Atoms & Eden

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Atoms & Eden: Conversations on Religion and Science

Original book cover
Author	Steve Paulson
Illustrator
Country	United States
Language	English
Subject	Anthology
Publisher	Oxford University Press
Publication date	November 2, 2010
Media type	Print
Pages	312
ISBN	978-0199743162 Search this book on .

Atoms & Eden: Conversations on Religion and Science is a 2010 book on the relationship between science and religion by the journalist and public radio interviewer Steve Paulson, in which the author interviews prominent scientists, philosophers, theologians and public figures. The book examines a series of big questions about God, Atheism, Evolution, Neuroscience, the Origin of the Universe, the Roots of Religious Belief and the Meaning of Life.

Background

In 2006-2009 a series of interviews were published as individual cover stories in Salon magazine, the first in February 2006, the last in June 2009. . They ran as part of a recurring section called “Atoms and Eden.” Fifteen of the twenty interviews in the later book with the same title were originally published in Salon magazine.

Content, structure

The book consist of the following main parts:

• Introduction
• Interviews (short introduction before each) with
  • E. O. Wilson
  • Francis Collins
  • Sam Harris
  • Karen Armstrong
  • Andrew Newberg
  • John Haught
  • Richard Dawkins
  • Simon Conway Morris
  • Ronald Numbers
  • Alan Wallace
  • Daniel Dennett
  • Ken Wilber
  • Robert Wright (journalist)
  • Elaine Pagels
  • Nidhal Guessoum
  • Rebecca Goldstein and Steven Pinker
  • Paul Davies
  • Steven Weinberg
  • Stuart Kauffman
  • Jane Goodall
• Epilogue

Reception

After the publication Steve Paulson was invited to talk about the book in the Talks at Google on Dec 10, 2010. Besides, he was also asked to moderate a series of panel discussions (3 or 4 per year) in 2010-2019 at the New York Academy of Sciences, co-sponsored by the Nour Foundation in the topics of the book. The book received mainly favorable, but not extraordinary ratings at Amazon (4,3/5, 15 ratings) and Goodreads (4,09/5, 54 ratings) as of 28 June, 2020. On the one hand, a frequent positive point of reviews is the wide range of different approaches the book brings together: "In response, trying to find meaning in the drama of science and religion debates, conflicts and dialogues, the journalist, Steve Paulson, has produced Atoms & Eden: Conversations on Religion and Science, a revealing and compelling compendium of interviews with well-known scientists of varying backgrounds. … Paulson is searching for meaning amidst meaninglessness. But it is not the absurdity of political revolution and violence that throws Paulson into a search, but the struggle of attuning the power of neuroscience, evolutionary biology and theoretical physics into conversation with theology, religion, spirituality and mystical experience. Paulson takes the reader on a journey into the world of scientists and academics intent on forging their ‘religion without religion’ or mesmerising and captivating souls with a rhetoric of discoveries and theories. Indeed, Paulson, presenting the voice of twenty-one eminent intellectuals – including Karen Armstrong, Andrew Newberg, John Haught, Richard Dawkins, Simon Conway Morris, Elaine Pagels, Nidhal Guesoum, Paul Davies, Steven Weinberg and Jane Goodall – has done a great service to bring these voices together." On the other hand, few readers voiced problems regarding the lack of conclusions and actual direct debate between sides. "Though the book does contain many interesting interviews with leading scientific and religious thinkers it completely avoids what I would consider the core issue - how to try and evaluate the truth claims made by the various interviewees." "Regrettably however, the book itself does not really deliver on its promise of scientific and religious debate."

External links

• The official page of the book at Oxford University Press Academic books section with author's information and reviews from Oxford University Press

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