Templeton Bookspark

The Neural Buddhists, a recent New York Times op-ed column by David Brooks, covers an amazing array of Templeton Foundation Press core themes and values. In fact, he may just set a record for “Most TFP Subject Areas Covered in a Single Article.” In the column, Brooks offers a very interesting prediction of where the science & religion dialogue is headed in the coming years, and by our count, he touches on at least five of our major subject areas:

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I’ve been reading Darwin’s two major books lately. My reading has been done with an eye toward what Darwin might think about love.

I’m somewhat surprised by what I’ve found. Given what Darwin’s critics and followers have been saying, one might get the impression that the theory of evolution dooms love. I’m finding quite the contrary.

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Congratulations to the winner of the 2008 Templeton Prize: Michael Heller!

Heller is professor of philosophy at the Pontifical Academy of Theology in Cracow, Poland, and an adjunct member of the Vatican Observatory staff. He is an ordained Roman Catholic priest, and has earned a master’s degree in philosophy and a Ph.D. in cosmology. He has published more than sixty books, including Creative Tension: Essays in Science and Religion. 

The prize, which is valued at 820,000 pounds sterling (more than $1.6 million), is awarded annually “to a living individual whose lifelong endeavors have made a unique contribution in advancing ideas and/or institutions that have deepened the world’s understanding of God and of spiritual realities.” Prof. Heller announced that he plans to endow the prize money to the development of a new inter-university institution devoted to the study science and religion called the Cracow Copernicus Center.

More information, including a webcast of the announcement press conference, can be found here.

In the UK, March 7-16 is National Science and Engineering Week, and to commemorate the occasion, The British Association for the Advancement of Science has created a blog inviting readers to submit the biggest, most profound, unanswered questions they can imagine. There are a number of scientists on board to tackle these questions, and the project seems to be proving very popular so far. Questions, coming from curious submitters ranging in age from 5 to 55+, run the gamut from “Does matter have an intrinsic property to self-organise into ever more complex forms including life?” to “Will there ever be a chewing gum that never loses its flavour?” (surprisingly, this man does not appear to be on the panel of experts).

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Thanks to the folks over at Science & Religion Today for steering us towards this article from Science Daily. The article a discusses a session from AAAS in which Brown University biologist Kenneth Miller argues that scientists need to embrace the idea of design and reclaim it from the “intelligent design” movement. 

The article quotes Miller as saying, “There is, indeed, a design to life — an evolutionary design . . . The structures in our bodies have changed over time, as have its functions. Scientists should embrace this concept of ‘design,’ and in so doing, claim for science the sense of orderly rationality in nature to which the anti-evolution movement has long appealed.”

This concept of distinguishing between design and intelligent design is one that will be explored in great detail in an upcoming Templeton Foundation Press publication titled Chance or Dance as well as in Miller’s upcoming book with Viking Press, Only a Theory.

Thanks to everyone who came by our booth at AAAS. It was great to connect with our authors and editors, to hear project ideas from prospective authors, and, of course, to share new books and ideas with curious readers.

We hope everyone had a great time, and hopefully we’ll see you next year in Chicago!

If you’re going to be attending the annual meeting of The American Association for the Advancement of Science this week in Boston, we’ll see you there! Both the John Templeton Foundation and the Templeton Foundation Press will be exhibiting, and we hope you’ll drop by to say hello!

When I was a kid, I loved to create “my favs” tapes. You know: recording the top 15 or so songs that really rocked! Or putting together a collection of “slow grooves” tunes to play for that special someone on the way to the movies.

I feel like my newest book, The Altruism Reader: Selections From Writings on Love, Science, and Religion, is like a “my favs” cassette. I had a great time compiling and editing 30+ selections on love and altruism from religious and scientific writings.  

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