Science and religion make strange bedfellows. The former relies on evidence, proof that something exists. The latter must be taken on faith.
This is a problem that I must admit to having struggled with for most of my life. Scientifically-minded, I have a hard time accepting something that defies logic without any proof. But being raised in a Christian environment, I grew up with the stories from the Bible.
Reconciling these two views of the world has been difficult.
The late Carl Sagan and I are very similar in our way of thinking. I certainly do not mean to imply that I am in any way on his level intellectually; but being very familiar with his writing—he is perhaps my favorite author—I know that my thinking is in tune with his. We both find beauty in science and are skeptical of claims that can't be backed up with evidence.
So perhaps I'm biased, but Sagan's only work of fiction, Contact, may just be the best book ever written. In one fantastic story, the great astronomer examines the merits and flaws of both science and religion and, in the end, marries them in a way that most people would never have thought possible. If you've only seen the 1997 film version, do yourself a favor and read the original novel. The movie was great, but it can't hold a candle to the book.
The basic plot of the story goes like this (if you've never read this book you may want to skip this paragraph): scientists on Earth receive a message from space. The message comes from the star Vega and at first appears to be nothing more than prime numbers (numbers that can be divided only by themselves and one). Upon further examination the message turns out to be more complex. Over the course of many years, people from many nations come together and use the instructions in the message to build a machine that takes five humans to meet the aliens who broadcast the message. They have an unbelievable experience at the center of our galaxy, but when they return no one believes that they ever left Earth. The five crew members are sworn to secrecy about what they claimed happened and the world governments tell everyone that the project failed.
Sounds simple enough, right? On the surface it is a nice, clean-cut story. But underneath is a struggle between science and religion that puts believers and non-believers at each other's throats and by the end finds them changing places.
There is some fantastic dialogue between Eleanor Arroway, the scientist who
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