Future Convergence or Forever Divergent: Science & Spirit Magazine
Takes on the Science-Religion Debate


QUINCY, MA -- (MARKET WIRE) -- 01/05/06 -- Whether or not science and
religion can comfortably co-exist has been debated since the earliest
scientific discoveries. In recent years, there has been a growing
dialogue between the two disciplines, as more scientists find ways to
draw value and gain insight from their spiritual beliefs, and many
theologians work to successfully reconcile the findings of science
with Scripture. Still, there are those who believe the two disciplines
are inherently at odds, ill-suited to accommodate one another and
destined to provoke conflict.


Charles Townes, Nobel laureate, 2005 Templeton Prize winner, and
inventor of the maser and laser, has been a leading advocate for the
convergence of science and religion since 1966, when he wrote a
seminal article on the subject for IBM's THINK magazine. In Science &
Spirit magazine's January-February 2006 issue, he updates his
experiences with physics and faith, and describes the "revelation"
that was the origin of the maser. For Townes, there is no question
that science and religion will eventually come together because they
are "merely two ways of looking at life and the universe; it follows
that, in the long run, they will see the same thing." Award-winning
science writer George Johnson has a different perspective. He shares
his personal, analytical journey in considering the relationship
between the two disciplines, including his time spent as a
Templeton-Cambridge journalism fellow last summer. "Science is about
what you can prove. Religion is about what you believe," Johnson
writes. "It follows that there can be many different religions but
only one science. So what is there to reconcile?"


The January-February issue of Science & Spirit also features:





-- A feature on the Dalai Lama's participation in the science and

religion dialogue

-- An interview with renowned conservationist George Archibald, exploring

his mission to ensure the survival of near-extinct cranes, his faith in

God, and his views on conservation and humanity

-- A report on a new trend in organ donation that has medical ethicists

concerned: living donors offering their organs to strangers they meet on

the Internet.





Science & Spirit is published six times a year by Heldref
Publications. It is sold on newsstands and by subscription, and can be
viewed online at www.science-spirit.org.