Some
scientists consider
science and
religion mutually exclusive; others believe that science and religion can and should be united or "reunited". It has been argued that conceptions of
God by scientists are generally more abstract and less personal than the Gods of common religions, and sometimes approach
pantheism (as in the case of
Albert Einstein). While this is undoubtedly true in many cases, no individual polling of the entire scientific community exists to date.
Atheism,
agnosticism and
logical positivism are especially popular among people who believe that the
scientific method is the best way to approximate an objective description of observable reality, although the scientific method generally deals with different sets of questions than those addressed by
theology. The general question of how we acquire knowledge is addressed by the philosophical field of
epistemology.
According to recent surveys, belief in God and immortality? is most popular among mathematicians and least popular among biologists.
In total, about 60% of scientists in the United States expressed disbelief or doubt in the existence of God in 1996.
Among "leading" scientists (surveyed members of the [National Academy of Sciences]?), 93% expressed disbelief or doubt in the existence of God in 1998. [1]
References:
[1] Edward J. Larson and Larry Witham: Leading scientists still reject God. Nature, Vol. 394, No. 6691 (1998), p. 313. Online at http://www.freethought-web.org/ctrl/news/file002.html
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