Amir Aczel on how God and science can co-exist
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In his latest book, Amir Aczel counters conventional wisdom often associated with the New Atheist movement and the existence of God.
In "Why Science Does Not Disprove God," Aczel says science and religion do not need to be at odds. His book takes a critical look at scientists like Richard Dawkins and Lawrence Krauss who use science to disprove the existence of God.
"Science and spirituality are both integral parts of the human search for truth and meaning; they provide us possible paths of comprehending and appreciating the vast cosmos and our place in it," he writes.
In a Washington Post review of the book, MIT professor and physicist Alan Lightman said he used to find books like Aczel's "a terrible waste of calories," but he has changed his mind.
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"I now believe that the discussions of science and religion, even the attempts of one side to disprove the other, are part of the continuing and restorative conversation of humanity with itself," he writes.
More from the review:
He attempts to show that the New Atheists' analyses fall far short of disproving the existence of God. In fact, he accuses these folks of staining the scientific enterprise by bending it to their dark mission. ("The purpose of this book is to defend the integrity of science," he writes in his introduction.) Yet Aczel has a sly mission of his own. Invoking various physical phenomena that do not (yet) have convincing scientific explanations, he sets out not only to debunk the arguments of the New Atheists but also to gently suggest that the findings of science actually point to the existence of God.
Aczel joins The Daily Circuit to discuss his book.
