John Hedley Brooke - Science and Religion Around the World [2011][A]

Book Description
Publication Date: January 14, 2011
The past quarter-century has seen an explosion of interest in the history of science and religion. But all too often the scholars writing it have focused their attention almost exclusively on the Christian experience, with only passing reference to other traditions of both science and faith. At a time when religious ignorance and misunderstanding have lethal consequences, such provincialism must be avoided and, in this pioneering effort to explore the historical relations of what we now call "science" and "religion," the authors go beyond the Abrahamic traditions to examine the way nature has been understood and manipulated in regions as diverse as ancient China, India, and sub-Saharan Africa. Science and Religion around the World also provides authoritative discussions of science in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam -- as well as an exploration of the relationship between science and the loss of religious beliefs. The narratives included in this book demonstrate the value of plural perspectives and of the importance of location for the construction and perception of science-religion relations.

Reviews
"Dealing with a diverse array of cultures, Science and Religion around the World offers the best one-volume introduction into how different peoples merge their understanding of nature and the supernatural. Without offering an apology for any particular viewpoint, the book's fourteen authors -- all experts in their fields -- show that science and religion can conflict, compliment, or simply co-exist. It all depends on what science, which religion and whose culture."---Edward J. Larson, the Pulitzer-Prize winning author of Summer for the Gods: The Scopes Trial and America's Continuing Debate Over Science and Religion

"The authors of Science and Religion around the World view the many religions in a sympathetic light. They show very convincingly that each religious tradition includes facets that are open to science, lead to good science, and/or involve the real practice of a scientific discipline as an essential part of the religion."--Perspectives on Science and Christian Faith

"It's essays are thorough, balanced, and masterfully scholarly." --Journal of the American Academy of Religion

About the Authors
John Hedley Brooke held the Andreas Idreos Chair of Science and Religion and Directorship of the Ian Ramsey Centre at Oxford University from 1999 to 2006. He is currently President of the International Society for Science and Religion.
Ronald L. Numbers is Hilldale Professor of the History of Science and Medicine and of Religious Studies and a member of the department of medical history and bioethics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where he has taught for over three and a half decades. He is Past President of the International Union of History and Philosophy of Science.