ISSR is pleased to announce that after a committee was formed to judge books nominated by our membership in the field of science and religion, with funding gratefully received from the Templeton World Charity Foundation, the inaugural year’s prizes have now been announced with three prize winners, one for each category.
In the ‘academic’ category, the prize goes to Silke Gülker for her Transzendenz in der Wissenschaft: Studien in der Stammzellforschung in Deutschland und in den USA (Transcendence in Science: Studies in Stem Cell Research in Germany and the USA) (Ergon Verlag, https://www.ergon-verlag.de/programm/religionswissenschaft/). In this ground-breaking book, Silke Gülker examines how transcendence is understood in religion and in two laboratories where work on stem cells is undertaken. Detailed observations and interviews reveal how researchers in science see their work and its role in the production of knowledge.
In the ‘popular’ category, the prize goes to the anthropologist Agustin Fuentes for his Why We Believe: Evolution and the Human Way of Being (Yale University Press, https://yalebooks.co.uk/display.asp?k=9780300243994). This is an accessible and beautifully clear account of how our capacity for belief has evolved and its vital importance in human societies. In this rich, interdisciplinary book, Fuentes identifies belief as that which shapes economics and a range of other human activities beyond religion.
In the ‘professional’ category, the prize goes to Christopher White for his Other Worlds: Spirituality and the Search for Invisible Dimensions (Harvard University Press, https://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog.php?isbn=9780674984295). This is a remarkable book about connections between mathematics, physics, fiction, the visual arts and theology. Christopher White shows how the idea that the universe has multiple, invisible dimensions has inspired science fiction, fantasy novels, films, modern art, spirituality and religion.
“These three books show the wonderful breadth and depth of scholarship currently being produced in the science and religion field around the world.”
– Revd Professor Michael J. Reiss, President of the International Society for Science and Religion
