2008 Templeton Prize

March 12, 2008

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

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.

Creative Tension cover


The Big Questions

March 3, 2008

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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