It's sort of like the Nobel prize for advancement in religious studies. The prize (over a million dollars) goes to one of the men that invented the maser and the laser, Charles Townes. Townes said, “Science and religion have had a long history of interesting interaction. But when I was younger, that interaction did not seem like a very healthy one.”
Here's to a healthy marriage of the two. Both seek to explain the universe and our place in it.
From http://www.templetonprize.org/townes_pressrelease.html
In nominating Townes to the international, interfaith panel of nine judges that awards the prize, David Shi, president of Furman University, wrote, “He points out that both scientists and theologians seek truth that transcends current human understanding, and because both are human perspectives trying to explain and to find meaning in the universe, both are fraught with uncertainty. Scientists propose hypotheses from postulates, from ideas that ultimately cannot be proven. Thus, like religion, science builds on a form of faith.”
Shi added, “Charles Townes helped to create and sustain the dialogue between science and theology. Thus he has made a profound contribution to the world's progress in understanding - and embracing - the wonder of God's creation.”
Bravo!
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