Physics and Faith

Physics and Faith

The tension between religion and science in the history of human knowledge is at its most intense, but perhaps also most fruitful, when it is examined at the level of the most fundamental science of physics.

Dr. Thomas F. Rosenbaum, the President of the California Institute of Technology and the Sonja and William Davidow Presidential Chair of the Department of Physics there, is a physicist who throughout his career has worked at Bell Laboratories, IBM Watson Research Center, and the University of Chicago. He has gained a particular understanding of this subject, coming at his profession from a Brooklyn Jewish background. Rabbi John Carrier, meanwhile, provides a Talmudic perspective on Dr. Rosenbaum’s insights, while fielding audience questions about the relativity of time, determinism and free will, and what really makes an act of faith.

(This post is part of Sinai and Synapses’ project Scientists in Synagogues, a grass-roots program to offer Jews opportunities to explore the most interesting and pressing questions surrounding Judaism and science. “Physics and Faith with Dr. Rosenbaum,” on September 11, was the first event offered by Pasadena Jewish Temple and Center under the auspices of Scientists in Synagogues).

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