Until the end of the eighteenth century, almost everyone believed that the empirical world of science could produce evidence for a wise and loving God. By the twenty-first century this comforting certainty has almost vanished. What caused such a cataclysmic change in attitudes to science and to the world? Science and Spirituality offers a new history of the interaction between Western science and faith, which explores their volatile connection, and challenges the myth of their being locked in inevitable conflict. Journeying from the French Revolution to the present day, and taking in such figures as Francis Bacon, René Descartes, Charles Darwin, Immanuel Kant, Albert Einstein, Mary Shelley and Stephen Hawking, David Knight shows how science evolved from medieval and Renaissance forms of natural theology into the empirical discipline we know today. Focusing on the overthrow of Church and State in revolutionary France, and on the crucial nineteenth century period when a newly emerging scientific community rendered science culturally accessible, Science and Spirituality shows how scientific disenchantment has provided some of our most flexible and powerful metaphors for God, such as the hidden puppet-master and the blind watchmaker, and illustrates how questions of moral and spiritual value continue to intervene in scientific endeavour.

Bridging the gap between science and the world’s great spiritual traditions to move our worldview forward • With contributions from 28 leading scientists and spiritual thinkers, including Michael Beckwith, Deepak Chopra, Larry Dossey, Amit Goswami, Stanislav Grof, Jean Houston, Barbara Marx Hubbard, José Argüelles, and Peter Russell • Offers strategies to promote the fusion of science and spirituality • Explores phenomena at the crossroads of science and religion, such as the nonlocal mind, conscious evolution, and quantum consciousness Edited by Nobel Prize nominee Ervin Laszlo and WorldShift International cofounder Kingsley Dennis, this volume brings together 28 leading scientists and spiritual thinkers for a game-changing conversation on bridging the gap between science and religion. With contributions by Michael Beckwith, Deepak Chopra, Larry Dossey, Amit Goswami, Stanislav Grof, Jean Houston, Barbara Marx Hubbard, José Argüelles, Peter Russell, and many other prominent visionaries, this collection explores phenomena at the crossroads of science and religion, such as the nonlocal mind, conscious evolution, and quantum consciousness, and offers strategies to promote the fusion of science and spirituality and develop a multiperson planetary consciousness. This book reveals higher consciousness as the bridge between science and spirit, passionate curiosity as the common ground among scientists and seekers, and the urgent need for an alliance between science and the great traditions of spiritual wisdom to move our worldview forward and meet today’s global challenges.

Perspectives of Science, Spirituality and Religion discusses about the interrelations between science, spirituality and meditation. It makes a critical synthesis of leaders in science, spirituality and religion. It is divided into long and short review of articles of books, authors’ own experience on meditation, mystery of plant science and other aspects. It enumerates how each field of science though appears different; they strive in one way of the other to benefit the humanity. Each field by itself though independent is accountable for the upliftment of the mankind. Scientists through research unveil the mystery of nature. Science says that every organism is made up a mass of atoms and each of which possesses some energy. Spirituality leads to the realization that universal energy is also present in each individual and organism in the universe and it is responsible for the movement of these organisms. It speaks about the presence of the divine creature in the universe responsible for the built up of the universe and all the creatures in this universe. Mediation discusses about how to harness this universal energy in changing our thoughts and attainment of stable and balanced mind. It assists in the realization of the inner consciousness and inner wisdom. For over a long period debate has been going on among different classes of scientists. In the light of the three considered together the book reviews about the three disciplines presents in brief the techniques of meditation designed for harnessing the universal source of energy. It also describes in brief about the relationship between science, religion and spirituality. It gives a few guidelines of the benefits that the meditation and spirituality can bring to the humanity. It discusses about the roles of science, spirituality and religion in the present scenarios, which are virtually accepted for being responsible for the upliftment of human beings. According to few leaders of science and spirituality, all these three disciplines should work together for benefit of human society. The book will enlighten readers about recent advances in the disciplines of science, spirituality and religion.

This book provides an in-depth ethnographic study of science and religion in the context of South Asia, giving voice to Indian scientists and shedding valuable light on their engagement with religion. Drawing on biographical, autobiographical, historical, and ethnographic material, the volume focuses on scientists’ religious life and practices, and the variety of ways in which they express them. Renny Thomas challenges the idea that science and religion in India are naturally connected and argues that the discussion has to go beyond binary models of ‘conflict’ and ‘complementarity’. By complicating the understanding of science and religion in India, the book engages with new ways of looking at these categories.

Religion and science are arguably the two most powerful social forces in the world today. But where religion and science were once held to be compatible, many people now perceive them to be in conflict. This unique book provides the best available introduction to the burning debates in this controversial field. Examining the defining questions and controversies, renowned expert Philip Clayton presents the arguments from both sides, asking readers to decide for themselves where they stand: • science or religion, or science and religion? • history and philosophy of science • the role of scientific and religious ethics – modifying genes, extending life, and experimenting with human subjects • religion and the environmental crisis • the future of science vs. the future of religion. Thoroughly updated throughout, this second edition explores religious traditions from around the world and provides insights from across the sciences, making this book essential reading for all those wishing to come to their own understanding of some of the most important debates of our day.

Papers presented at the International Conference on Science and Spirituality in Modern India, held at New Delhi during 5-7 February 2006.