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Quantum Physics & Theology

Author:	John Polkinghorne
Published By:	SPCK (London)
Pages:	112
Price:	9.99
ISBN:	978 0 281 05767

Reviewed by Colin Selby.

John Polkinghorne, KBE, FRS, is fellow and retired president, Queens' College, Cambridge. Professor Polkinghorne, a well respected physicist and theologian, has written extensively about the relation of science and religion and this is his latest  publication. The book provides a "series of comparisons between modern quantum physics and the centuries-old theological pursuit of an understanding of the nature of God, pursued in a Christian context". In summary form, the book covers the work of physicists and theologians as they have searched for the truth about the structure of the universe and, for example, the person of Jesus, the nature of the Trinity and the problem of pain.

This work is a call to scientists and theologians alike to take these two related searches for truth with the seriousness they deserve before jumping to premature conclusions about their validity. Here is a useful hors d'oeuvre for anyone thinking of having a more substantial meal. Further study is helped by references in the text. At the present time when there is much discussion about the relationship of science to Christian belief it is another welcome encouragement for a  return to serious and well informed study.

The book requires some knowledge of the development of thinking about the structure of the stuff that the universe is made of including some essential vocabulary used in quantum physics, including mathematics. This work is commendably brief and will repay careful study.