Alternate Tuesdays • 10:00 a.m. - noon • Mackey Auditorium
Coordinator: Leonard Leventhal

Science and religion are unquestionably two of the most potent forces that have shaped, and continue to shape human civilization. How have these powerful forces interacted over time? Popular opinion generally assumes an antagonistic relationship between the two, but modern scholarship increasingly reveals this as a one-sided view that is relatively recent and self-serving. This course’s approach to the issue is both historical and philosophical. It examines several historical episodes that highlight features of science and religion and analyzes in context the questions and issues that these episodes raise.
Two one-half hour DVD’s will be shown in each session. The lecturer will be Dr. Lawrence Principe who is a professor at John Hopkins University in history and science. There will be discussion after each DVD. What subjects could be more interesting and significant to your current situation than science and religion?

June 3        June 17        July 1        July 15        July 29

Background on the lecturer in the DVD, Lawrence M. Principe, Ph.D.:
Professor Lawrence Principe completed his Ph.D. in organic chemistry in 1988.  He then reentered graduate school, this time in the history of science at Johns University. Hopkins University, and earned a Ph.D. in that field in 1996.

Since 1989, he has taught organic chemistry at Johns Hopkins University.  He currently enjoys a split appointment in history of science and chemistry.  In 1999 he was chosen as the Maryland Professor of the Year by the Carnegie Foundation; in 1998 he received the Templeton Foundation’s award for courses on science and religion; and in 2004 he was the first recipient of the prestigious Francis Bacon Award for History and Philosophy of Science.


Download the lecture summaries by clicking on the title:
All 12 lectures
Lecture 1
Lecture 2
Lecture 3
Lecture 4
Lecture 5
Lecture 6
Lecture 7
Lecture 8
Lecture 9
Lecture 10
Lecture 11
Lecture 12