Why don't scientists believe in God? Scientists about faith in God. Statements of great scientists
1901 - Nobel Prize established
Nobel laureates in physics on faith
Antoine Becquerel (1852-1908) French physicist. Discovered the phenomenon of radioactivity.
Nobel Prize in Physics 1903 "for the discovery of spontaneous radioactivity" (together with Curie).
A unit of radioactivity is named after him“It was my work that led me to God, to Faith.”
Joseph Thomson (1856-1940), English physicist
Discovered electron.
Nobel Prize in Physics 1906 "in recognition of his outstanding services in the field of theoretical and experimental studies of the conductivity of electricity in gases."
“Don’t be afraid to be independent thinkers! If you think strongly enough, then you will inevitably be led by science to faith in God, which is the basis of religion. You will see that science is not the enemy, but the helper of religion.”
Max Planck (1858-1947), German physicist.
Founder of quantum physics.
Nobel Prize in Physics 1918 "For the discovery of energy quanta"
The fundamental constant of the quantum of action is named after him.
“Wherever and however far we look, we find no contradiction between religion and natural science; on the contrary, it is in the fundamental points that the best combination is found. Religion and natural science are not mutually exclusive as some people believe or fear these days, the two fields are complementary and dependent on each other. The most immediate, compelling proof that religion and natural science are not hostile to each other is the historical fact that even during a thorough and practical discussion of this issue, it was precisely the greatest natural scientists of all times, men like Newton, Kepler, Leibniz, who were imbued with the spirit of this religions of Christianity"
Robert Millikan (1868-1953), American physicist.
Nobel Prize in Physics
1923 "For experiments on the determination of the elementary electric charge and the photoelectric effect"
“I can’t imagine how a real atheist can be a scientist.”
James Jeans (1877-1946), English astrophysicist:
“Primitive cosmogonies pictured the Creator working in time, forging the Sun and Moon and stars from already existing raw material. Modern scientific theory makes us think of the Creator working outside of time and space, which are part of His creation, just as an artist is outside his canvas."
Albert Einstein (1879-1955) - great German-Swiss-American physicist(changed citizenship 2 times)
The author of the special and general theories of relativity, introduced the concept of the photon, discovered the laws of the photoelectric effect, worked on problems of cosmology and unified field theory. According to many outstanding physicists (for example Lev Landau), Einstein is the most significant figure in the history of physics. Nobel Prize in Physics 1921 ""for services to theoretical physics, and especially for the discovery of the law of the photoelectric effect"
“The harmony of natural law reveals a Reason so superior to us that, in comparison with it, any systematic thinking and action of human beings turns out to be an extremely insignificant imitation.” “My religion consists of a feeling of humble admiration for the boundless intelligence that manifests itself in the smallest details of that picture of the world ", which we are only able to partially grasp and cognize with our minds. This deep emotional confidence in the highest logical order of the structure of the universe is my idea of God"
“The real problem is the inner state of the soul and thinking of humanity. This is not a physical problem, but an ethical problem. What frightens us is not the explosive power of the atomic bomb, but the power of the bitterness of the human heart, the explosive power for bitterness.”
“In vain, in the face of the catastrophes of the 20th century, many complain: “How did God allow it?”... Yes. He allowed: He allowed our freedom, but did not leave us in the darkness of ignorance. Let the knowledge of good and evil be indicated. And the man himself had to pay for choosing the wrong paths.”
What deep confidence in the rational structure of the world and what a thirst for knowledge of even the smallest reflections of rationality manifested in this world must have been possessed by Kepler and Newton. People of this type draw strength from a cosmic religious feeling. One of our contemporaries said, and not without reason, that in our materialistic age only deeply religious people can be serious scientists."
“Every serious natural scientist must be in some way a religious person. Otherwise, he is not able to imagine that the incredibly subtle interdependencies that he observes were not invented by him. In the infinite universe the activity of an infinitely perfect Mind is revealed. The common idea of me as an atheist is a big misconception. If this idea is drawn from my scientific works, I can say that my scientific works are not understood.”
Max Born (1882-1970), German physicist
One of the creators of quantum mechanics.
Nobel Prize in Physics 1954 "For fundamental research in quantum mechanics"
“Science has left the question of God completely open. Science has no right to judge this.” “Many scientists believe in God. Those who say that studying science makes a person an atheist are probably some funny people."
Arthur Compton (1892-1962), American physicist
Nobel Prize in Physics "for the discovery of the Compton effect" (increasing the wavelength of X-rays when scattered by weakly bound electrons)
"For me, Faith begins with the knowledge that the Supreme Mind created the Universe and man. It is not difficult for me to believe in this, because the fact of the existence of a plan and, therefore, Mind is irrefutable. The order in the Universe, which unfolds before our eyes, itself testifies to the truth the greatest and most sublime statement: “In the beginning is God”
Wolfgang Pauli (1900-1958), Swiss physicist
One of the creators of quantum mechanics and relativistic quantum field theory
Nobel Prize in Physics 1945 "For the discovery of the Pauli exclusion principle"
“We must also admit that in all paths of knowledge and deliverance we depend on factors beyond our control and which in religious language bear the name of grace.”
Werner Heisenberg (1901-1976) German theoretical physicist, one of the creators of quantum mechanics.
Nobel Prize in physics 1932 "For the creation of quantum mechanics." He put forward a hypothesis according to which atomic nuclei should consist of protons and neutrons held together by the forces of nuclear exchange interaction.
“The first sip from the vessel of natural science gives rise to atheism, but at the bottom of the vessel God awaits us.”
Paul Dirac (1902-1984) English physicist, one of the creators of quantum mechanics, quantum electrodynamics, and quantum statistics.
Nobel Prize in physics 1933 "For the development of new, promising forms of atomic theory"
"It is a fundamental feature of nature that the most basic physical laws are described by a mathematical theory, the apparatus of which is of extraordinary power and beauty. We must simply accept this as a given. The situation could probably be described by saying that God is a mathematician of a very high rank and that he used mathematics of the highest level in constructing the Universe"
Doctors, biologists about faith
Nikolai Pirogov (1810-1881), professor of medicine, great Russian surgeon
“I consider faith to be the mental ability of man, which more than any other distinguishes him from animals.”
Louis Pasteur (1822-1895), French microbiologist and chemist, founder of modern microbiology and immunology
“The day will come when they will laugh at the stupidity of our modern materialistic philosophy. The more I study nature, the more I stand in awe at the works of the Creator. I pray while I work in the laboratory.”
Ivan Pavlov (1849 - 1936) great Russian scientist-physiologist, academician
“I study higher nervous activity and know that all human feelings: joy, grief, sadness, anger, hatred, human thoughts, the very ability to think and reason - are connected, each of them, with a special cell of the human brain and its nerves. And when the body ceases to live, then all these feelings and thoughts of a person, as if torn away from brain cells that have already died, by virtue of the general law that nothing - neither energy nor matter - disappears without a trace and constitutes that soul, the immortal soul that professes the Christian faith."
Alexander Spirin (b. 1931), Russian biologist, academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences, leading Russian specialist in the field of molecular biology:
“I am deeply convinced that by brute force, through evolution, it is impossible to obtain a complex device... this mysterious, I would say, “divine” compound - RNA, the central link of living matter, could not appear as a result of evolution. It either exists or it doesn’t. It is so perfect that it must have been created by some system capable of inventing."Physicists - our contemporaries about faith
Andrei Sakharov (1921 - 1989) - Russian physicist
Academician, three times Hero of Social Sciences. Labor (1953, 1956, 1962), laureate of the Stalin (1953) and Lenin (1956) prizes.
Maker of the Hydrogen Bomb (1953)
“I don’t know, deep down, what my position really is, I don’t believe in any dogmas, I don’t like official churches. At the same time, I can’t imagine the Universe and human life without some kind of meaningful beginning ", without a source of spiritual "warmth" lying outside matter and its laws. Probably, such a feeling can be called religious"
“My deep feeling. - the existence of some kind of internal meaning in nature. And this feeling, perhaps, is most nourished by the picture that opened up to people in the 20th century.”
Hugh Ross, modern American astronomer:
“In the late 80s and early 90s, several other characteristics of the Universe were successfully measured. Each of them pointed to the existence of an incredible harmony in the Universe that ensures the maintenance of life. Recently, twenty-six characteristics have been discovered that must take on strictly defined values for life to be possible... The list of fine-tuning parameters continues to grow... The more accurately and in detail astronomers measure the Universe, the more finely tuned it turns out... In my opinion In my opinion, the Reality that gave life to the Universe must be a Personality, for only a Personality can create something with such a degree of accuracy. Consider also that this Person must be at least hundreds of trillions of times more “intelligent” than us human beings, even taking into account our potential capabilities.”
Evgeny Velikhov b. 1930
President of the Russian Scientific Center "Kurchatov Institute", academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Hero of socialist labor, laureate of the USSR State Prize, Lenin Prize and State Prize of the Russian Federation.
“It is absolutely clear to me that all human activity is not just mold on the surface of a small globe, that it is somehow determined from above. I have such an understanding and perception of God.”
And this is what Charles Darwin himself, the best friend of atheists of all times and peoples, said:
Charles Darwin (1809-1882), English naturalist. Author of the theory of the origin of species
“In the most extreme state of hesitation, I have never been an atheist in the sense that I denied the existence of God.”
“The idea that the eye arose as a result of evolution seems to me extremely absurd.”
“The impossibility of recognizing that the great and wondrous world with ourselves, as conscious beings, arose by chance, seems to me to be the main proof of the existence of God. The world rests on patterns and in its manifestations is presented as a product of the mind - this is an indication of its Creator.”
Let's also listen to the Nobel laureate, he is also the main atheist of Russia, a 90-year-old fighter for truth in the company of Voltaire, Freud, Marx and Lenin:
Vitaly Lazarevich Ginzburg (born 1916) Academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences.
Nobel Prize in Physics 2003 (for work done in the 1950s together with Lev Landau and Pitaevsky).
Received jointly with the Soviet-American physicist Alexei Abrikosov, who, when asked by a journalist about Ginzburg, answered: “A good popularizer.” The fixing idea of the popularizer at the end of his life was to convince everyone that there is no God, and, accordingly, “hydrogen is a colorless and odorless gas, which, given enough time, can turn into a person” (someone’s quote, I don’t remember). We won’t cite the academician’s atheistic statements, anyway, until Count Tolstoy (who, sensing the end, took spare boots and tramped from Yasnaya Polyana to the Shamordino Monastery ) he is far away. But somehow, having lost his vigilance, the academician said in one interview:
“For example, I even envy believers. I understand that weak people need faith. But I’m also weak in my own way, maybe, but I can’t believe. It would be much easier for me. But I’m 90 years old, which means 89, which means that if I live to be 90, I will be 90. My wife is far from a young woman. And she feels very bad, I would gladly believe in God, meet somewhere in the next world, and so on. I can’t. It defies reason"
And elsewhere Vitaly Lazarevich states:
“I agree with Pope John Paul II, who in his last encyclical, published in 1998, wrote: “Faith and reason are like two wings on which the human spirit rises to the contemplation of truth.” So science and religion are not at all opposed to each other "(V.L. Ginzburg "Remarks in connection with the encyclical of Pope John Paul II "Faith and Reason").
Let's finish with a quote from Viktor Trostnikov. He cannot be put on a par with those great people whose opinions we have just become acquainted with (although Trostnikov is a candidate and associate professor and the author of 20 works on mathematical logic). For the book “Thoughts Before Dawn,” which was published in Paris in 1980, Viktor Trostnikov was expelled from teaching and worked as a janitor.
“In our study of matter, we have already reached the point where the assumption of its substantiality (self-sufficiency) becomes a brake on further progress. To paraphrase Marx’s Manifesto, we can say that a ghost is haunting the entire field of scientific research - the ghost of the Creator. The latest material makes it increasingly obvious that there could be no “by itself”, that Someone at a certain moment created the universe out of nothing (the “big bang” of theoretical cosmogony and the “relict radiation” of observational astronomy), endowed it with certain properties that contributed to the achievement of certain goals (the "anthropic principle" of physics) and directed it towards this goal, imparting to it the corresponding impulses ("creationism" of biology).And you imagine that, running out onto the road along which a mass of scientists have gone, and spreading your arms, you will stop them and will you turn back to atheism?
Several years ago, my (Trostnikov’s) old friend, one of the greatest mathematicians of our time, asked me to take him to the Trinity-Sergius Lavra. Knowing about his materialistic upbringing, I expressed surprise. Lowering his voice, the academician told me: “I’m not stupid enough to be an atheist.”
All quotes given are given without references to sources and therefore cannot be considered at all convincing.
These quotes (and others), provided with links to the original source, are given in the book by Sergei Bantser
Great scientists of the past and contemporaries who believed in God
American scientist and
former attheist Francis
Collins is one of the
the first scientists ever
who revealed to the world the complex
structure of a DNA molecule. He
was so amazed
the most complex structure
code that I immediately changed
his attitude towards atheism and
acknowledged the existence
Gentlemen.
Francis Collins is
one of two scientists
who deciphered the code
DNA molecules and stated that 30
years ago he was
an atheist, but now he believes in
Gentlemen.
Stephen Hawking (English theoretical physicist and cosmologist, founder and director of the Center for Theoretical Cosmology at the University of Cambridge.)
It is difficult to discuss the origin of the universe without using the concept of God. My research into the origins of the universe straddles the border between science and religion, but I try to stay on the scientific side. It is quite possible that God acts in a way that is not described by scientific laws, but in this case a person can only rely on his own faith.
Even if there is only a single unified theory, it is simply a set of rules and equations. What is it that breathes fire into the equations and creates the universe for them to describe? The ordinary scientific approach to constructing a mathematical model does not answer the question of why the universe must exist to be described by this model. Why does the universe exist at all?
Stephen Hawking, A Brief History of Time: From the Big Bang to Black Holes,
(New York 1988) 174.
prof. John Polkinghorne (Polkinghorne is the author of five books on physics and 26 books on the relationship between science and religion, including such notable works as The Quantum World (1989), Quantum Physics and Theology: An Unexpected Relationship (2005), Exploring Reality: The Interweaving of Science and Religion (2007). He was knighted in 1997 and won the Templeton Prize in 2002.)
News
World famous atheist scientist: God exists
July 26, 2013
An absolute shock for the scientific world was the speech of the famous philosophy professor Anthony Flew: the scientist, who is now well over 80, has been one of the pillars of scientific atheism for many years. For decades, Flew published books and gave lectures based on the thesis that faith in the Almighty is unjustified, writes minval.az with reference to the Meta portal.
However, a series of recent scientific discoveries has forced the great defender of atheism to change his views. Flew publicly stated that he was wrong, and the Universe could not have arisen on its own - it was obviously created by someone more powerful than we can imagine.
According to Flew, previously he, like other atheists, was convinced that once upon a time, the first living matter simply appeared from dead matter. “Today it is impossible to imagine constructing an atheistic theory of the origin of life and the appearance of the first reproductive organism,” says Flew.
According to the scientist, modern data on the structure of the DNA molecule irrefutably indicate that it could not have arisen on its own, but was someone else’s design. The genetic code and the literally encyclopedic amounts of information that the molecule stores within it refutes the possibility of blind coincidence.
British physicist Martin John Rees, who won this year's Templeton Prize, believes that the Universe is a very complex thing. A scientist with more than 500 scientific papers to his credit received $1.4 million for proving the existence of a Creator. Although the physicist himself is an atheist, adds the Correspondent publication.
“According to the director of the International Institute of Theoretical and Applied Physics, Academician of the Russian Academy of Natural Sciences Anatoly Akimov, the existence of God has been proven by scientific methods,” INTERFAX reports.
“God exists, and we can observe manifestations of His will. This is the opinion of many scientists; they not only believe in the Creator, but rely on certain knowledge,” he said in an interview published on Friday by the Moskovsky Komsomolets newspaper.
At the same time, the scientist noted that in past centuries, many physicists believed in God. Moreover, until the time of Isaac Newton, there was no separation between science and religion; science was carried out by priests, since they were the most educated people. Newton himself had a theological education and often repeated: “I derive the laws of mechanics from the laws of God.”
When scientists invented a microscope and began to study what was happening inside the cell, the processes of duplication and division of chromosomes caused them a stunning reaction: “How can this happen if all this had not been foreseen by the Almighty?!”
“Indeed,” added A. Akimov, “if we talk about the fact that man appeared on Earth as a result of evolution, then, taking into account the frequency of mutations and the speed of biochemical processes, it would take much more time to create a man from primary cells than the age of the Universe itself.” .
“In addition,” he continued, “calculations were performed that showed that the number of quantum elements in the volume of the radio-observable Universe cannot be less than 10,155, and it cannot but possess superintelligence.”
“If this is all a single system, then, considering it as a computer, we ask: what is it that a computer system with so many elements cannot do? These are unlimited possibilities, greater than the most sophisticated and modern computer by an incommensurable number of times!” - the scientist emphasized.
In his opinion, what various philosophers called the Universal Mind, the Absolute, is a super-powerful system that we identify with the potential capabilities of the Almighty.
Dr. Henry Fritz Schaefer
Schaefer is a professor of chemistry at Georgia State University and director of the Quantum Chemistry Center. Schaefer, who was nominated for the Nobel Prize five times, is considered the third best chemist in the world in terms of recognition of his scientific achievements. Expressing the idea that the goal of scientific research is to know God, the scientist and religious man Schaefer says:
Anyone who has understood the meaning of science will also understand what pleasure it gives me. He will understand how I feel when I say: “This is God’s creation.”110
Isaac Bashevis Singer
The famous physicist of our day, Singer, is a scientist who denies evolution and believes in God. During one of his lectures, while criticizing Darwinism, he used the following interesting story:
“Scientists discovered a deserted island where no human had ever set foot before. The first to land on this island, they were very amazed by the local nature and life. They were amazed by the forests, full of animals and never seen by loggers. Having climbed the steep slope of the mountain, scientists looked around. There was no trace of civilization on the island. Returning to the ship, they suddenly discovered an elegant wristwatch of the latest model on the sand. The watch worked perfectly. The scientists were confused. Where did the watch come from here? They knew exactly what was on them no human has ever set foot on the island, but in this case there was only one option left: this watch with an expensive leather strap, with expensive glass, with hour and minute hands, with a battery and other details appeared on the island by itself, by chance, and how it was placed in the local sand. There was no alternative to this assumption! " At the end of the story, to clarify the misconception of evolutionists, Singer said: “Every watch has a watchmaker who made it.”111
Everything living and nonliving in the Universe contains some higher purpose. Therefore, none of the phenomena of the Universe can be attributed to chance. Everything in the world was created by the Great and Almighty Creator. Many of the modern scientists, like Singer, comprehending the perfection of the existing order in the Universe, point out to people that everything in the Universe was created by God.
Professor Malcolm Daneken Wintis
Malcolm Wintis, who is a professor of medicine at Huttin University as well as Northwestern University, believes that both the Universe and man were created by the Supreme Creator. He expresses this belief in these words:
"Based on physical methods, we can say that there is nothing more strange and senseless than the idea that heaven and earth with all their secrets, human life with all its forms, and, finally, the human being himself with all his highest faculties appeared on their own, as a result of chance. And if so, we must say that there is a genius who controls the Universe, that behind all this there is a Creator. And since man has a higher organization in comparison with all the creatures that surround him, he must strive to know the Creator."112
William Phillips
Before he was 50 years old, William Phillips won the Nobel Prize for his development of methods for trapping atoms with laser radiation. Today he is one of the most prominent physicists and at the same time a religious person. Speaking at a press conference after being awarded the Nobel Prize, he said:
“God gave us a beautiful world so that we could live in it and comprehend it.”113
Professor William Draper
Professor Draper, who received his doctorate from the University of Iowa, teaches soil science at the University of California and is also a member of the American Soil Science Institute.
He expressed the idea that the Universe could not have arisen by chance, but was created by God as follows:
“It is certain that both the heavens that are above us and the earth that are under our feet contain a plan and a purpose. To try to deny the power that embodied this plan and this purpose, that is, the Infinite Creator, is to not accept the norms of logic and reason And this contradiction is more flagrant than the one into which a person falls when he sees a field in the summer with yellowed, heavy ears of wheat, reminiscent of a sea of wheat, but who at the same time denies that somewhere nearby there is a peasant who plowed and sowed this field ".114
William Dembski
The research of the modern mathematician Dembski covers a wide range of philosophical and theological problems. Dembski argues that science exists to understand the world, and scientists are only researchers of the creations of the Almighty. Here are examples of Dembski's statements that characterize his ideas:
“The world is the creation of God. Scientists, trying to understand it, repeat the thoughts of the Almighty. Scientists are not creators, but only discoverers of divine ideas
… What is created always testifies to its Creator."115
Professor Stephen Mayer
A professor of philosophy at Whiteworth University, Mayer is a scientist convinced of the truth of Creation. He is the author of many works on this topic. Below we present his statements on the issue that the Universe is the fruit of the embodiment of a conscious project.
“In nature you see excellent evidence of intelligent design.”116
“I assert that neither chance, nor prebiotic natural selection, nor physicochemical laws can explain the source of the emergence of information in the very first cell.”117
Professor Walter F. Bradley
Bradley, a professor of mechanical engineering at the University of Texas, is one of the authors of the book "The Mystery of the Origin of Life." Arguing that living organisms, inanimate objects and the entire Universe as a whole are the embodiment of a certain plan, he provides evidence of this, which is found at every step. Bradley speaks of his faith in the Creator this way:
“When I was at Cornell University in the spring of 1987, I gave a lecture on religion and science. At this lecture, I confirmed the existence of a Creator with scientific evidence.”118
Another Bradley quote:
“There is irrefutable and obvious evidence for the existence of an Intelligent Creator.”119
Professor Irrel Christer Rex
Rex is engaged in teaching, being a professor at the University of Washington and the University of Southern California, and at the same time is a fellow of the American Institute of Physics. Believing that the entire Universe was created by God and is controlled by Him, Professor Rex says:
“Modern theories that explain the origin of all things and determine the laws operating in the Universe quickly fall into dark and confusing dead ends if they contain ideas of denying God. Personally, I believe in the Creator and recognize that all things are in His Will.” 120
Dr Allan Sandage
One of the most famous astronomers today, who recognized the correctness of the religious concept of the Creation of the world by God. In a 1998 interview with Newsweek magazine, which featured the headline “Science Finds God,” Sandage explained his turn to religion this way:
“I was led to this by the incredible complexity of the world, one might say inaccessible to science. I can understand the mysteries of existence only with the help of faith.”121
Professor Cécile Hamar
Hamar, a professor of biology at Saint Louis University who also teaches biology at Haysberry University, is one of the deeply religious scientists of our time. Hamar says this about his beliefs:
“No matter what area of science I had to pay attention to, I everywhere saw incomparable laws and patterns pointing to the existence of the Almighty Creator. I witnessed amazing examples of creation. Yes, I also believe in God and recognize that He gave life to everything that exists and that this world is under His protection. The power of God is sufficient for everything. And, moreover, I affirm that every particle of the creature called man is under His protection."122
Professor Paul Ernest
Paul Earnest, a professor at St. John's University and a member of the Society of American Surgeons, found faith in God after years of studying science. Professor Ernest puts it this way:
“I believe in God without any doubt. I was directed to this faith and strengthened in it by the field of science in which I am engaged...
And so I answer the question: “Yes, existence has a Creator.”123
Professor Lestergon Cimourdain
Professor Cimourdin, who completed his doctorate at the University of Bordeaux and teaches agronomy and mathematics at the University of Cochin, declares his faith in God in these words:
“There is no doubt that everything arose according to the Will of the Almighty God. He is the One who destined and showed the way for everything. As my research on soils and plants deepens, so does my faith in God...”124
Enrico Medi
Enrico Medi is a famous Italian scientist. Speaking at an international conference in Rome in 1971, he spoke about the miracles he encountered as a scientist. He summed up his reasoning as follows:
“Besides space and time, there is also a reason for everything that exists, because of which everything was created the way it is... This is God the Creator.”125
Professor Wayne Auld
Professor Auld completed his doctorate at Columbia University and worked as the head of the New York Geochemical Laboratory. Once, discussing the fact that scientific research strengthens faith in God, Professor Auld said:
“There is no doubt that advancement through the stages of knowledge, the desire to understand the causes and circumstances of the emergence of things is one of the greatest and most important qualities of the human mind. A scientist who recognizes the fact of the creation of the Universe and begins his research with faith, along the way, will certainly encounter evidence that will strengthen his faith"..126
Professor Michel P. Gerard
South Louisiana biology professor Michel Gerard is one of the scientists who argues that life could not have arisen by chance. He also says that the highly complex and perfect structures of cells and proteins are created by God
On July 5, 1998, Professor Gerard took part in the II International Conference organized by the Harun Yahya Foundation for Scientific Research entitled “The Collapse of the Theory of Evolution: The Truth of Creation.” At the conference, he made a presentation on the topic “Is life possible by chance?” Having stated his point of view and supported it with scientific evidence, he ended his speech with these words:
“The structure of living organisms is very different and much more complex than those obtained as a result of laboratory experiments. When we consider the laws of physics and chemistry and try to comment on this issue, the laws of physics and chemistry tell us: “There must be intelligent design, there must be there is a Creator, a Creator who has organized information. This explanation is the most scientific of all data to date. The laws of physics and chemistry also state otherwise: “The emergence of life from inanimate matter due to evolution is impossible.” And this is not only the end of my scientifically based speech, but at the same time the collapse of the theory of evolution."
Professor Edward Boudreau
Edward Boudreau, a professor of chemistry at New Orleans University, is convinced that chemical elements were ordered by God to create life. In 1998, this scientist took part in the second part of a conference organized in Istanbul on the topic “The Collapse of the Theory of Evolution: The Truth of Creation.”
In his report entitled "Project in Chemistry", he said, in part:
“The world in which we live and its laws were created by God in the form most favorable for human life.”
Professor Kenneth Cumming
An employee of the Institute for the Study of the Creation of the Earth in the USA, who is world famous in the field of biochemistry and paleontology, Professor Kenneth Cumming opposes the theory of evolution and believes in the existence of God. He says:
"I think that the overwhelming evidence on this subject has shown the worthlessness of this theory. The evidence presented in defense of evolution must be refuted and the fall of this idea made obvious. Everything we see around us is a small piece of creation with all its variations and everything as a whole was created by God, who possesses the Supreme and Absolute Knowledge"...127
Professor Karl Fliermans
One of the most famous US scientists today, Carl Fliermans, is a professor of microbiology at Indiana University. Professor Fliermans is leading US Department of Defense-supported research into the possibility of neutralizing chemical waste using bacteria.
In his speech at a conference in Istanbul on the topic “The Collapse of the Theory of Evolution: The Truth of Creation,” refuting Darwinism from a biochemical point of view, Professor Fliermans said:
“Modern biology has proven that living organisms did not arise as a result of evolution, but are themselves proof of the fact of Divine creation.”
Professor David Menton
Professor David Menton, who teaches anatomy at the University of Washington, expresses his faith in God in these words: "I have been studying anatomy for 30 years. In every study I have encountered the truth: everything exists because of God's perfect creation."
Professor John Morris
The famous geologist Professor John Morris is the director of the Institute for the Study of the Creation of the Earth in the USA - the most active scientific organization created by scientists defending the point of view of the Divine Creation of the Universe.
In one of his speeches, Professor Morris stated as follows his belief in God and that the theory of evolution has been refuted by science:
"We, doctors and professors, are religious people. We believe in God. We sincerely believe that God is the Creator. God the Creator is the One on whom our lives depend and to whom we must obey. Humanity owes its existence to Him and therefore We must live in such a way that He is pleased with us.
The truth of history is Creation, not evolution. All the data confirms this. Many scientists have seen that Darwinism is a completely scientifically disproven phenomenon. Now they are disseminating the results of their research. We, using this data, are able to convey a more correct approach, that is, a way of thinking that takes into account the truth of Creation. And you can also communicate data on this issue to people around you. We must trust science, and we must trust the kind of science that confirms the truth of Creation."128
Arthur Peacock
The famous biochemist and head of the Ian Ramsay Center Arthur Peacock speaks of his faith in the Almighty as follows:
“God creates and is present in every moment of the world He created. God is above the past, present and future. He is Eternal and Primordial, because His non-existence never was, is not and will not be in the future.”129
Professor Albert Macomp Winstis
After completing his doctorate at the University of Texas, Albert Winstis became a professor of biology at Paylor University and chairman of the Florida Academy of Science.
Saying that scientific work strengthened his faith in God, Professor Winstis said:
“I have worked in various fields of human knowledge and devoted many years to this activity. At the same time, I can sincerely say that I have never encountered anything in science that would shake my faith in God. On the contrary, research has only strengthened my conviction, that the Creator exists. Now my faith is much stronger and more stable.
Without a doubt, science helps a person to see more clearly the Power and Greatness of the Creator. When we discover something new in our area, our faith in God strengthens... The more our knowledge increases, the better we understand what God has created, the stronger our conviction that the Lord exists."130
Mahdi Gulshani
Professor of physics at the University of Tehran Mahdi Gulshani, in an interview given to Newsweek magazine, discussing faith and the unity of scientific research with religion, expressed himself as follows:
“Natural phenomena are traces of Allah in the Universe. Studying them is almost a religious duty. In the Koran, people are told: “Walk on the earth and see how We created everything.” Study is a religious act, because in its process the perfection of the Divine becomes even clearer Creations".131
Professor Edwin Faust
Professor Faust completed his doctorate at the University of Oklahoma. There he teaches physics. This scientist believes that the Universe and living organisms could not have arisen as a result of the fact that atoms, which are the building blocks of matter, came together in the right combinations on their own. He says:
“The Most High is the Creator who created all things. These words are simple, but contain great meaning, because they express the greatness and holiness of the true God.”132
Charles H. Townes
Townes, who discovered the laser, continues his research at the University of Berkeley. He talks about his faith in God:
“As a religious person, I deeply feel the existence of the Creator and his impact on the entire Universe.”133
John Polkinghorne
The renowned physicist Polkinghorne, working at the University of Cambridge, is an expert in particle physics. In an interview with Newsweek magazine, he said:
“When you realize how supernaturally finely tuned the laws of nature were to create the universe, you see that this world was created for a reason, and there is some purpose behind it.”134
“In my opinion, the fundamental element of belief in God is the recognition that there is an idea and a purpose in the universe.”135
Hugh Ross
The famous American astrophysicist, professor at the University of Toronto, Hugh Ross, is the chairman of the Foundation for Faith Society, which defends the truth of Creation. He is the author of many books dealing with issues of cosmology and creation. Among them are “The Creator and Space”, “Creation and Time”, “Beyond Space”. Here are some of Ross's statements on the creation of the Universe.
“If space and time came together in an explosion, then the cause that caused the Universe to come into being must be absolutely independent of time and space. This tells us that the Creator is beyond all dimensions of the Universe.”136
“The Most High Wise Creator created the Universe from nothing. The Most High Wise Creator designed the Universe and planet Earth. And again, the Most High Wise Creator created life.”..137
Professor Dr. Duane Gish
University of California biochemistry professor Duane Gish became known for his religiosity and determined fight against Darwinism. Gish is often talked about in the scientific world because he constantly participates in anti-evolutionist forums and discussions with followers of this theory.
In 1998, the Foundation for Scientific Research organized an international conference entitled "The Collapse of the Theory of Evolution: The Truth of Creation", which was held in three stages: April 4 and July 5 in Istanbul, July 12 in Ankara. World-famous scientists, who at the same time are deeply religious people, were invited and spoke at this conference.
Professor Gish spoke three times at the conference "The Collapse of Evolution: The Truth of Creation" held in Turkey in 1998. Here is one of Gish's sayings on this subject, expressing his firm belief in Creation:
"The theory of evolution is already in its death throes. The idea of Creation is presented with clear evidence. Thousands of scientists find this concept more convincing. Their number is growing every day"138
Dr. Pierre Gunnar Jerlström
Professor of molecular biology at Griffith University, Jerlström has carried out a large amount of work in his field and has received various scientific awards for it. Jerlström regularly publishes in scientific journals. He is a supporter of the idea of the Creation of the Universe.139
Dr. Stefan Grocott
Grocott, an industrial chemist at Western Australia University, has carried out extensive research in analytical and industrial chemistry. Grocott is the author of many scientific articles. He was originally an evolutionist, but when confronted with the evidence for Creation, he accepted this view and broke with Darwinism. Grocott was a participant in many scientific conferences on the creation of the Universe. 140
Dmitry Kuznetsov
The Russian scientist Kuznetsov, who claims that many scientists, having encountered the immutability of truth in the course of their research, begin to believe in God and turn to religion, is known for his scientific discussions with evolutionists.141
Dr. Emil Silvestru
Professor at the University of Babes-Bogliai, Dr. Silvestru is a recognized authority in the field of cave geology. By publishing his articles in international academic journals and being the head of the world's first speleological institute, Dr. Silvestru defends the position of the Creation of the Universe..142
Dr. Andre Eggen
A proponent of the idea of Creation, Dr. Andre Eggen is the author of extensive research in the field of animal genetics. Currently he is working on a program of the French government. 143
Dr Ian MacReady
Dr. MacReady is the author of important works on molecular biology and microbiology. He has completed more than 60 studies while serving as Principal Investigator of the Biomolecular Research Institute of the Australian Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation. This great scientist, who believes in the creation of the Universe, was awarded the highest prize of the Australian Microbiological Society.144
Professor Andro Sinovaivi
A world-famous physiologist, Sinovaivi was the head of the department of physiology and pharmacology at Northwestern University from 1925 to 1946. In 1946 - 1953, as a professor, he worked as dean of the medical faculty of the University of Genvy, and then became a professor of physiology at the University of Chicago. To the question “Does everything that exists have a Creator?” Sinovoivi replies: “Yes, I believe in His existence!” Moreover, Sinovaivi says:
“I believe in the existence of God, as in the existence of myself, as in the reality of a thing that I can touch with my hand. Undoubtedly, my faith in the Lord is the only and highest way to think about the created world and find meaning in it. Conviction in the existence of the Creator adds much more meaning to the creature called man than the idea that man is just a bundle of matter and energy. Faith in God is the source of the highest and most humane thoughts about love."145
Dr. Raymond Jones
Jones is a researcher who worked for many years at the Australian Government Research Organization. He became famous for solving the Leucaena problem and thereby earning millions of dollars for Australian agriculture. At the same time, he is a supporter of the idea of Creation.146
Jules H. Poyrir
As an electronics design engineer, Poirir is involved in critical defense and space developments for the US government. Poirir's work at the University of California in the fields of physics, mathematics and electronic engineering has found wide application in American defense and space programs. Faced with examples of the manifestation of the power of the Almighty in living organisms, Poirir defends the point of view of their Creation by God. A scientist has written a book on the subject, featuring a stunning example of the design found in the monarch butterfly. The original title of this work is From Darkness to Light to Flight: Monarch - the Miracle Butterfly .147
Michael J. Behe
Another famous scientist in the world who adheres to the point of view of the existence of intelligent design in the Universe and in living organisms is Michael J. Behe. He is a professor of biology at Lehi University in Pennsylvania. Behe, who has published a number of articles in such reputable newspapers as the New York Times and the Boston Review, is also the author of the book Darwin's Black Box.
This work, which argues that evolutionary theory is unacceptable from the point of view of biology, was published in the 80s of the 20th century. several publications.
Behe proves the inconsistency of the theory of evolution using the concept of “irreducible complexity.” According to his idea, in the body of living beings there are simultaneously many parts and organs that work in complete harmony with each other. If one part fails, it will affect the entire body and as a result it will lose its vital functions. Therefore, their random or stepwise occurrence is impossible. In Darwin's Black Box, Michael Behe writes:
"They were not formed by the laws of nature out of necessity or by chance. All this was planned in advance. The one who prepares the project knows best what the systems as a whole will ultimately be. Therefore, every step in the formation of the systems was thought out in advance. Life on Earth , from its simplest forms to the most complex - the result of a conscious design that contains the entire reality around us. In order to understand the conscious design of the biochemical systems of living organisms, it is not necessary to create new principles of logic or science. Research conducted in the field of biochemistry in recent years 40 years are enough to undeniably show all these truths that surround us in everyday life."148
Philip Johnson
Philip Johnson is a law professor at the University of Chicago and the author of many studies of the ideological side of the theory of evolution. He owns the books "Darwin on Trial", "Reason in the Balance", "Objection sustained", three books on criminal law and many articles. Johnson, known for his uncompromising fight against the theory of evolution, is at the same time a believer.
Here are some of his statements on this issue:
“As a religious person, I deeply believe in God and His Creation.”149
...I want to challenge materialistic evolution. Let's rally around the Creator!150
Charles Birch
A professor at the Australian University of Sydney, Birch is known for his commitment to the idea of Creation. In 1990, for his scientific struggle against atheism, he was awarded the Templeton Prize for his contribution to the spread of religion. He expressed his faith in the Almighty in these words:
“God, who is the source of all values, is closer to man than his hands and breath. The existence of God is true.”151
God created the Earth and makes it alive.152
S. Jocelyn Bell Burnell
Professor of physics and head of the science department at the English Open University, Burnell was among the astronauts who discovered the star Atarca. Burnell, a believer in God, puts it this way:
…I believe in the Almighty, All-Knowing God, who is at the same time Merciful to us and protects us..153
...I am confident in the existence of One God.154
Professor Owen Gingerich
Professor of astronomy and historian of science, Gingerich is a scientist convinced of the existence of a Supreme Creator. He expresses his religious feelings as follows:
…I believe in God, Who possesses the Greatest and Excellent Knowledge. He planned and carried out the Creation of the Universe... I believe that the emergence of people was the basic principle for the creation of the Universe, and also that humanity, with its consciousness, conscience, morality, the ability to distinguish truth from falsehood, serves as evidence of the manifestation of God."155
Professor Karl Friedrich von Weizsäcker
A physics professor at the Max Planck University in Germany talks about his belief in God:
…One of the things I have complete confidence in is the existence of God. .156
Professor David Berlinsky
Berlinsky, a professor of mathematics at Princeton University, is convinced that living organisms have not undergone evolution, but, on the contrary, are the fruit of a conscious project. In many of his speeches, Berlinsky names God as the author of this project. Here are examples of Berlinsky's statements:
...Life has a complex structure, and this is created according to a precise design. Reason is needed even to make a thimble. Why then should other things in my life arise differently?157
…Molecular biology shows that all living things are created by God.158
Professor William Lane Craig
Craig, who is a professor of philosophy at the University of Birmingham and a professor of theology at the University of Munich, believes that God created the universe out of nothing for a purpose. Here's what he writes:
The existence of the Universe has a specific design. I believe that the cause of the Universe is One God the Creator. Otherwise, how could a temporary action result from an infinite action?.. Both science and philosophy come to the conclusion that the Universe had a beginning. Every existing thing has a reason for its appearance, which in itself does not need anything, it is infinite, unchangeable, timeless and immaterial and has an independent will.
In the end, I admit that it is logical to believe in God159
“In fact, according to the rule that “out of nothing only nothing can come,” the Big Bang must have had a supernatural cause. Since there was previously a unity that was the boundary of the concepts of time and space, the Big Bang could not have had a physical cause On the contrary, what led to the Big Bang must be unimaginably powerful, completely independent of the Universe, and completely beyond space and time. Moreover, this cause must be a conscious force with an independent will... Therefore, the root cause of the Universe is the Creator, Who created everything solely according to His desire at a certain moment in the past."160
Dr. Kurt Weiss
Kurt Weiss is a paleontologist in the Department of Mathematics and Natural Sciences at Bayen College, known for his opposition to the theory of evolution and his strong religious beliefs. He says about this:
"Creation is not a theory. That God created the Universe is the truth itself..."161
Siegfried Hartwig Scherer
A professor of anthropology at the University of Zurich, Scherer is the author of a book entitled "Is Ramapithecus an Ancestor of Man?" Scherer, who argues in his works that the facts of paleontology refute the theory of evolution, and also that monkeys are not the ancestors of humans, is confident that living organisms were created by God.162
J.P. Morland
Moreland is a professor of philosophy at the University of Southern California and the author of The Creation Hypothesis. Morland is known as a scientist committed to belief in a Creator.163
Paul A. Nelson
University of Chicago biology professor Nelson is one of the proponents of the idea that living organisms are the product of a conscious design.164
Professor Jonathan Wells
Wells, a professor of theology at Yale University and a professor of molecular and cellular biology at the University of Berkeley, is the author of a book called Charles Hodge's Critique of Darwinism. Wells believes that the latest scientific evidence proves that living organisms are the fruit of Creation.165
Dr. Don Batten
Dr. Batten has carried out a large amount of research in plant physiology and has received many academic awards for his research.
In addition to plant physiology, Batten, being a religious man, published many books and articles on the evidence of Creation found on Earth. Batten regularly tours the world giving lectures on "Answering Creation Questions." In them, he talks about evidence of the Creation of the Universe and life by God, using language that is understandable to people not privy to scientific problems. The first such tour of an Australian scientist took place in England in 1995.166
Dr. John Baumgardner
Dr. Baumgardner works in geophysics and space physics, and also teaches at the University of California. Despite the fact that Baumgardner was raised in the spirit of evolutionary theory, his own research into the dead-end problems of this concept led to his abandonment of it and the transition to the point of view of the Creation of the Universe.167
Professor Dr. Donald Chittick
Donald Chittick is a professor of chemistry at Oregon State University who has received many awards for his work. Chittick, convinced of the truth of Creation, takes part in such seminars on this issue as “Evidence of Creation”, “Creation and the Primeval World”, etc.168
Dr. Wenner Gitt
Professor and Director of the German Federal Institute of Physics, Dr. Gitt is the author of many scientific articles in the fields of mathematics, computer science and control engineering. At the same time, Gitt, who believes in Creation, wrote several books on this topic: “Did God Use Evolution?”, “In the Beginning Was Knowledge,” “The Stars and Their Purpose: Heavenly Guides,” “If Animals Could Speak?” and others.169
Dr. Harry E. Parker
Early in his career, Parker, now a professor of biology, physiology and geology at Balla State University, was an evolutionist. Confronted with compelling evidence for the truth of creation, Parker accepted this view and rejected the theory of evolution. Parker is the author of many books on biology and the problems of Creation. In recent years, he often takes part in scientific seminars, where he defends his point of view.170
Dr. Margaret Helder
Alberta Yaratеleyu Bilimleri Derneрi "nin bayukanе olan, tsnemli bilim adamе, botanikзi Dr. Helder, yaratеleyua inanan kaden bilim adamlarе arasеnda belki de en aktif olanеdеr. Зevremizde gкрдьрьмьz yaratеleyu delillerini izer en pek zok makale yazmeyuter.171
Prof. Dr. Jonathan D. Sarfati
Chairman of the Alberta Creation Science Society, Dr. Helder is a leading botanist and perhaps the world's leading proponent of the truth of Creation. Dr. Helder is the author of many articles on the compelling evidence of the truth of Creation that is all around us.172
Professor Robert Matthews
Oxford University physics professor Robert Matthews, in a book he wrote in 1992, speaks of the miracle of Divine Creation in the following words:
“All these processes - from a cell to a living baby, then to a small child and, finally, to an adult - proceed in perfect harmony. Such phenomena, which are observed in all areas of biology, can only be explained by a miracle. How is it that such a perfect and a complex organism arises from such a simple and small cell? From a cell smaller than the small dot above the letter "i" Man grows. This is nothing less than a miracle! "173
Dr. Claude Tremontant
Dr. Claude Tremontant conducts his scientific activities at the University of Paris. He expressed his conviction that the world did not arise by chance, but was created, in the magazine “Realities” as follows:
“No theory of chance is capable of explaining the Creation of our world. To assert that living organisms were created by chance is meaningless.”174
Dr. Don Page
Don Page completed his PhD in physics and astronomy in 1976 at the University of California, working alongside some of the world's leading scientists. Page believes that understanding the laws of the Universe will help to comprehend the Wisdom and Power of the Creator, while believing that Divine Majesty and Knowledge is not limited to the Universe.175
Dr. Andrew Snelling
Professor of Geology, Dr Snelling is a member of scientific groups such as CSIRO and ANSTO, as well as the US-British-Swiss-Japanese scientific program. He published many articles based on the results of these studies.
Snelling, who has received many awards for his contributions to science, is the author of several articles on the evidence of Creation contained in living organisms.176
Dr. Karl Wieland
Dr. Wieland is a prominent promoter of evidence for the truth of Creation. He has published many articles on this issue in various international journals..177
Galileo Galilei (1564 - 1642)
Galileo Galilei was the first person to see the sky through a telescope. Galileo was the first to claim that the Earth was round and suggested that the Moon had dark areas, mountains and craters. Having made a great contribution to science and rightfully occupying an honorable place in its history, this man believed that reason, the ability to feel and speak were given to us by God, and believed that these gifts should be used in the best possible way. He defended the evidence that everything in nature exists due to Divine design. Galileo said that “nature, without a doubt, is the Second Book of God, which we must not refuse, which we are obliged to read,” thus asserting that there can be no contradiction between the Holy Books and the Divine creations, because both others are created by God
Isaac Newton (1642 - 1727)
Newton, considered the greatest scientist of all time, was both a mathematician and a physicist. If we evaluate Newton's contribution to science, we should first of all point to his discovery of the law of universal gravitation. Newton connected force and acceleration through the concept of mass. He derived the principle of action and reaction and put forward the thesis that the speed of a body will not change if the resultant force on the body is zero.
For four centuries now, Newton's dynamic laws have been applied without change in all areas of human activity: from the simplest engineering calculations to the most complex technological projects.
In addition to the law of universal gravitation, Newton made important discoveries in such fundamental fields as mechanics and optics. By discovering the seven colors that make up light, Newton laid the foundation for optics as an entirely new branch of science.
Along with these achievements, which determined the further development of human thought for a long time, Newton wrote serious works refuting atheism and defending the hypothesis of creation. He formulated his point of view as follows: “Creation is the only scientific explanation.” Newton believed that the mechanical Universe, which is, as he put it, “a continuously working giant clock,” could only be the work of a Creator possessing Infinite Knowledge and Power.
At the heart of Newton's world-changing discoveries was his desire to get closer to God. Newton’s way of knowing God and getting closer to Him was to study God’s creations. Having this goal in mind, the scientist passionately devoted himself to research work. Here is what Newton says in his work Principia Mathematica ("Laws of Mathematics") about the reason that inspired his scientific research:
“Like weak slaves, we need God. To the best of our intelligence, we must comprehend the power and greatness of Divine Knowledge and surrender to Him.”18
"The Almighty is Infinite and Absolute. He is Omnipotent and Omniscient. His existence is associated with eternity. He knows about everything that was and everything that will be. He is Infinite and Limitless. He is Eternal. His existence is endless. He is present everywhere. Being at any time in any place, He creates time and its intervals
Michael Faraday (1791 - 1867)
Faraday, recognized as the greatest physicist of his time, played an important role in the study of the phenomena of electricity and magnetism. In addition to physics, Faraday made significant contributions to chemistry.
He was a scientist who believed in God and believed that science and religion should be in harmony. Faraday believed that “since the world was created by the One Creator, everything in nature represents particles of a single whole.” Based on this principle, Faraday came to the conclusion that electricity and magnetism are related to each other.
Albert Einstein (1879 - 1955)
One of the most significant scientists of our era, Albert Einstein, was at the same time a religious man. He argued that science cannot develop in isolation from religion. These words belong to him:
“I cannot imagine a real scientist who does not have deep faith. This can also be expressed this way: you cannot believe in godless science.”48
Einstein believed that the wonderful order present in the Universe could not have arisen by chance and that the surrounding world was created by a Creator possessing a Supreme Intelligence. For Einstein, who often wrote about his belief in God, the miraculous nature of the order of the universe was extremely important. Above we cited Einstein’s famous words that “godless science is lame,”49 in which he expressed how inextricable, in his opinion, the connection between science and religion is.
Einstein stated that “a certain religious reverence must be born in every student of nature.”50
He also said: “Everyone who is seriously involved in science is convinced that in the laws of nature there is a certain spirit, and this spirit is higher than man. For this reason, studying science leads a person to religion.”
Einstein's point of view on science is also revealed in his following words:
"When religious feeling disappears, science becomes mere experimentation without inspiration
We present to your attention a list of scientists whose worldview was religious. To make the list more “reliable,” we tried our best to avoid including in it people whose worldview there is conflicting information, reports Pravoslavie.fm.
Physics
Galileo Galilei Galileo Galilei (1564 - 1642)
Worldview. Catholic. He asserted that “Holy Scripture cannot in any case affirm a lie or be mistaken; his sayings are absolute and undeniably true.”
Contribution to science. Refuted Aristotelian physics. He was the first to use a telescope to observe celestial bodies. He laid the foundations of classical mechanics, basing it on the experimental method, for which he is often called the “father of modern physics.”
Edme Mariotte Edme Mariotte (1620 - 1684)
Worldview. Roman Catholic priest, abbot of the monastery of Saint-Martinsubon.
Contribution to science. One of the founders of the French Academy of Sciences. In 1660 he discovered the so-called. "blind spot" in the human eye. 17 years later, Boyle discovered the law of the relationship between the volume and elasticity of a gas. He developed the theory of impact in mechanics, and also created a ballistic pendulum. Contributed to the development of aerodynamic theory with considerations about the relationship between speed and drag.
Blaise Pascal Blaise Pascal (1623 - 1662)
Worldview. Catholic Jansenist. A religious philosopher, Pascal defended the Christian faith, argued with Descartes, argued with the atheists of his time, condemned the casuistry of the Jesuits, who justified the vices of high society (in “Letters to a Provincial”), and the author of numerous reflections on philosophical and religious topics. He wrote the work “Thoughts on Religion and Other Subjects,” a collection of ideas in defense of Christianity against criticism from atheists, which includes the famous “Pascal’s Wager.”
Contribution to science. He created a calculating machine-arphmometer. He experimentally refuted the prevailing axiom at that time, taken from Aristotle, that nature is “afraid of the void,” and at the same time formulated the basic law of hydrostatics. In correspondence with Fermat, he laid the foundations of probability theory. He is also at the origins of projective geometry and mathematical analysis.
Sir Isaac Newton Sir Isaac Newton (1642 - 1727)
Worldview. An Anglican, his views are close to the Arian heresy. Newton studied the Bible, and the volume of his texts on the study of Scripture exceeds the volume of scientific texts he wrote. Through his work, Principia Mathematica hoped to encourage thinking people to believe in God.
Pierre Louis de Maupertuis Pierre-Louis Moreau de Maupertuis (1698 - 1759)
Worldview. Catholic, philosopher. Voltaire wrote many satires against him, for example, “Doctor Acacius, Papal Physician.” Before his death, the scientist admitted that Christianity “leads man to the greatest good through the greatest possible means.”
Contribution to science. He introduced the concept of the principle of least action into mechanics, and immediately pointed out its universal nature. He was a pioneer in genetics, in particular, some find that his views contributed to the development of the theory of evolution and natural selection.
Luigi Galvani Luigi Galvani (1737 - 1798)
Worldview. Catholic. He studied theology, wanted to connect his life with the Church, but chose the path of science. His biographer, Professor Venturoli, speaks about Galvani’s deep religiosity. In 1801, another of his biographers, Alibert, writes about the scientist: “it can be added that in his public demonstrations, he never completed his lectures without calling on his listeners to renew their faith, always drawing their attention to the idea of an eternal Providence that develops, preserves and makes life flow among many other kinds of things.”
Contribution to science. He was one of the first to study electrophysiology and “animal electricity”. The phenomenon “galvanism” was named after him.
Alessandro Volta Alessandro Volta (1745 - 1827)
Worldview. Catholic. The dogmas, social life and rituals of the Roman Church formed a large part of Volta's life (culture). His best friends were the clergy. Volta remained close to his brothers, the canon and archdeacon, and was a churched man (practicing, in Catholic terminology). Examples of his religiosity include his flirtation with Jansenism in the 1790s and his 1815 confession of faith, written to defend religion against scientism. In 1794, Volta wrote several letters: to his brothers and to a professor of theology at the University of Pavia, in these letters he asked them for advice about his possible marriage.
Contribution to science. Physicist, invented the chemical battery in 1800. Discovered methane. Found ways to measure charge (Q) and potential (V). Created the world's first chemical current source.
André-Marie Ampère (1775 - 1836)
Worldview. Catholic. The scientist is credited with the following statement: “Study, explore earthly things - this is the duty of a man of science. Explore nature with one hand, and with the other, like a father’s robe, hold on to the hem of God’s robe.” At the age of 18, the scientist believed that there were three culminating moments in his life: “First Communion, reading Antoine Thomas’s eulogy to Descartes, and the storming of the Bastille.” When his wife died, Ampere wrote out two verses from the Psalms and the prayer “O Lord, Merciful God, unite me in Heaven with those whom you allowed me to love on Earth,” at that time he was overwhelmed by strong doubts, and in his free time the scientist read The Bible and the Fathers of the Church.
Contribution to science. Physicist and mathematician. In electrodynamics: he established a rule for determining the direction of action of a magnetic field on a magnetic needle (“Ampere’s rule”), discovered the influence of the Earth’s magnetic field on moving conductors with current, discovered the interaction between electric currents, and formulated the law of this phenomenon (“Ampere’s law”). Contributed to the development of the theory of magnetism: he discovered the magnetic effect of the solenoid. Ampere was also an inventor - it was he who invented the commutator and the electromagnetic telegraph. Ampere also contributed to chemistry through his joint work with Avogadro
Hans Christian Ørsted Hans Christian Ørsted (1777 - 1851)
Worldview. Lutheran (presumably). In his 1814 speech entitled “The Development of Science, Understood as the Task of Religion” (the scientist included this speech in his book The Soul in Nature), in it he writes that this speech includes many ideas that are more developed in other parts of the book, but here they are presented as a whole), Oersted states the following: “we will try to establish our conviction of the existing harmony between science and religion, by showing how a man of science should look at his studies, if he understands them correctly, viz. as the task of religion." What follows is a long discussion that can be found in the book.
Contribution to science. Physicist and chemist. Discovered that electric current creates a magnetic field. The first modern thinker to describe and name a thought experiment in detail. Oersted's work was an important step towards a unified concept of energy.
Michael Faraday Michael Faraday (1791 - 1867)
Worldview. Protestant, Church of Scotland. After his marriage, he served as a deacon and churchwarden in one of the meetinghouses of his youth, and researchers note that “a strong sense of harmony between God and nature permeated his entire life and work.”
Contribution to science. Contributed to electromagnetism and electrochemistry. Considered the best experimenter and one of the most influential scientists in the history of science. Discovered benzene. He noticed a phenomenon he called diamagnetism. Discovered the principle of electromagnetic induction. His invention of electromagnetic rotators served as the basis for the electric motor. Thanks also to his efforts, electricity began to be used in technology.
James Prescott Joule James Prescott Joule (1818 - 1889)
Worldview. Anglican (presumably). Joule wrote: “A phenomenon of nature, be it mechanical, chemical, life, almost completely transforms into itself over a long period of time. Thus, order is maintained and nothing is out of order, nothing is lost forever, but the whole mechanism, such as it is, works smoothly and harmoniously, all controlled by God's will. He was one of the scientists who signed the "Declaration of Students of Natural and Physical Sciences", written in response to the wave of Darwinism that came to England.
Contribution to science. Formulated the first law of thermodynamics, discovered Joule's Law of heat power when an electric current flows. He was the first to calculate the speed of gas molecules. Calculated the mechanical equivalent of heat.
Sir George Gabriel Stokes Sir George Gabriel Stokes (1819 - 1903)
Worldview. Anglican (presumably). In 1886, he became president of the Victoria Institute, whose goal was to respond to the evolutionary movement of the 60s; in 1891, Stokes gave a lecture at this institute; he was also president of the British and Foreign Bible Society, and was actively involved in missionary issues. Stokes said: “I know of no sound conclusions of science that would contradict the Christian religion.”
Contribution to science. Physicist and mathematician, author of the Stokes theorem, made significant contributions to the development of hydrodynamics, optics and mathematical physics.
William Thomson, Lord Kelvin William Thomson, 1st Baron Kelvin (1824 - 1907)
Worldview. Presbyterian. Throughout his life he was a devout person, attending church every day. As can be seen from the scientist's speech at the Christian Evidence Society (an organization created to combat atheism in Victorian society), Thompson believed that his faith helped him understand reality, informed him. In the broad sense of the word, the scientist was a creationist, but he was by no means a “flood geologist”; he could be said to support the view known as theistic evolution. He often openly disagreed with Charles Darwin's followers and entered into disputes with them.
Contribution to science. Mathematical physicist and engineer. Formulated the first and second laws of thermodynamics and helped unify the emerging disciplines in physics. He guessed that there was a lower temperature limit, absolute zero. He is also known as an inventor, author of about 70 patents.
James Clerk Maxwell James Clerk Maxwell (1831 - 1879)
Worldview. Christian of evangelical faith. At the end of his life he became a churchwarden in the Church of Scotland. As a child, he attended services in both the Church of Scotland (his father's denomination) and the Episcopal Church (his mother's denomination); in April 1853, the scientist converted to the evangelical faith, which is why he began to adhere to anti-positivist views.
Contribution to science. Physicist whose main achievement was the formulation of the classical theory of electromagnetism. Thus, he united previously disparate observations, experiments and equations in electricity, magnetism and optics into a single theory. Maxwell's equations show that electricity, magnetism and light are one and the same phenomenon. These achievements of his were called “the second greatest unification in physics” (after the work of Isaac Newton). The scientist also helped develop the Boltzmann-Maxwell distribution, which is a statistical means of describing certain aspects in the kinetic theory of gases. Maxwell is also known as the man who created the first durable color photograph in 1861.
Sir John Ambrose Fleming Sir John Ambrose Fleming (1849 - 1945)
Worldview. Congregationalist. Fleming was a creationist and rejected Darwin's ideas as atheistic (from Fleming's book Evolution or Creation?). In 1932, he helped found the Evolution Protest Movement. Fleming once preached "what is in the fields" at St. Martin's Church in London, and his sermon was dedicated to the evidence of the Resurrection. The scientist bequeathed most of his inheritance to Christian charitable organizations that helped the poor.
Contribution to science. Physicist and engineer. Considered the father of modern electrical engineering. Formulated two rules known to physics: left and right hands. Invented the so-called Fleming valve
Sir Joseph John Thomson Sir Joseph John Thomson (1856 - 1940)
Worldview. Anglican. Raymond Seager in his book J. J. Thomson, Anglican states the following: “As a professor, Thompson attended the Sunday evening service of the university chapel, and as head of the university, the morning service. Moreover, he took an interest in the Trinity Mission in Camberwell. Respectful of his personal religious life, Thompson consistently prayed every day and read the Bible before bed. He really was a believing Christian!”
Contribution to science. Physicist, discovered the electron and isotope. Winner of the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1906 for “the discovery of the electron and achievements in the field of theoretical and experimental studies of the conductivity of electricity in gases.” The scientist also invented the mass spectrometer, discovered the natural radioactivity of potassium, and showed that hydrogen has only one electron per atom, while previous theories assumed that hydrogen had many electrons.
Max Planck Max Karl Ernst Ludwig Planck (1858 - 1947)
Worldview. Catholic (converted six months before his death), previously a deeply religious deist. In his work “Religion and Natural Science,” the scientist wrote (the quote is given with context, from the beginning of the paragraph: “With such a coincidence, one should, however, pay attention to one fundamental difference. God is given to a religious person directly and primarily. From Him, His omnipotent will comes all life and all phenomena of both the corporeal and spiritual world. Although He is unknowable by reason, He nevertheless directly manifests Himself through the medium of religious symbols, putting His holy message into the souls of those who, by faith, trust in Him. In contrast to this for the natural scientist, only the content of his perceptions and the measurements derived from them is primary. Hence, through inductive ascent, he tries to get as close as possible to God and His world order as the highest, eternally unattainable goal. Consequently, both religion and natural science need faith in God, with In this regard, for religion God stands at the beginning of all thinking, and for natural science - at the end.”
Contribution to science. The founder of quantum physics, which is why he won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1918. Formulated Planck's postulate (dark body radiation), an expression for the spectral power density of black body radiation.
Pierre Maurice Marie Duhem (1861 - 1916)
Worldview. Catholic. He often argued with Marcel over religious issues. D. OConnor and E. Robinson in their biography of Duhem argue that his religious views played a large role in determining his scientific views. The scientist also studied the philosophy of science, in his main work he showed that since 1200 science had not been ignored, and that the Roman Catholic Church had encouraged the development of Western science.
Contribution to science. Known for his work on thermodynamics (Gibbs-Duhem relation, Duhem-Margules equation), he also contributed to hydrodynamics and the theory of elasticity.
Sir William Bragg Sir William Lawrence Bragg (1890 - 1971)
Worldview. Anglican (possibly Anglo-Catholic). Bragg’s daughter wrote about the scientist’s faith: “For W. Bragg, religious faith was the willingness to bet everything on the hypothesis that Jesus Christ was right, and to test this by the experiment of performing a lifelong work of mercy. Reading the Bible was mandatory. Bragg often said that "if I have any style of writing at all, it is due to the fact that I was brought up on the Authorized Version [of the Bible]." He knew the Bible and could usually rattle off “chapter or verse.” Young Professor W. Bragg became churchwarden at St. John's in Adelaide. He also received permission to preach."
Contribution to science. Physicist, Nobel Prize laureate in 1915 for "services to the study of crystals using x-rays." Bragg also created the first instrument for recording diffraction patterns. Together with his son, he developed the basics of a method for determining the structure of crystals from the diffraction pattern of X-rays.
Arthur Holly Compton Arthur Holly Compton (1892 - 1962)
Worldview. Presbyterian. Raymond Seeger, in his article “Compton, Christian Humanist,” published in The Journal of the American Scientific Affiliation, writes the following: “As Arthur Compton grew older, so did his horizons, but it was always a clear Christian view of the world. . Throughout his life, the scientist was active in church affairs, from teaching Sunday school and serving as a church warden to positions on the Presbyterian Board of Education. Compton believed that humanity's fundamental problem, the inspiring meaning of life, lay outside science. According to a 1936 Times magazine report, the scientist was briefly a deacon in the Baptist Church.
Contribution to science. The physicist was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1927 for his discovery of the Compton effect. Invented a method for demonstrating the rotation of the Earth.
Georges Lemaître Monseigneur Georges Henri Joseph Édouard Lemaître (1894 - 1966)
Worldview. Catholic priest (since 1923). Lemaitre believed that faith could be an advantage for a scientist: “As science passes through the mere stage of description, it becomes true science. She also becomes more religious. Mathematicians, astronomers and physicists, for example, are very religious people, with few exceptions. The deeper they penetrate into the mystery of the Universe, the deeper becomes their conviction that the force behind the stars, electrons and atoms is law and goodness.”
Contribution to science. A cosmologist, the author of the theory of the expanding Universe, Lemaitre was the first to formulate the relationship between the distance and speed of galaxies and proposed in 1927 the first estimate of the coefficient of this relationship, now known as the Hubble constant. Lemaître's theory of the evolution of the world from the "primordial atom" was ironically called the "Big Bang" by Fred Hoyle in 1949. This name, "Big Bang", has historically been fixed in cosmology.
Werner Karl Heisenberg Werner Karl Heisenberg (1901 - 1976)
Worldview. A Lutheran, although towards the end of his life he was considered a mystic, since his views on religion were not orthodox. The author of the saying: “The first sip from the glass of natural science is taken by an atheist, but God awaits at the bottom of the glass.”
Contribution to science. Winner of the 1932 Nobel Prize for the creation of quantum mechanics. In 1927, the scientist published his uncertainty principle, which brought him worldwide fame.
Sir Neville Mott Sir Nevill Francis Mott (1905 - 1996)
Worldview. Christian. Here is the scientist’s statement: “I believe in a God who can answer prayers, in whom we can trust, and without whom life on Earth would be meaningless (a fairy tale told by a madman). I believe that God has revealed Himself to us in many ways, through many men and women, and for us in the West the clearest revelation is through Jesus Christ and those who followed him.”
Contribution to science. In 1977 he received the Nobel Prize in Physics for his “fundamental theoretical studies of the electronic structure of magnetic and disordered systems.”
Nikolai Nikolaevich Bogolyubov (1909 - 1992)
Worldview. Orthodox. A. Bogolyubov writes about him: “The entire body of his knowledge was a single whole, and the basis of his philosophy was his deep religiosity (he said that non-religious physicists can be counted on one hand). He was a son of the Orthodox Church and whenever time and health allowed him, he went to vespers and mass at the nearest church.”
Contribution to science. He proved the theorem “about the sharpness of the wedge” and created, together with N. Krylov, the theory of nonlinear oscillations. Created a consistent theory of superconductivity. In the theory of superfluidity he derived kinetic equations. He proposed a new synthesis of Bohr's theory of quasiperiodic functions.
Arthur Leonard Schawlow Arthur Leonard Schawlow (1921 - 1999)
Worldview. Methodist. Henry Margeno cites the following statement of the scientist: “And I see the need for God both in the Universe and in my life.” When the scientist was asked if he was a religious person, he replied: “Yes, I was raised a Protestant and I was in several denominations. I go to church, a very good Methodist church.” The scientist also stated that he is an orthodox Protestant.
Contribution to science. Physicist, received the 1981 Nobel Prize in Physics for his “contributions to the development of laser spectroscopy.” In addition to optics, Shavlov also explored such areas of physics as superconductivity and nuclear magnetic resonance.
Abdus Salam Mohammad Abdus Salam (محمد عبد السلام) (1926 - 1996)
Worldview. A Muslim from the Ahmadi community. In his Nobel speech, the scientist quotes the Koran. When the Pakistani government passed a constitutional amendment declaring members of the Ahmadiyya community non-Muslims, the scientist left the country in protest.
Contribution to science. In 1979 he received the Nobel Prize in Physics for his theory of unification of weak and electromagnetic interactions. Some of his main achievements were also: the Pati-Salam model, magnetic photon, vector mesons, work on supersymmetry.
Charles Hard Townes Charles Hard Townes (b. 1915)
Worldview. Protestant (United Church of Christ). In a 2005 interview with The Guardian, the scientist said he was "raised Christian, and while my ideas have changed, I've always felt like a religious person." In the same interview, Townes stated: "What is the science? Science is an attempt to understand how the Universe works, including the human race. What is religion? It is an attempt to understand the purpose and meaning of the Universe, including the human race. If there is this purpose and meaning, then it must be interconnected with the structure of the Universe and how it works (...) Therefore, faith must teach us something about science and vice versa.”
Contribution to science. One of the creators of quantum electronics, he received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1964 for “fundamental work in the field of quantum electronics, which led to the creation of emitters and amplifiers based on the laser-maser principle.” In 1969, together with other scientists, he discovered the so-called. “maser effect” (radiation of cosmic water molecules at a wavelength of 1.35 cm), together with a colleague, he was the first to calculate the mass of the black hole in the center of our galaxy. The scientist also made contributions to nonlinear optics: he discovered Mandelstam-Brillouin stimulated scattering, introduced the concept of the critical power of a light beam and the phenomenon of self-focusing, and experimentally observed the effect of autocollimation of light.
Freeman John Dyson Freeman John Dyson (b. 1923)
Worldview. A non-denominational Christian, although Dyson's views can be described as agnostic (in one of his books he wrote that he does not consider himself a practicing Christian, but only a practicing one, and stated that he does not see the point in a theology that claims to know the answers to fundamental questions) . The scientist vigorously disagrees with reductionism, so, in his Tempelton lecture, Dyson said: “Science and religion are two windows through which people look, trying to understand the Universe, to understand why they are here. These two windows offer different views, but they look at the same Universe. Neither of them is complete, they are both one-sided. Both exclude significant parts of the real world."
Contribution to science. Theoretical physicist and mathematician, known for his work in quantum electrodynamics, astronomy and nuclear engineering.
Anthony Hewish Antony Hewish (b. 1924)
Worldview. Christian. From a letter to T. Dmitrov: “I believe in God. It seems senseless to me that the Universe and our existence are just an accident on a cosmic scale and that life arose as a result of random physical processes, simply because favorable conditions developed for this. As a Christian, I begin to understand the meaning of life thanks to faith in the Creator, Whose nature was partially revealed in Man, born 2000 years ago.”
Contribution to science. In 1974 he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics for his “determining role in the discovery of pulsars.”
Arno Allan Penzias Arno Allan Penzias (born 1933)
Worldview. Jew, in Jerry Bergman's book the following quote is given by the scientist: “The best data we have is what I would be able to predict if I had only the Pentateuch of Moses, the book of Psalms and the entire Bible in front of me.” In his speeches, the scientist often said that he saw meaning in the Universe, and pointed out the reluctance of the scientific community to accept the Big Bang Theory, since it points to the creation of the world.
Contribution to science. Physicist who received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1976 for the discovery of cosmic microwave background radiation. Using a maser, I solved the problem of increasing the accuracy of antenna tuning.
Joseph Taylor, Jr. Joseph Hooton Taylor, Jr. (born 1941)
Worldview. Quaker. The scientist’s worldview is known from the book by István Hargitay, when asked “Could you tell us about your attitude towards religion?” The scientist responded as follows: “My family and I are active members of the religious community of Friends, that is, the Quaker community. Religion is an important part of our lives (especially for my wife and I; for our children to a lesser extent). My wife and I often spend time with other believers in our community; it helps us become more aware of our attitude towards life, reminds us of why we are on Earth and what we can do for others. Quakers are a group of Christians who believe in the possibility of direct communication between man and the Spirit, whom we call God. Reflection and self-contemplation helps to communicate with this Spirit and learn a lot about yourself and how to live on Earth. Quakers believe that wars cannot resolve differences and that lasting results are achieved through peaceful resolution of problems. We have always refused and refuse to participate in war, but we are ready to serve our country in other ways. We believe that there is something Divine in every person, therefore human life is sacred. You need to look for the depth of spiritual presence in people, even in those with whom you disagree.”
Contribution to science. Physicist, awarded the 1993 Nobel Prize in Physics for “the discovery of a new type of pulsar, which provided new opportunities in the study of gravity.”
William Daniel Phillips William Daniel Phillips (b. 1948)
Worldview. Methodist. One of the founders of the International Society for Science and Religion. Known for his frequent participation in the dialogue between "faith and science". In his autobiography on the Nobel Prize website, Phillips writes: “In 1979, after Jane (the scientist’s wife) and I moved to Gasersburg, we joined the United Methodist Church (...) Our children were our inexhaustible a source of blessing, adventure and challenge. At the time, Jane and I were trying to find new jobs, and having children required a delicate balance between work, home, and church life. But somehow, our faith and our youthful energy carried us through these times.”
Contribution to science. Physicist, winner of the 1997 Nobel Prize in Physics for “the development of methods for cooling and trapping atoms with a laser beam.”
Mathematics
René Descartes (1596 - 1650)
Worldview. Catholic. One of the reasons for writing his “Meditations” was the defense of the Christian faith; in particular, in one of the chapters, Descartes formulated a new ontological proof of the existence of God; he also wrote: “In a sense, we can say that without knowing God, one cannot have reliable knowledge of nothing."
Contribution to science. Mathematician, created the Cartesian coordinate system and laid the foundations of analytical geometry. The first mathematically derived the law of refraction of light at the boundary of two different media.
Pierre de Fermat Pierre de Fermat (1601 - 1665)
Worldview. Catholic.
Contribution to science. Mathematician, creator of number theory, author of Fermat's Last Theorem. The scientist formulated the general law of differentiation of fractional powers. He founded analytical geometry (along with Descartes) and applied it to space. He stood at the origins of probability theory.
Christian Huygens Christiaan Huygens (1629 - 1695)
Worldview. Protestant of the Reformed Church. When the French monarchy stopped tolerating Protestantism in 1881 (revocation of the Edict of Nantes), Huygens left the country, although they wanted to make an exception for him, which testifies to his religious beliefs.
Contribution to science. The first president of the Farntsuz Academy of Sciences, he served for 15 years. Discovered the theory of evolutes and involutes. He invented a pendulum clock and published a classic work on mechanics, “Pendulum Clock.” He derived the laws of uniformly accelerated freely falling bodies and formulated thirteen theorems on centrifugal force. Together with Fermat and Pascal, he laid the foundations of probability theory. He discovered Saturn's moon Titan, described the rings of Saturn, and discovered an ice cap at the South Pole of Mars. He invented a special eyepiece, consisting of two flat-convex lenses, named after him. The first called for choosing a universal natural measure of length. Simultaneously with Wallis and Rehn, he solved the problem of the collision of elastic bodies.
Gottfried Wilhelm von Leibniz (1646 - 1716)
Worldview. The Christian is presumably a Protestant. He spoke out against theological orthodoxy, and against materialism and atheism. He created his own philosophical doctrine, the so-called. Leibniz's monadology, which was close to deism and pantheism.
Contribution to science. Predetermined mathematical analysis and combinatorics. Laid the foundations of mathematical logic and combinatorics. He took a very important step towards the creation of a computer; he was the first to describe the binary number system. He was the only person who worked freely with both continuous and discrete ones. For the first time he formulated the law of conservation of energy. Created a mechanical calculator (together with H. Huygens).
Leonhard Euler Leonhard Euler (1707 - 1783)
Worldview. Christian. He believed in the inspiration of Scripture, argued with Denny Diderot about the existence of God, and wrote an apologetic treatise “Defense of Divine Revelation from the Objections of Freethinkers.”
Contribution to science. It is often said that from the point of view of mathematics, the 18th century is the century of Euler. Many call him the greatest mathematician of all time. Euler was the first to link analysis, algebra, trigonometry, number theory and other branches of mathematics into a single system; listing all his discoveries by name is impossible due to the format of this section.
Carl Friedrich Gauss Johann Carl Friedrich Gauß (1777 - 1855)
Worldview. Lutheran. Although Gauss did not believe in a personal God and was considered a deist, it can be argued that he had a religious worldview, for example, he believed in the immortality of the soul and life after death. According to Dunnington, Gauss believed in an immortal, righteous, omniscient and omnipotent God. With all his love for mathematics, Karl Friedrich never absolutized it, he said: “There are problems to the solution of which I would attribute infinitely greater importance compared to mathematical problems, for example, problems related to ethics, or our relationship to God, or concerning our destiny and our future; but their solution lies entirely beyond our limits and absolutely beyond the scope of science.”
Contribution to science. The scientist is often called the King of Mathematics (lat. Princeps mathematicorum), this reflects his invaluable and vast contribution to the “queen of sciences”. Thus, in algebra, Gauss came up with a rigorous proof of the fundamental theorem of algebra, discovered the ring of complex integers, and created the classical theory of comparisons. In geometry, the scientist contributed to differential geometry, for the first time dealt with the internal geometry of surfaces: he discovered the characteristic of a surface (named in his honor), proved the fundamental theorem of surfaces, Gauss also created a separate science - higher geodesy. Dunnington claimed that Gauss was the first to study non-Euclidean geometry, but was afraid to publish his results, considering them meaningless. In mathematical analysis, Gauss created the theory of potential and studied elliptic functions. The scientist was also interested in astronomy, where he studied the orbits of small planets and found a way to determine orbital elements from three complete observations. Many of his students later became great mathematicians. The scientist also studied physics, where he developed the theory of capillarity and the theory of lens systems, and also laid the foundations for the theory of electromagnetism, and designed (together with Weber) the first primitive electric telegraph.
Bernard Bolzano Bernard Placidus Johann Nepomuk Bolzano (1781 - 1848)
Worldview. Catholic priest. In addition to his scientific research, Bolzano also dealt with theological and philosophical issues.
Contribution to science. Bolzano's work contributed to the formation of strict definitions of analysis using "epsilon" and "delta". In many areas of mathematics, the scientist was a pioneer, ahead of his time: even before Cantor, Bolzano studied infinite sets; using geometric considerations, the scientist obtained examples of continuous, but nowhere differentiable functions. The scientist put forward the idea of the arithmetic theory of the real number, in 1817 he proved the Bolzano-Weierstrass theorem (independent of the latter, who discovered it half a century later), the Bolzano-Cauchy theorem.
Augustin Louis Cauchy Augustin Louis Cauchy (1789 - 1857)
Worldview. Catholic. He was close to the Jesuit Order, was a member of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul, Augustin often had difficulties with colleagues because of his views.
Contribution to science. He developed the basis of mathematical analysis, for the first time strictly defined the limit, continuity, derivative, integral, convergence of a series in mathematical analysis, introduced the concept of convergence of a series, created the theory of integral residues, laid the foundations of the mathematical theory of elasticity, and made significant contributions to other fields of science.
Charles Babbage Charles Babbage (1791 - 1871)
Worldview. Anglican (presumably). Convincedly defended the authenticity of biblical miracles in an era when people were increasingly moving away from the Christian worldview.
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After all, the contribution of these scientists to science is an important point in the debate about religion and science. Therefore, the article will talk in detail about their scientific achievements. Of course, in one article it is impossible to talk about all the scientists who connect their faith in God with scientific activity. Therefore, let us remember the most famous of them and see what each of them gave to science. The article uses materials from various sources.
Most often, opponents of the compatibility of science and faith argue their point of view with achievements in cosmonautics, astronomy and aircraft construction. But all the arguments they give are essentially an echo of the statement popular in Khrushchev’s times: “Gagarin flew into space, but did not see God there.” How can one take such evidence seriously, knowing that the founder of the Soviet cosmonautics Sergei Pavlovich Korolev constantly donated to the maintenance of Orthodox monasteries? By the way, among the scientists who worked at Sergei Pavlovich’s Design Bureau, there were many believers. For example, Korolev’s deputy for flights, the son of a priest, Colonel General Leonid Aleksandrovich Voskresensky, even in Stalin times, he did not interrupt his friendship with Orthodox priests and attended services in Orthodox churches.
He was a deeply religious man and Boris Viktorovich Raushenbakh(Korolyov’s right hand), academician, corresponding member of the USSR Academy of Sciences, an outstanding scientist in the field of mechanics and control processes, one of the founders of Russian cosmonautics. He wrote: “I note that more and more often people are thinking: is it not time for a synthesis of two systems of knowledge, religious and scientific?... I have already said that mathematics is beautiful, but, on the other hand, religion is logic... Existence logically rigorous theology, along with deeply intimate religious experience and the beauty of dry mathematical proofs, indicate that in fact there is no gap (note - between science and religion), there is a holistic perception of the world."
The works of Boris Viktorovich in Theology are well known. In his work on the icon, the law of reverse perspective was clearly formulated. According to this law, a person, gradually entering into the content of the icon, began to look at his life through the eyes of those depicted on the icon. No less significant was his work on the Trinity. In it, he brought the dogma of the Trinity closer to the understanding of modern man. The content of this work is very important for people just entering the Church.
There are known priests who combine work at research institutes and services in the temple
The fate of the employees of the design bureau Korolev Majora is also interesting Natalia Vladimirovna Malysheva(in the monastic life of Mother Adriana). She was the only woman on the missile testing commission. Natalya Vladimirovna went to the front as a 3rd year student. Two weeks after this, her fiancé, military pilot Mikhail, died in one of the battles. She went through the entire Great Patriotic War as a scout. She served in the headquarters of K. Rokossovsky and reached Berlin. She was awarded military orders and medals. Natalya Vladimirovna always recalled an incident from her front-line life that led her to God: “It seems to me that I still feel that excitement when our comrades went on reconnaissance missions. Suddenly, shooting was heard. Then it became quiet again. Suddenly, through the snowstorm, we saw a comrade hobbling - Sasha, one of those who had gone on reconnaissance, was walking towards us. He looked terrible: without a hat, with a face distorted in pain. He said that they stumbled upon the Germans, and Yura, the second scout, was seriously wounded in the leg. Sasha’s wound was lighter, but he still couldn’t bear his comrade. Having dragged him to a sheltered place, he himself hobbled with difficulty to us for a message. We are numb: how to save Yura? After all, it was necessary to get to it through the snow without camouflage. I don’t know how it happened, but I quickly began to take off my outerwear, leaving only warm white underwear. She grabbed the bag that contained the emergency kit. She put a grenade in her bosom (to avoid capture), pulled on her belt and rushed along the trail left by Sasha in the snow. They didn’t have time to stop me, although they tried. When I found Yura, he opened his eyes and whispered: “Oh, she’s here! And I thought you abandoned me!” And he looked at me like that, he had such eyes that I realized that if this happens again, I’ll go again and again, just to see such gratitude and happiness in his eyes again. We had to crawl through a place that was being shot at by the Germans. I crawled through it quickly alone, but what about the two of us? The wounded man had one leg broken, the other leg and arms were intact. I tied his leg with a tourniquet, connected our belts and asked him to help me with his hands. We started crawling back. And suddenly, thick snow began to fall, as if ordered, as if in a theater! The snowflakes stuck together, fell on their paws, and under this snow cover we crawled through the most dangerous place... Then I shared this story with close friends. The son of one of them, who later became a monk, uttered words that became a revelation for me: “Have you really not yet understood that the Lord has been protecting you all the time, and someone has been praying earnestly for you and your salvation?”
From that moment on, Natalya Vladimirovna began to think about her life. I remembered amazing cases of my salvation in situations in which there seemed to be no salvation. She constantly risked her life. When she went on reconnaissance to the village where the betrayal happened, and they were waiting for her to torture and kill. When, behind enemy lines, while transmitting intelligence data via radio, a German officer discovered her and unexpectedly released her. When, during the most difficult battles in Stalingrad, she openly walked the streets of the city with a white flag and, in German, convinced the Nazis to cease fire and surrender. And she was never wounded. She crossed the front line 18 times and was always successful. I also remembered other events that were inexplicable from a human point of view. This forced Natalya Vladimirovna to reconsider a lot in her life and come to God. After the war, she successfully graduated from the Moscow Aviation Institute and was hired by the design bureau of S.P. Queen. She enjoyed well-deserved authority among the employees of the Design Bureau as a specialist and scientist. She worked in space rocket science for many years. But in order to take an active part in the restoration of the Orthodox Pyukhtitsa metochion in Moscow, Natalya Vladimirovna took monastic vows in 2000 with the name Adrian. She died on February 4, 2012.
People talking about her life admire how until her last days she helped the suffering, answered calls, gave advice, solved difficult problems, helped those in need even with money saved from her pension.
There are many believing scientists in astronomy. For example, the Doctor of Physical and Mathematical Sciences was Orthodox Elena Ivanovna Kazimirchak-Polonskaya, outstanding scientist-astronomer. Elena Ivanovna was the chairman of the scientific group on the dynamics of small bodies at the Astronomical Council of the USSR Academy of Sciences for many years. For developments in the field of astronomy she became a laureate of the USSR Academy of Sciences Prize named after. F. Bredikhina. As recognition of her enormous merits in the development of astronomy, one of the minor planets of the solar system was named after her. In addition to astronomy, Elena Ivanovna was interested in philosophy and was a Doctor of Philosophy at the University of Warsaw. Since 1980, she has been actively working in the field of biblic studies (translating theological works, as she was fluent in Polish, French and German). In 1987, she took monastic vows with the name Elena.
Here you can also recall the discoveries of an outstanding scientist of our time Nadzhip Khatmullovich Valitov(1939 - 2008), Professor of the Department of General Chemical Technology and Analytical Chemistry of Bashkir State University, Doctor of Chemical Sciences, Academician of the New York Academy of Sciences. Being a physical chemist, he made a number of discoveries recognized by the world community of scientists in various fields of science, including those related to space.
Nadzhip Khatmullovich constantly repeated: “First I proved the existence of God with formulas. And then I discovered Him in my heart.” Using the strict language of formulas, Valitov proved that any objects in the Universe interact with each other instantly, regardless of the distance between them. And this confirms the existence of a single Higher power in the Universe. After the scientist made this discovery, he re-read the Holy Scriptures and expressed admiration for how precisely the essence of his scientific discovery is indicated in the texts of Divine Revelation: “Yes. There is a Power to which everything is subordinated. We can call her Lord...”
He also proved that “in equilibrium reversible processes, time can be converted into mass and energy, and then undergo the reverse process.” This means that the resurrection of the dead, as the Holy Scripture indicates, is possible. The professor suggested checking his conclusions with scientific opponents from atheists. And they could not refute anything in his writings.
We see believers among aircraft designers as well. Of these, we are most familiar with Andrei Nikolaevich Tupolev, Robert Bartini, Mikhail Leontievich Mil, Pavel Vladimirovich Sukhoi, Nikolai Nikolaevich Polikarpov. They never hid their faith in God.
One confirmation of this is the life of N.N. Polikarpova. The future aircraft designer was born into the family of a rural priest. He studied at the seminary and later entered the Polytechnic Institute of St. Petersburg. He began design work in 1916, working at RBVZ, where, together with Sikorsky, he created the Ilya Muromets aircraft. I always went to Church and always wore a cross. Polikarpov’s grandson said: “The fact that my grandfather was a believer was, of course, remembered in the family. They told how he went to the image of the Iveron Mother of God, which, after the destruction of the chapel near the Resurrection Gate of the Kremlin, was moved to the Church of the Resurrection in Sokolniki. He left the car for a considerable time distance from the church and walked there. The driver then said with a smile: “As if I didn’t know where Nikolai Nikolaevich goes.”
Here you can also recall the Theological Works Igor Ivanovich Sikorsky, scientist, aircraft designer and inventor. In 1918, Sikorsky was forced to emigrate from Russia to the United States. In the early 40s of the twentieth century he became a pioneer in helicopter construction. In America, his theological works became widely known. For example, his work “Our Father. Reflections on the Lord’s Prayer” enjoys well-deserved authority among the Orthodox in America. Igor Ivanovich also took an active part in the construction of the Orthodox church of the Jordanville Monastery in Connecticut. He, the only one, was entrusted with giving a speech to other emigrants from Russia in honor of the 950th anniversary of the Baptism of Rus'.
It may also be interesting that among modern Orthodox priests there are many doctors and candidates of science. I will name some of the most famous. Thanks to Dr.Med. Hieromonk Anatoly (to Berestov) and Doctor of Medical Sciences, Honored Doctor of the Russian Federation, priest Grigory (Grigoriev) thousands of people were saved from drug and alcohol addiction. And the priest Sergiy (Vogulkin)— Doctor of Medical Sciences, professor, at the same time he is vice-rector for science and development of the Ural Humanitarian Institute.
He also continues to combine service in the Church with the work of a senior researcher at the Institute of Psychology of the Russian Academy of Sciences, candidate of psychological sciences, priest Vladimir (Eliseev).
Many psychologists today use the nun’s developments in adolescent and youth psychology Nina (Krygina), which d Before accepting monasticism, she was a professor at Magnitogorsk University.
Modern experts highly appreciate the scientific work of the priest Alexandra (Polovinkina)- Honored Scientist of Russia, Professor, Doctor of Technical Sciences. Along with them is a wonderful scientist Sergey Krivochev. At twenty-five he defended his candidate's dissertation, at twenty-nine he defended his doctoral dissertation. He worked at the Department of Crystallography of St. Petersburg State University as a professor and head. For his outstanding contribution to the development of science, he was awarded medals for young scientists of the Russian Mineralogical Society, the Russian Academy of Sciences and the European Mineralogical Union. He was a fellow of the US National Science Foundation and a fellow of the. Alexander von Humboldt. Co-author of the discovery of 25 new mineral species in Russian deposits (the new mineral krivovichevit is named after him). In 2004, Sergei Krivochev was ordained to the rank of deacon. The list of Orthodox priest-scientists can be continued for a long time.
The article talks about scientists of the Orthodox faith. But it is also necessary to remember that more than half of the Nobel Prize laureates do not hide their faith in God. Among them are Orthodox, Jews, Catholics, Muslims, Lutherans and representatives of other world religions. The example of the life of believing scientists is the best proof that science and faith can successfully complement each other. Well, what else can be added to the debate about the compatibility of science and faith in God?
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