The interplay between science and religion has gone through difficult times, with violent episodes and scientists risking their lives when their theories collided with the religious beliefs of the time. We only need to remember that the philosopher and scientist Anaxagoras (500 BC – 428 BC) was persecuted for teaching that the Sun was not a god but a red-hot stone, or that the Catholic Church was on the point of burning Galileo for maintaining that the Earth moved around the Sun. This relationship is currently experiencing a kind of calm, despite the fact that scientists continue to swell the ranks of agnosticism and atheism; for example, while 90% of Americans say they believe in a god, the percentage is reversed among scientists at the National Academy of Sciences, where 90% admit to being at least agnostic, if not outright atheist. If there is a choice between science and religion, Woody Allen is clear about it, and he did it masterfully in his film Deconstructing Harry. In it, Allen plays this neurotic writer called Harry Block. At a certain point he accompanies to the hospital a friend who is feeling bad; while waiting for the results of the tests, Harry says: “You think you’re dying, and you’re not. Nowadays there’s the laser… there’s everything”. “You and science,” the friend replies resignedly. And then Harry sentences:
Nothing wrong with science – between air conditioning and the Pope, I chose air conditioning.
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