Webs of Reality: Social Perspectives on Science and Religion - Hardcover

William A. Stahl; Robert A. Campbell; Gary Diver; Yvonne Petry

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0813531063 ISBN 13: 9780813531069

Publisher: Rutgers University Press, 2002

Synopsis

Science and religion are often thought to be advancing irreconcilable goals and thus to be mutually antagonistic. Yet in the often acrimonious debates between the scientific and religious communities, it is easy to lose sight of the fact that both science and religion are systems of thought and knowledge that aim to understand the world and our place in it. Webs of Reality is a rare examination of the interrelationship between religion and science from a social science perspective, offering a broad view of the relationship, and posing practical questions regarding technology and ethics. Emphasizing how science and religion are practiced instead of highlighting the differences between them, the authors look for the subtle connections, tacit understandings, common history, symbols, and implicit myths that tie them together. How can the practice of science be understood from a religious point of view? What contributions can science make to religious understanding of the world? What contributions can the social sciences make to understanding both knowledge systems? Looking at religion and science as fields of inquiry and habits of mind, the authors discover not only similarities between them but also a wide number of ways in which they complement each other.

About this title

Review:

"This volume adds significantly to the science-religion discussion and probes to the heart of a crucial question: why do people feel so strongly about science and religion and, especially, about the manner in which these two ways of seeing the world interact?" - Frederick Gregory, professor of history of science, University of Florida

About the Author:

WILLIAM A. STAHL is a professor of sociology at Luther College, University of Regina, Canada and the author of God and the Chip: Religion and the Culture of Technology. ROBERT A. CAMPBELL is associate principal for educational resources and informational technology, University of Toronto at Scarborough. GARY DIVER teaches physics at the University of Regina. YVONNE PETRY is an assistant professor of history at Luther College, University of Regina, Canada.

About this edition

• Publisher: Rutgers University Press
• Publication date: 2002
• ISBN 10: 0813531063
• ISBN 13: 9780813531069
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 239