"APS News" November 2000, vol. 9, No. 10, s. 5.
VIEWPOINT: Science and Religion Can Work Together
By Freeman Dyson

"God forbid that we should give out a dream of our own imagination for a
pattern of the world."

The above was said by Francis Bacon, one of the founding fathers of modern
science, almost 400 years ago. Bacon was the smartest man of his time,
with the possible exception of William Shakespeare. Bacon saw clearly what
science could do, and what science could not do. He is saying to the
philosophers and theologians of his time: look for God in the facts of
nature, not in the theories of Plato and Aristotle. I am saying to modern
scientists and theologians: don't imagine that our latest ideas about the
Big Bang or the human genome have solved the mysteries of the universe, or
the mysteries of life.

Here are Bacon's words again: "The subtlety of nature is greater many
times over than the subtlety of the senses and understanding." In the last
400 years, science has fulfilled many of Bacon's dreams, but it still does
not come close to capturing the full subtlety of nature. After sketching
his program for the scientific revolution that he foresaw, Bacon ends his
account with a prayer: "Humbly we pray that this mind may be steadfast in
us, and that through these our hands, and the hands of others to whom thou
shalt give the same spirit, thou wilt vouchsafe to endow the human family
with new mercies."

That is still a good prayer for all of us as we begin the 21st century.

Science and religion are two windows that people look through, trying to
understand the big universe outside, trying to understand why we are here.
The two windows give different views, but they look out at the same
universe. Both views are one-sided, neither is complete. Both leave out
essential features of the real world. And both are worthy of respect. As
the old Swiss nurse who helped take care of our babies used to say, "Some
people like to go to church, and some people like cherries."

Troubles arise when either science or religion claims universal
jurisdiction, when either religious dogma or scientific dogma claims to be
infallible. Religious creationists and scientific materialists are equally
dogmatic and insensitive. By their arrogance, they bring both science and
religion into disrepute. The media exaggerate their numbers and
importance. Media people should tell the public that the great majority of
religious people belong to moderate denominations that treat science with
respect, and the great majority of scientists treat religion with respect,
so long as religion does not claim jurisdiction over scientific questions.

In Princeton, we have more than 20 churches and at least one synagogue,
providing different forms of worship and belief for different kinds of
people. They do more than any other organizations in the town to hold our
community together. Within this community of people, held together by
religious traditions of human brotherhood and sharing of burdens, a
smaller community of professional scientists also flourishes.

The great question for our time is, how to make sure that the continuing
scientific revolution brings benefits to everybody rather than widening
the gap between rich and poor. To lift up poor countries, and poor people
in rich countries, from poverty, to give them a chance for a decent life,
technology is not enough. Technology must be guided and driven by ethics
if it is to do more than provide new toys for the rich. Scientists and
business leaders who care about social justice should join forces with
environmentalists and religious organizations to give political clout to
ethics.

Science and religion should work together to abolish the gross inequalities
that prevail in the modern world. That is my vision, and it is the same
vision that inspired Francis Bacon 400 years ago, when he prayed that
through science God would "endow the human family with new mercies."

Freeman Dyson is at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, NJ. The
above commentary was delivered upon occasion of his receipt of the
Templeton "Science and Religion" Prize in March, 2000.

Copyright 2000, The American Physical Society.

Oryginal: http://www.aps.org/apsnews/1100/nov00new.pdf