The Warfare between Science and Religion

This is a book worthy of reading, digesting, and emulating in its close analysis of science and religion. The Warfare between Science and Religion will give the reader a trustworthy account of the most recent scholarship about the religion science nexus.—Arie Leegwater, Calvin University, Perspectives on Science and Christian FaithHistorians of science have been attempting to destroy this myth—that science and religion have been perennially at war—for the past 40 years or so. Nonetheless, as the subtitle of the book conveys, this is the idea that wouldn’t die. [The Warfare between Science and Religion] brings together a group of historian myth-busters who have been thinking about this question … One of the virtues of this book is that it also looks at science and religion interactions in Islam and Judaism as well as Christianity.—Peter Harrison and Charles J. Styles, Five BooksThe history of the assertion that science and religion are inevitably in conflict is dominated by two late nineteenth-century narratives; John William Draper’s History of the Conflict between Religion and Science (1874) and Andrew Dickson White’s A History of the Warfare of Science with Theology in Christendom (1896). The present very welcome volume contains seventeen essays that examine these classic texts, their reception by contemporaries and the subsequent history of the conflict thesis.—Geoffrey Cantor, University of Leeds, British Journal for the History of ScienceThe questions whether, why, and to what extent science and religion are in conflict has been one of the abiding motifs of Western culture. This collection by an international group of scholars covers the subject from a rich variety of angles … Those who are interested in the science-and-religion debate, and the impact of science as a cultural force, will find this book a fascinating read.—Peter Forster, Church TimesAccessible, historically illuminating, meticulous.—Quarterly Review of BiologyThe focus of this outstanding collection that criticizes the idea of conflict between science and religion, represents the historian John Hedley Brooke’s call for attention to the complexities of history … The idea of warfare between science and religion largely deserves burial, but as these essays show, the sentiments for conflicts endure.—Paul J. Croce, Stetson University, Journal of American HistoryThe Warfare between Science and Religion is amply successful in its project of providing a historical understanding of the warfare thesis—or, better, of the warfare theses—over a broad historical and ideological range, through a series of accessible and interesting chapters. And it is a vitally important project, considering the persistence of conflicts involving science and religion in the United States.—Glenn Branch, National Center for Science Education, Reading Religion - Journal of the American Academy of Religion

Jeff Hardin is the Raymond E. Keller Professor and chair of the Department of Integrative Biology at the University of Wisconsin. Ronald L. Numbers is the Hilldale Professor of the History of Science and Medicine Emeritus at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. He is the editor of Galileo Goes to Jail and Other Myths about Science and Religion. Independent scholar Ronald A. Binzley, who holds a doctorate in American religious history, is an environmental engineer at the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources.