Templeton-Cambridge Journalism Fellowships in Science & Religion

These recommended books are drawn from a wide variety of sources and are presented in two formats: grouped by subject and alphabetically arranged by author. In drawing up and revising the list of books, we have tried to keep in mind the particular needs and interests of the Templeton-Cambridge fellows. The lists are not intended to be comprehensive.

In preparation for specific lectures in the seminars, the speakers recommend these readings to the fellows.

These suggestions may best serve two types of fellows: those like me, with little background in science, who seek accessible introductory pieces, and those strong on science who seek an intro to religion/ethics readings. There’s a tilt here toward bioethics, my own area of research, and away from excellent physics and astronomy listings already offered by 2005 colleagues. Several listings are lectures or testimony found online. I’ve marked Buy for valuable references or favorite readings. After heady days of Cambridge lectures—and long nights laughing, arguing, and story-telling—you’ll come home to face five weeks of project research. So I’ve also included resources in religion/ethics and religion statistics at the end.

Along with hanging out in Cambridge with some of the nicest, most interesting people I’ve met, the fellowship offered a chance to discover new books and become reacquainted with some that had been forgotten. The literature is vast but redundant, and several landmarks stood out along the way.

These recommended readings are a preliminary list of materials that were most useful in preparing me for the lectures. For those who feel they need to learn more about quantum physics before the seminars, I particularly recommend Barbour and Bryson.

I have grouped my recommended readings into three categories. The first is Science. These are essentially books with which few scientists would argue. Many of them touch on subjects of religious interest, such as cosmology or bioethics, but they do not come from a position of religious dogma (with a possible exception if you consider materialist reductionism to be dogma). The second is the Science–Religion Dialogue. And the third is the Philosophy of Religion, Spirituality, etc. (perhaps not much science, but often offering insights that science writers like me would otherwise miss).

The purpose of the readings and notes below is to give 2006 fellows a taste of some of the topics and stakes to be covered this summer at the Templeton-Cambridge seminars. This is just a list of suggestions; follow your interests and read wherever those interests take you.

As I started to dip into the vast literature on science and religion, I found that one book led to another book, which led to another, and so on. And I came to see how little I actually knew about some very basic subjects, like religion, the origins of the universe, and the brain/mind puzzle. These books not only helped me get ready for the seminars in Cambridge, they also pushed me to explore some very deep existential questions. I found this whole process of inquiry quite exhilarating. Here’s a list of books and articles that I found most stimulating.