7 /10 1 Votes7
Publication date 1999 Pages 256 OCLC 39886951 Originally published 1999 Page count 256 | 3.5/5 Goodreads Media type Print ISBN 0-345-43009-3 Dewey Decimal 291.1/75 21 Publisher Random House | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Genres Mathematics, Non-fiction, Science Similar Works by Stephen Jay Gould, Science books, Philosophy books | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Rocks of Ages: Science and Religion in the Fullness of Life is a 1999 book about the relationship between science and religion by the Harvard paleontologist Stephen Jay Gould. First published by Ballantine Books, it was reprinted by Vintage Books. The book is a volume in the series, The Library of Contemporary Thought.
Contents
Book description
Gould addresses the conflict between secular scientists and religious believers who question or deny scientific theory when it is in discrepancy with religious teachings on the origin and nature of the natural world. Borrowing a term from the Catholic Church, Gould describes science and religion as each comprise a separate magisterium of human understanding. Science defines the natural world, and religion the moral world. If each realm is separate, then according to Gould, they are not in conflict. He calls this the principle of non-overlapping magisteria, abbreviated NOMA.
Response
The book has been reviewed extensively, and commented on by both sides of the conflict he addresses.