Scott (executive director of the National Center for Science Education); Owen Gingerich (Harvard astronomer); and many other eminent scientists and scholars. Among the topics discussed are the Big Bang and the origin of the universe, the nature of the "soul, " near-death experiences, and spiritualism.