‘Faith vs. Fact’ takes aim at religion
Biologist argues that science is the best — perhaps the only — way of learning about the world
By Bruce Bower
Faith vs. Fact
Jerry Coyne
Viking, $28.95
It’s increasingly popular to view science and religion as complementary ways of knowing about ourselves and the universe. But that idea doesn’t have a prayer of being true, argues evolutionary biologist Jerry Coyne in Faith vs. Fact.
Coyne, a veteran of battles with creationists, says science generates evidence-based knowledge while religious faith consists of unverifiable, supernatural convictions. His book joins those of Richard Dawkins and other “new atheists,” who regard religious faith as delusional and religious believers as dangerously intolerant toward nonbelievers and inconvenient scientific findings.