Redeeming Culture : American Religion in an Age of Science.

Gilbert's book could have easily been subtitled "American science in an age of religion." He begins with an apparent paradox: since WW II, science has been a prominent force in US culture, yet traditional US religions have not been replaced or even substantially modified by the extraordinary advances in scientific knowledge. Gilbert plots the growing schism between religion and science, beginning with the 1925 Scopes Trial and its revelation of the naive scientific concepts held by many Christian leaders. He then chronicles the efforts of several Christian and Jewish intellectuals to build philosophical bridges to the modern scientific community, virtually all of which failed. Much of this book is a necessarily selective history of the principal movements to reconcile science and religion in the postwar period, including the origins of such groups as the American Scientific Affiliation and the Institute on Religion in an Age of Science. The most interesting sections to nonspecialists will be the case studies illuminating the tensions between science and religion, including the US Air Force "Character Guidance" program in the late 1940s, and the Velikovsky Affair of the 1950s. The remarkable diverse interests and intellects of the astronomers Harlow Shapley and Donald Menzel are compelling subthemes. An important addition to libraries with strong interests in the philosophy and sociology of science. General readers; upper-division undergraduates through professionals. M. A. Wilson; College of Wooster

The relationship between religion and science in the United States has often been marked by conflict. According to Gilbert, a history professor at the University of Maryland, the 1925 Scopes trial marked the beginning of almost 40 years in which scientific explanations of the world marginalized religious explanations of the world. Yet, Gilbert argues, even as the American republic became a republic of science, religion discovered a variety of ways to maintain its authority. Gilbert explores the operation of religion and science on three levels-the individual, the institutional and the public-but he focuses his attention on the ways in which the public faces of religion and science have interacted from 1925 to 1962. In a very detailed historical survey, Gilbert examines the rise and growth of scientific authority, especially in atomic science, from the 1930s to the 1950s. He recounts how the scientific community and secular society in general grew to view "science as a model for moral reconstruction" while leading religious figures countered by saying that "science without religion is an invitation to human irresponsibility." In this always fascinating look at the conversation between religion and science in America, Gilbert also examines the ways in which science and spirituality are connected in popular culture. (June) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

An impressionistic but memorable account of the mid-century negotiations between religion and science in American culture. Gilbert's (History/Univ. of Maryland) study begins with the Scopes trial in 1925 and culminates in 1962's ""Space Age"" World's Fair in Seattle. These four decades were fraught with great changes in the scientific community: the discovery of atomic fission, the postwar apotheosis of scientists as the saviors of an uncertain global culture, and then the McCarthyite suspicion of scientists as elitist traitors. Gilbert does a fine job of tracing these changes and chooses engaging examples to explore Americans' cautious enchantment with science through the 1960s, ranging from fashionable speculation about UFOs to the popularity of Frank Capra's widely seen documentary Our Mr. Sun. Gilbert's treatment of religion, however, leaves many questions unanswered. He fails to define important religious denominational differences, speaking broadly of ""American"" religion. Also, it is curious that he uses many examples of fundamentalists' dialogue with modern science as indices of the mood of American culture; since fundamentalists tend to define themselves against what they perceive as popular culture, any conclusions drawn from their example should be regarded with caution. Moreover, Gilbert neglects to mention that religion, like science, changed dramatically in the tumultuous years covered by this study. This said, he does pull some extraordinary examples of religious (mostly conservative) appropriations of scientific tools and discourse. In the early '50s, for instance, the evangelical Moody Institute of Science created high-tech ""science"" films for distribution to air force bases, in a remarkable instance of government promotion of religion. The Moody films used stunning time-lapse photography and the latest film technology to proclaim a traditional Christian tale of creation, sin, and redemption. A provocative and useful study. Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.