Grand theory

Kitty Ferguson's biography of Stephen Hawking is an important book for anyone interested in who and what we are—and where we're going.


Where the Conflict Really Lies, by Alvin Plantinga



Science & religion

Essential books



Rocks of Ages, by Stephen Jay Gould

We could avoid all sorts of nasty fights, Stephen Jay Gould argues, if we would stop expecting science to provide validating evidence for religious dogmas or biblical events. Nor ought we to turn to religion to resolve questions of a properly scientific nature. He wants no more natural theology, no more "anthropic principle," no more attempts to find scientific confirmation for religious beliefs, and no more fundamentalist "creation science." In short, "science gets the age of rocks, and religion the rock of ages; science studies how the heavens go, religion how to go to heaven."