Narratives of Hope: Science, Theology, and Public Science -Professor Tom McLeish, University of York

The National Academy of Sciences, India (NASI) - Delhi Chapter-
and Deen Dayal Upadhyaya College, University of Delhi, INDIA
Under the aegis of DBT Star College Program
Jointly Organizes
Special Public Lecture
February 22, 2022 @ 03:00 pm IST
Narratives of Hope: Science, Theology, and Public Science
Professor Tom McLeish FRS
Department of Physics and Humanities Research Institute, University of York, UK
Recent analyses of public debates on science/technology impasses, such as nanotechnology, GMOs, the Covid pandemic, and others, have unearthed powerful, yet submerged and profoundly unhelpful driving ‘narratives of despair,’ in the way science is framed in public. Their religious resonances (e.g. ‘Pandora’s Box’, ‘Sacred Nature’) suggest a search for countering ‘narratives of hope’ within theological sources. One possible source is a glorious ancient nature-poem that also turns out to be very influential in the age of Boyle and Newton and the rise of modern science. A close reading of the ancient Book of Job, alert to resonances with natural philosophy, recasts ‘science’ as a deeply human, social and ancient. Job has spawned a rich literature of environmental commentary; we attempt to shape a deeper story of purpose in engaging nature, through classical, patristic, medieval, and early modern sources into a framework for late modern technologies. The resulting reconciliatory ‘Theology of Science’ meets the narratives of despair head-on. It suggests a transformation of the way political discussions of 'troubled technologies' are framed, and pathway to mobilising religious communities in support of a healthier public debate, and application, of science. It also supplies a richer range of narratives in support of a healthier and more human public framing of science, such as that currently underway through the Royal Society’s Re-imagining Science project.
Tom McLeish, FRS, is Professor of Natural Philosophy in the Department of Physics at the University of York, England, and is also affiliated to the University’s Centre for Medieval Studies and Humanities Research Centre. His scientific research in ‘soft matter and biological physics,’ draws on collaboration with chemists, engineers, and biologists to study relationships between molecular structure and emergent material properties, and was recognized by major awards in the USA and Europe. He currently leads the UK ‘Physics of Life’ network, and holds a 5-year personal research fellowship focusing on the physics of protein signaling and the self-assembly of silk fibres. He wrote a short lay introduction to the field, Soft Matter - A Very Short Introduction (OUP 2020). Other academic interests include the framing of science, theology, society and history, and the theory of creativity in art and science, leading to the recent book The Poetry and Music of Science (OUP 2019). He co-leads the Ordered Universe project, a large interdisciplinary collaboration re-examining scientific treatises from the 13th century. He has also contributed to the philosophy of emergence (including the recent Routledge Handbook of Emergence 2019). Two recent books, Faith and Wisdom in Science (2014) and Let There Be Science (with David Hutchings, 2017), articulate a theological narrative for science, and support his work co-leading (with Revd. Prof. David Wilkinson, Durham) the major project Equipping Christian Leadership in an Age of Science). This work was recognised by the Archbishop of Canterbury’s Lanfranc Award in 2018. Dr. McLeish has been a Reader in the Anglican Church since 1995, in the dioceses of Ripon and York. From 2008 to 2014 he served as Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Research at Durham University, from 2015 to 2020 as Chair of the Royal Society’s Education Committee. He is currently on the Royal Society’s Council, and is a trustee of the John Templeton Foundation.