Benevolent viewers,
welcome to today’s
Science and Spirituality
on Supreme Master
Television,
where we’ll explore
the link between science
and belief in God.
Indeed,
many of the world’s
greatest philosophers
and scientists
have professed faith
in the Divine,
with some stating that
their belief inspired them
to pursue their work
so that they could
better understand creation.
This connection is
examined by sociologist
Dr. Elaine Ecklund
of Rice University, USA
in her newly
published book
“Science vs. Religion,”
which documents
her survey of 1,700
US research scientists
on their religious beliefs,
including her interviews
with 275 of them.
The results revealed
that half the respondents
are religious
and many of the others
describe themselves
as “spiritual,”
including one who said
that his spirituality
came from a “wonder
about the complexity and
majesty of existence.”
Let us now examine
some famous scientists
of past and present
and their contributions
to society
in the context of faith.
A scientist who
completely transformed
the world of physics
was Sir Isaac Newton
of England
who was born in 1642.
In 1661 Newton went to
Cambridge University,
England to study law,
and in his first two years
concentrated on
the philosophy of Aristotle.
However, in his final year
Newton began studying
Galileo Galilei’s
astronomy and
Johannes Kepler’s optics.
In 1665,
during a visit home,
it is believed that
Sir Isaac saw an apple
fall from a tree and thus
gained an understanding
of the law of gravity,
realizing that the force
that pulls apples
to the ground
must also keep the moon
orbiting the Earth.
Furthermore,
Newton postulated
that the greater
an object’s mass,
the greater
the gravitational force
it exerts, and
that this force diminishes
as the distance
between two objects
increases.
On his return
to Cambridge University
in 1667,
Newton was elected a
fellow of Trinity College,
and two years later
he became the University’s
Lucasian Professor
of Mathematics.
During this time
Sir Isaac invented
the reflecting telescope
and conducted experiments
on the composition
of light, showing that
white light consists of
the same colors
seen in the rainbow,
thus paving the way
for modern optics.
In 1687,
Sir Isaac Newton published
his greatest work, the
“Mathematical Principles
of Natural Philosophy,”
which shows how gravity
applies to all objects
and reveals
great understanding
and a reverence for God.
In his Principles
Newton states:
“This most beautiful system
of the sun, planets,
and comets
could only proceed from
the counsel and dominion
of an intelligent
and powerful Being.
This Being governs
all things,
not as the soul of the world,
but as Lord over all,
and on account
of His dominion
He is to be called
Lord God.”
Newton goes on
to beautifully describe
the Divine as follows:
“From His true dominion
it follows
that the true God is
a living, intelligent
and powerful Being, and
from His other perfections
that He is supreme
or most perfect.
He is eternal and infinite,
omnipotent
and omniscient; that is,
His duration reaches
from eternity to eternity;
His presence
from infinity to infinity;
He governs all things,
and knows all things
that are or can be done.”
Born approximately
300 years later
in Kiel, Germany
was Max Planck, the father
of modern physics
and originator
of quantum theory.
Planck came from
a family of
esteemed academics,
including his father,
Julius Wilhelm, who
taught constitutional law
at the University of Kiel
and his grandfather
and great-grandfather
who were professors
of theology.
In 1867 his family
moved to Munich, which
provided a rich cultural
and musical environment
for the young Max.
Indeed at one point
he considered
becoming a pianist
instead of a physicist.
As Planck said,
while a university student
he decided
to study physics because,
“The outside world
is something
independent from man,
something absolute, and
the quest for the laws which
apply to this absolute
appeared to me
as the most sublime
scientific pursuit in life.”
In 1879 Max Planck
received his doctorate
after writing a thesis
on the second law
of thermodynamics,
and in 1888
was appointed professor
of theoretical physics at
the University of Berlin,
where he excelled.
In 1900
he published research
showing the relationship
between energy and
the frequency of radiation
using the universal
constant “h,”
which is now known
as Planck’s constant.
This discovery ushered in
the era of modern physics.
In 1918 Planck received
the Nobel Prize for Physics,
and nineteen years later
delivered his lecture
“Religion and Science,”
in which he stated:
“Both religion and science
need for their activities
the belief in God,
and moreover
God stands for the former
in the beginning,
and for the latter at the end
of the whole thinking.
For the former,
God represents the basis,
for the latter – the crown
of any reasoning
concerning the world-view.”
He concluded the talk
by saying:
“It is the steady, ongoing,
never-slackening
fight against skepticism
and dogmatism, against
unbelief and superstition,
which religion and science
wage together.
The directing watchword
in this struggle
runs from the remotest past
to the distant future:
‘On to God!’”
Thus Max Planck showed
his unwavering faith in God,
which is also revealed
in these words to a friend:
“If there is consolation
anywhere
it is in the Eternal,
and I consider it
a grace of Heaven
that belief in the Eternal
has been rooted deeply
in me since childhood.”
After this brief pause
we’ll learn about
renowned scientists
of the present who also
have a deep relationship
with the Divine.
Please stay tuned
to Supreme Master
Television.
Welcome back to
Science and Spirituality
where we’ll now explore
present day
scientific pioneers
with firm faith in God
who have greatly enhanced
our knowledge
of the world around us.
Let’s first discuss
Dr. Walter Kohn
who won the 1998
Nobel Prize for Chemistry.
Dr. Kohn was born
in 1923
to a Jewish family
in Vienna, Austria.
His father
owned a business
selling high-quality,
contemporary art postcards,
and his talented mother
could speak
seven languages.
His mother’s family
had strong Jewish roots.
While growing up
Dr. Kohn spent time
in England and Canada,
and in the latter country
his interest
in physics and math began.
In 1946 he completed
his master’s degree
after writing a thesis on
atomic wave functions.
Then, with the aid
of a fellowship
Dr. Kohn went to
Harvard University, USA,
where he studied under
Nobel Prize laureate
Dr. Julian Schwinger.
It was under Professor
Schwinger’s guidance
that Dr. Kohn developed
a formulation known as
“Kohn’s Variational
Principle for Scattering,”
and later he was drawn
to the growing area
of solid state physics.
Eventually Dr. Kohn
received the Nobel Prize
for developing density
functional theory, which
fundamentally changed
how scientists approach
the electronic structure
of atoms, molecules
and solid materials
in physics, chemistry
and materials science.
His work has been
especially significant
in the areas of
semiconductors,
superconductivity,
and surface physics.
When asked
if he was religious
during an interview
Dr. Kohn gave
the following reply:
“I would say
I see myself as religious
simultaneously in two ways.
One is that I have found
that religion, specifically
the Jewish religion,
has very much enriched
my own life
and is something
that I have conveyed
to my children
and feel their lives also
have been enriched by.
Secondly, I am
very much of a scientist,
and so I naturally have
thought about religion
also through the eyes
of a scientist.
When I do that,
I see religion
not denominationally,
but in a more,
let us say deistic sense.
I have been influenced
in my thinking
by the writings of Einstein
who has made remarks
to the effect that when
he contemplated the world
he sensed
an underlying Force
much greater
than any human force.
I feel very much the same.
There is a sense of awe,
a sense of reverence, and
a sense of great mystery.”
Another inspiring
contemporary scientist
who integrates science
with belief in God
is Dr. Anthony Hewish,
who was born
on May 11, 1924
in Cornwall, England.
Growing up
on the Atlantic coast
he developed
a love of the sea, and
after high school attended
Cambridge University,
where he obtained
a Ph.D. in 1952.
After discovering
two radio stars, or stars
that emit radio waves,
Dr. Hewish observed that
their random fluctuation
in signal
was akin to scintillation
or twinkling in stars
that are visible at night.
He concluded
the fluctuation was
caused by the ionosphere,
or the uppermost portion
of the Earth’s atmosphere
as well as solar wind
or the stream
of charged particles that
are emitted by the Sun.
The phenomenon
is called Interplanetary
Scintillation.
To measure
Interplanetary Scintillation
he designed
the Interplanetary
Scintillation Array,
a large radio telescope
used to conduct
highly sensitive,
multi-beam surveys
of the sky
which came into service
in 1967.
Using this telescope,
Dr. Hewish discovered
what has come
to be called a pulsar,
or a highly magnetized,
rotating neutron star
that emits
electromagnetic radiation.
For this contribution
to the world,
he was given the 1974
Nobel Prize in physics.
When asked about
the existence of God
by an interviewer,
Dr. Hewish replied:
“I believe in God.
It makes no sense to me
to assume
that the Universe
and our existence
is just a cosmic accident,
that life emerged due to
random physical processes
in an environment
which simply happened
to have the right properties.
As a Christian
I begin to comprehend
what life is all about
through belief in a Creator,
some of whose nature
was revealed by a man
born about 2000 years ago.”
When further questioned
about the relationship
between science
and religion, he said:
“I think both
science and religion
are necessary
to understand our relation
to the universe.
In principle, science tells
us how everything works,
although there are
many unsolved problems
and I guess
there always will be.
But science raises questions
that it can never answer.
Why did the Big Bang
eventually lead to
conscious beings
who question
the purpose of life
and the existence
of the universe?
This is where
religion is necessary.”
And on the nature
of the divine,
Dr. Hewish states:
“God certainly seems
to be a rational Creator.
That the entire
terrestrial world
is made from electrons,
protons and neutrons and
that a vacuum is filled with
virtual particles demands
incredible rationality.”
To close our program,
it can be seen through
the lives and work
of the esteemed scientists
briefly profiled here today
that belief in God
and scientific enquiry
go together hand in hand.
With a wider spread
recognition that
science and spirituality
are connected
rather than separate,
our knowledge
of the Universe
and of ourselves
will surely expand in
even greater magnitude
in the future.
Thank you for your
joyful presence today on
Science and Spirituality.
Coming up next is
Words of Wisdom,
after Noteworthy News.
May the Providence
always guide us
in our daily lives.
On Jindo Island,
South Korea, a little girl
was gifted with a friend.
I’m Sori.
Glad to meet you.
Let’s shake hands.
But they were separated
in a tragic turn of events.
Are you waiting
for Baekgu again?
Baekgu will come.
He’ll come back to Sori,
ma’am.
It’s been all this time
since Baekgu was sold
and she’ll return?
Besides, she’s far away
from here,
more than 1,000 miles!
Inspired by a real dog’s
incredible journey home.
Thousand miles searching
for my caregiver
Thousand miles
searching for love
I’ve come back to this
beautiful place
The 2-part musical,
“White Heart Baekgu,”
airs Tuesday and
Wednesday, July 6-7,
on Enlightening
Entertainment.
HOST:
Benevolent viewers, welcome to today’s Science and Spirituality on Supreme Master Television, where we’ll explore the link between science and belief in God. Indeed, many of the world’s greatest philosophers and scientists have professed faith in the Divine, with some stating that their belief inspired them to pursue their work so that they could better understand creation.
This connection is examined by sociologist Dr. Elaine Ecklund of Rice University, USA in her newly published book 『Science vs. Religion,』 which documents her survey of １,７００ US research scientists on their religious beliefs, including her interviews with ２７５ of them. The results revealed that half the respondents are religious and many of the others describe themselves as 『spiritual,』 including one who said that his spirituality came from a 『wonder about the complexity and majesty of existence.』Let us now examine some famous scientists of past and present and their contributions to society in the context of faith.