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Cosmos, Bios, Theos COSMOS, BIOS, THEOS ..........COSMOS, BIOS, THEOS Scientists Reflect on Science, God, and the Origins of the Universe, Life, and Homo sapiens EDITED BY Henry Margenau Roy Abraham Varghese Open* Court La Salle, Illinois OPEN COURT and the above logo are registered in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. ©1992 by Open Court Publishing Company Fmit printing 1992 5eaJnd printing 1993 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher, Open Court Publishing Company, La Salle, Illinois 61301. Printed and bound in the United States of America. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Cosmos, bios, theos : scientists reflect on science, God, and the origins of the universe, life, and homo sapiens / edited by Henry Margenau, Roy Abraham Varghese. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-8126-9185-7. - ISBN 0-8126-9186-5 (pbk.) 1. Science-Philosophy. 2. Religion and science- 1946- 3. Scientists-Attitudes. I. Margenau, Henry, 1901- II. Varghese, Roy Abraham. QI 75.3.C68 1992 215-dc20 92-7685 CIP CONTENTS Preface xiii Introduction/Roy Abraham Varghese 1 PART ONE Astronomers, Mathematicians, and Physicists 27 1 Who Arranged for These Laws to Cooperate So Well? 28 Professor Wrich Becker, CERN, Geneva, and Department of Physics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology 2 The Origin of the Universe Is, and Always Will Be, a Mystery 31 Professor Stuart Bowyer, Department of Astronomy, University of California, Berkeley 3 Appeal to God May Be Required to Answer the Origin Question 33 Professor Geoffrey F. Chew, Dean of Physical Sciences, University of California, Berkeley 4 How Is It Possible to Exclude Action Coming from a Transcendent Order of Being 37 Professor Alexandre Favre, Insitut de Mecanique Statistique de la Turbulence, Universiti d'Aix-Marseille 5 Where Matter and Consciousness Came from Is Unknown 40 Professor f ohn Erik Fornaess, Department of Mathematics, Princeton University 6 God Is a Characteristic of the Real Universe 42 Professor Conyers Herring, Department of Physics, Stanford University 7 What Forces Filled the Universe with Energy Fifteen Billion Years Ago? 45 Professor Robert f astrow, Goddard Institute of Space Studies and Dartmouth College vi Contents 8 There Need Be No Ultimate Conflict between Science and Religion 50 Professor B.D. Josephson, Cavendish Laboratory, Cambridge University Nobel Prize for Physics, 1973 9 The Exquisite Order of the Physical World Calls for the Divine 51 Professor Vera Kistiakowsky, Department of Physics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology 10 Was It Planned, Is It Part of a Grander Scheme of Things? 54 Professor William A. Little, Department of Physics, Stanford University 11 The Laws of Nature Are Created by God 57 Professor Henry Margenau, Emeritus Eugene Higgins Professor of Physics and Natural Philosophy, Yale University 12 Science Will Never Give Us the Answers to All Our Questions 64 Professor Sir Nevill Mott, Department of Physics, Cambridge University Nobel Prize for Physics, 1977 13 Religion and Science Both Proceed from Acts of Faith 70 Professor Robert A. Naumann, Department of Physics, Princeton University 14 Our Final Ineptitude at Producing a Rational Explanation of the Universe 73 Professor Louis Neel, Director, Center for Nuclear Studies, Grenoble Nobel Prize for Physics, 1970 15 A Feeling of Great Surprise That There Is Anything 75 Professor Edward Nelson, Department of Mathematics, Princeton University 16 Creation Is Supported by All the Data So Far 78 Dr. Arno Penzias, Vice-President, Research, AT&T Bell Laboratories Nobel Prize for Physics, 1978 17 Science Asks What and How, While Religion Asks Why 84 Professor John G. Phillips, Department of Astronomy, University of California, Berkeley Contenls vii 18 Temporal Origin and Ontological Origin 86 Professor /ohn Polkinghorne, Dean, Trinity Hall, Cambridge University 19 I Have Difficulty Accepting that Matter Has Been in Existence Forever 89 Professor /ohn A. Russell, Department of Astronomy, University of Southern California 20 Science and Religion: Reflections on Transcendence and Secularization 93 Professor A bdus Salam, Director, Centre for Theoretical Physics, Trieste, and President, Third World Academy of Sciences Nobel Prize for Physics, 1979 21 One Must Ask Why and Not Just How 105 Professor Arthur Schawlow, Department of Physics, Stanford University Nobel Prize for Physics, 1981 22 The Origin of the Universe Does Not Seem to Me to Be a Scientific Question 108 Professor Emilio Segre, Department of Physics, University of California, Berkeley Nobel Prize for Physics, 1959 23 The Universe Is Ultimately to Be Explained in Terms of a Metacosmic Reality 111 Professor Wolfgang Smith, Department of Mathematics, Oregon State University 24 The Guidance of Evolution Lets God Appear to Us in Many Guises 119 Professor Walter Thirring, Institute for Theoretical Physics, Austria 25 The Question of Origin Seems Unanswered if We Explore from a Scientific View Alone 122 Professor Charles H. Townes, Department of Physics, University of California, Berkeley Nobel Prize for Physics, 1%4 26 The Origin of the Universe Can Be Described Scientifically as a Miracle 125 Professor Herbert Uhlig, Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology viii Contenls 27 There Is a Bohr Complementarity between Science and Religion 127 Professor Victor Weisskopf, Department of Physics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology 28 The Origin of Time Is Not in Time 128 Professor C. F. von Weizsacker, Max Planck Institute, Stamberg 29 The Origin of the Universe Is a Disturbing Mystery for Science 131 Professor Eugene Wigner, Department of Physics, Princeton University Nobel Prize for Physics, 1963 30 The Hidden Variables of Quantum Mechanics Are Under God's Power 133 Professor Shoichi Yoshikawa, Plasma Physics Laboratory, Princeton University PART TWO Biologists and Chemists 137 1 There Exists an Incomprehensible Power with Limitless Foresight and Knowledge 138 Professor Christian B. Anfinsen, Department of Biology, The Johns Hopkins University Nobel Prize for Chemistry, 1972 2 The Existence of a Creator Represents a Satisfactory Solution 141 Professor Werner Arber, Department of Microbiology, University of Basel Nobel Prize for Physiology/Medicine, 1978 3 The Ultimate Truth Is God 144 Professor D. H. R. Barton, Department of Chemistry, Texas A & M University Nobel Prize for Chemistry, 1969 4 The Mechanism of the World and the Why of It 149 Professor Steven L. Bernasek, Department of Chemistry, Princeton University Contents ix 5 The Origin of Life Seems Lost in the Details of Prebiotic Chemistry 152 Professor Hans /. Bremmermann, Department of Biophysics, University of California, Berkeley 6 The Entropic versus the Anthropic Principle 155 Professor Friedrich Cramer, Director, Max Planck Institute for Experimental Medicine, Gottingen 7 How Is It Possible to Escape the Idea of Some Intelligent and Organizing Force? 157 Dr. R Merle d'Aubigne, Surgeon and Member of the Academy of Sciences, Paris 8 A Divine Design: Some Questions on Origins 160 Sir John Eccles, Switzerland Nobel Prize for Physiology/Medicine, 1963 9 Religion and Science Neither Exclude nor Prove One Another 165 Professor Manfred Eigen, Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry, Gottingen Nobel Prize for Chemistry, 1967 10 The Creative Process May Well Be What We Observe, Deduce, and Call Evolution 166 Professor Thomas C. Emmel, Department of Biology, University of Florida 11 At Some Stage in Evolution, God Created the Human Soul 172 Professor P. C. C. Garnham, Department of Pure and Applied Biology, Imperial College, United Kingdom 12 A Spirit Which Has Established the Universe and Its Laws 174 Professor Roger/. Gautheret, Department of Cell Biology, Faculty of Sciences, Paris 13 I Have a Religious Attitude toward the Unknown 177 Professor Ragnar Granit, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm Nobel Prize for Physiology/Medicine, 1967 14 I Consider the Existence of God as Unknowable 179 Professor Robert W. Holley, Salk Institute Nobel Prize for Physiology/Medicine, 1968 X Con I en ts 15 I Have No Way of Knowing Whether God Exists 181 Professor Jerome Karle, Naval Research Laboratory, Department of the Navy Nobel Prize for Chemistry, 1985 16 A Religious Impulse Guides Our Motive in Sustaining Scientific Inquiry 184 Professor Joshua Lederberg, President, Rockefeller University Nobel Prize for Physiology/Medicine, 1958 17 New Visions of the Cosmos 185 Professor Clifford N. Matthews, Department of Chemistry, University of Illinois, Chicago 18 Nobel Prize Winners Are Not More Competent about God 187 Professor Vladimir Prelog, Laboratory of Organic Chemistry, ETH, Zurich Nobel Prize for Chemistry, 1975 19 The Universe Started from an Instability in the Quantum Vacuum 188 Professor flya Progogine, Director, Solvay International Institute of Physics and Chemistry, Brussels Nobel Prize for Chemistry, 1977 20 It Is Probably Impossible to Explain a Miracle with Physics and Chemistry 193 Professor Tadeus Reichstein, Institute for Organic Chemistry, University of Basel Nobel Prize for Physiology/Medicine, 1950 21 I Have Very Little in the Way of Belief in a Concrete God 194 Professor Frederick C. Robbins, Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Case Western Reserve University Nobel Prize for Physiology/Medicine, 1954 22 The Piling
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