Issues 82:
Science and Spirituality

Editorial

Mixed Opinion: Where Science and Religion Meet

Facts Are Not Everything in Science
Max Whitten, School of Integrative Biology, University of Queensland
Questions and interpretation are coloured by the social and conceptual contexts of daily life. The pursuit of hard facts doesn’t have to blind science to the big picture.

The Struggle between Evolution and Creation: An American Problem
Michael Ruse, Florida State University
Why does the evolution–creation debate persist, and why in America? This article looks at the reasons and finds them – where else? – in the past.

Creation in the Classroom
Michael Bachelard, The Age
More biology students are entering university with entrenched beliefs about creation after attending a growing number of small religious schools that teach the biblical account in science classes.

Perception of Evolution in an Islamic Country: Personal Experiences
Tanya Scharaschkin, School of Natural Resource Sciences, Queensland University of Technology
Tanya Scharaschkin explores how evolution is viewed in Pakistan and the influence of religion on the perception of evolution.

Some Adventures with the Spirits of Science
Hiram Caton, Griffith University, Nathan, Queensland
Who and where we are, and where we might be going, are questions that have excited many explorations by both scientists and spiritualists.

Science and the Dreaming
Helen Verran, History and Philosophy of Science Program, School of Philosophy, University of Melbourne
Can science be reconciled with the Dreamings of Australia’s many Aboriginal communities? How could both science and the Dreaming inform knowing and managing Australia’s landscapes?

An Open Letter to God
Robert Thurman, Australian Catholic University National
Robert Thurman seeks the ultimate answers on evolution, entropy and other universal matters.

Life, the Universe, Religion and Science
Mick Pope, Institute for the Study of Christianity in an Age of Science and Technology
Modern science is often interpreted as having left no room for God and made the idea of purpose as nonsensical. A careful consideration of both science and theology demonstrates that this not the case.

Designer Universe?
Edward Fackerell, School of Mathematics and Statistics, University of Sydney
Edward Fackerell explains the astonishing improbability of the universe and its interpretations.

Science and Spirituality in Education
Beverley Jane, Senior Lecturer in Science Education, Monash University
Considered as an entity, “science and spirituality” in education has the potential to increase student motivation to study science by challenging students’ stereotypical views of scientists and science.

Curriculum Management: Connecting the Whole Person
Michael T. Buchanan, Lecturer in Education, Australian Catholic University
Faculty leaders in schools who encourage opportunities for teachers to engage in curriculum change also create experiences of connectedness that have the potential to enable teachers to explore and/or nurture their own spiritual dimension.

Combining Scientific and Spiritual Inquiry
George Ellis, Mathematics Department, University of Cape Town, South Africa
There is a moral reality as well as a physical and mathematical reality underlying the world and the universe.

Analytic Thinking Erodes Religious Belief
A study has found that people who are good at solving analytic problems and resisting the intuitive answer to questions are also less likely to be religious.

Issues: Published by Control Publications, publishers of Australasian Science.
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© Control Publications 2012
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