Skeptics and True Believers

Years ago, noted science teacher and writer Chet Raymo embarked upon his own quest to reconcile the miracle stories he learned as a child with the science he learned as an adult. Skeptics and True Believersis the culmination of that search―a passionate, ever-inquisitive statement that science and religion can mutually reinforce the way we experience the world.

Acknowledging that the scientific and the spiritual communities are increasingly split, Raymo builds strong bridges between them. He illustrates his argument with an array of thought-provoking stories, such as the remarkable migratory flight of a small bird called the red knot; the long, glorious glide of the Comet Hyakutake across the night sky; a hilarious alien abduction that didn’t happen. Together, they are compelling evidence that religion should embrace the reliable knowledge of the world that science provides, while at the same time science should respect and nourish humankind’s need for spiritual sustenance. “Miracles are explainable,” Raymo paraphrases the writer Tim Robinson, “it is the explanations that are miraculous.”

For anyone drawn to reflect on life’s meaning and purpose, Chet Raymo’s uncompromising skepticism and reverence for mystery will affirm and inspire.