EDITORS NOTE: In the issue of September 5. 1988, The Scientist published an editorial by Cornell biologist and historian William Provine, which argued that science and religion are incompatiable. We knew that the essay would be controversial, but we still were'nt quite prepared for the response. We received dozens of letters and phone calls, most of them attacking Provine's insistence that scientists must "check their brains at the church house door." We printed a selection of the letters in two separate issues (October 17, page 12 and November 14, page 11).
A number of scientists argued, however, that Provine’s essay warranted ted a longer re rebuttal So following the principal of equal time we agreed to run two essays offering alternative points of view. Dr. Eugene Garfield also offers his own thoughts in his Commentary (page10).
As a professional chemist and teacher, and a former agnostic who became a Christian ...
