What have you been doing until now?

I studied physics in Munich. After obtaining my PhD, I spent two years at MIT, three years in Manchester, and two years in Tel Aviv. Four years ago I obtained a full professorship in Darmstadt (near Frankfurt). My research field is statistical physics and complex systems.

What do you do for fun?

I like reading, playing the piano, unicycling and singing.

Who have been the most important role models in your life?

My parents and other Christian couples have been a role model for how to live a good marriage. There are a couple of scientists who impressed me by their way of doing science and taking care of their students. Unfortunately, there is no female Christian scientist I could have learned fromä.

How has your faith helped you as a scientist, or vice versa?

My faith guided me to look for indeterminism and causal openness in nature and to expect more sophisticated mechanisms (and not just copying errors or radiation damage) as the source of new genetic information in evolution. Science provides me with many reasons to admire the Creator.

What challenges have you come across as a Christian and a scientist?

Dealing with scientists who think that Christianity is irrational, and with Christians who think that much of modern science is wrong. Dealing with the widespread misunderstanding in both groups that scientific and theological explanations are mutually exclusive.

What science-faith books have you most enjoyed/found most helpful?

I got a lot of useful information from ≥Reason, science and faith≤ by Forster and Marston, and I was fascinated by ≥Science and Christian Belief≤ by John Polkinghorne.

How did you get involved in CiS?

When I lived in Manchester, I got to know Christian scientists who were members of CiS. As this was exactly what I was looking for, I became a member.

A few years ago you wrote an influential review entitled "Biological evolution and statistical physics", Advances in Physics 50, 209-295 (2001), which started with a long quote from Genesis 1, and then a comment about how Christians and Jews had accepted evolutionary thought. That is an unusual way to start a scientific paper. Why did you do this, and what has been the reaction of your colleagues?

During my time in the USA, I learned that many scientists equate Christianity with Young-Earth-Creationism, and I wanted to let them know that for me and many other believers there is no contradiction between science and faith. Until now, I have had no response at all to these first sentences of my articleä

On your website you say about your husband: "I met him at church. We do not want to live separated, therefore we toured the world together." How did that work out?

When I finished my PhD, several people suggested an academic career to me. My husband decided to support this idea, also because he was at a dead end in his profession at that time. He is an engineer in telecommunications and obtained additional qualifications in computer networking while we lived abroad. We only went to big cities, so that he could find work in all those places, and he also found a job soon after we returned to Germany. He believes that God has given me (or, as he would say: to us as couple) the talent in physics in order to develop and use it. There are certainly not many men who love their wives in this way. He is indeed a great gift of the Lord to me

On your website http://www.fkp.physik.tu-darmstadt.de/drossel/barbara_drossel/ you have an extensive personal section, where you talk about your family, your hobbies, and the fact that you enjoy reading biographies of Christians because "they are very inspiring and to me one of the best proofs of the truth of Christianity." Have you had any good reactions to this?

Sometimes I get emails from Christians who are encouraged by reading my website. Rarely I receive emails from nonbelievers who challenge me with questions.

Finally, can you tell us about Science/Faith in Germany? Is there any help for Christians working in Science. How does the church react to science?

In Germany, we have everything from young-earth creationism to theistic evolution, and we have all kinds of attitudes towards science/faith in churches. In general, I perceive an openness to learning from experts in this topic, including evangelical churches. Sometimes I am invited to give a talk on science and faith in a church. However, the way that the most widely read weekly evangelical news magazine reports on scientific topics such as the Big Bang or Evolution shows me the great need for education in science/faith issues. I know about two science/faith organisations in Germany; one of them rejects macroevolution, the other one is relatively close in spirit to CiS, even though I must admit that I do not yet know them very well. As far as I can see, for the majority of Christian scientists faith and science are two separate parts of their life that coexist peacefully without the need for discussion. My impression is that there are in Germany more physics professors than theology professors who believe in the Virgin Birth of Jesus (I donπt know about biology professorsä).

CiS Northern Conference 2006

Saturday 18^th March, 9.30am – 5.00pm

St Nicholas Church, Durham

Design and Purpose in the Universe

Christians often talk about evidence for a designer. Which design arguments are scientifically plausible? What is the biblical understanding of design? Where do we go from here?

Revd Dr Rodney Holder: Design in Cosmology

Dr Denis Alexander: Design in Biology?

Dr Ard Louis: Design Arguments and ≥The Scandal of the Evangelical Mind≤

Booking form enclosed

Contact conferencebookings@cis.org.uk or go to www.cis.org.uk for further details.

LAUNCH OF THE FARADAY INSTITUTE

FOR SCIENCE AND RELIGION

The Faraday Institute, based at St. Edmundπs College, Cambridge, started its work on 3^rd Jan 2006 at 9.30 a.m. in the spirit of Michael Faraday with the reading of Psalm 111 (v.2 ≥Great are the works of the Lord; they are pondered by all who delight in them≤). The Institute, funded by a generous grant from the John Templeton Foundation, has four main activities: scholarly research and publication on science and religion, provision of short-term courses in science and religion, organisation of seminars and lectures on science and religion, and the provision of accurate information on science and religion for the international media and wider public. Further details can be found on the new Institute web-site at: www.faraday-institute.org, which continues to develop.

There are no formal links between The Faraday Institute and Christians in Science, but several of the new staff members of the Institute are likely to be known by CiS members. The Director, Dr Denis Alexander, continues to maintain a research group in cancer and immunology at The Babraham Institute, but most of his effort is now directed towards the new Institute. The Associate Director, Prof. Bob White FRS, continues to hold his Chair in Geophysics in the university and run a busy research programme, working for the Institute part-time. The Course Director is the Revd. Dr Rodney Holder, an astrophysicist formerly Priest in Charge of the Parish of the Claydons, Diocese of Oxford, and author of books on science and religion. Three other excellent people have taken up research and administrative posts, with a further research position to be filled imminently. The Institute is already becoming a focus for visiting academics in the science/religion field.

The provision of short-term courses is an important aspect of the Instituteπs activities. The courses, open to any undergraduate or graduate of any university of the world, are designed to be accessible and attractive to the scientific community, and most of them start on a Friday evening and finish on the Sunday afternoon, facilitating participation by busy people. Generous discounts and bursaries will assist students, post docs and those from low-income countries to attend, and it is expected that the limited places available on each course (about 30) will be secured by a process of open competition.

The first course will be held April 7-9, 2006, under the title Introduction to Science and Religion and speakers include Prof Sam Berry, Dr. Paula Clifford, Prof. Colin Humphreys, Prof. John Polkinghorne and Prof. Colin Russell. Following that a Summer Course will be held July 16-29 organised into two one-week Units, with speakers such as Prof. John Bryant, Prof. Gareth Jones, Prof. Simon Conway Morris, Dr Joe Perry, Prof. John Polkinghorne, Dr. Jeff Schloss and Prof. Roger Trigg, already booked for the event. A feature of these courses will be the extensive opportunities for interactions between delegates and speakers, including panel discussions.

AppleMark

Photos clockwise from bottom left: Bob White, Denis Alexander and Rodney Holder

The Templeton-funded CiS – St. Edmundπs College termly lectures on science and religion have now completed their sixth year, and have proved to be a very successful series with more than 500 people coming to hear popular lecturers such as Prof. Alister McGrath. The series has generated a valuable archive of lecture texts, MP3 streams and discussion recordings, which can be accessed at:

http://www.st-edmunds.cam.ac.uk/cis/

The Faraday Institute is now taking this series forward into a new era in which the termly lectures will continue under the new heading of the CiS – Faraday Lecture Series in Science and Religion. A new feature of this series is the production of DVD recordings that will soon become available for sale and will be posted on the Faraday web-site as a video-stream. The first lecturer in this new series will be Prof. Gerald Gabrielse (Professor of Physics, Harvard University) who will speak on God of Antimatter in the Queenπs Lecture Theatre, Emmanuel College, at 5.30 p.m. on Thursday, 2^nd March. On 11^th May Prof. Ronald Numbers (University of Wisconsin-Madison, USA) will give a lecture on "Myths and Truth in Science and Religion: A historical perspective", and on 7^th November, Dr Graeme Finlay (Auckland University, New Zealand) will speak on Human Genetics and the Image of God. CiS members may wish to note that Dr Finlay will be speaking at the CiS London Conference on 4^th November and is available to speak at UK events on certain days during that period. Please contact the CiS secretary for further information.

The public understanding of science and religion is a further important activity of the Institute, and this will be facilitated by the production of a series of succinct Faraday Papers, each one of which will focus on a particular aspect of the science-religion debate in a way that is accessible to the general lay public. These will be available for free down-load and will also be sold in hard copy format.

CiS members are encouraged to participate in the activities of the new Institute and to promote its courses and events as widely as possible. Posters and publicity materials may be obtained from the Institute Marketing and Events Manager, Bekki Pearce, at: rjp70@cam.ac.uk An e-version monthly newsletter about the Instituteπs activities can be obtained by signing up on the Faraday Home-Page at: www.faraday-institute.org

New Developments

The launch of the Faraday Institute will also mean some changes for me! By the time this edition of PreCiS hits your doormats, I will have moved to Cambridge. Until now I have been working (in addition to my half time role as the CiS development officer) as a postdoc at Edinburgh University. At the end of January I will leave the lab and begin working alongside the Faraday Institute, on resource packs for churches. My CiS role will be unchanged, apart from the new location, which will hopefully bring some new opportunities.

You will hopefully have noticed that the new website is up and running, thanks to a lot of hard work from several people. Over the next couple of months I will be doing a fair bit of travelling. February is when most CUs run their missions weeks, and is a busy time for science-faith events. I would appreciate your prayers, as these events can often raise as many questions for Christians as they do for their non-Christian friends!

In the last few months I have been sending parcels of CiS leaflets, PreCiS etc. to members who want to publicise CiS in their church or other groups. Do contact me if you would like one of these.

Ruth Bancewicz, CiS Development Officer

web-watch...

I went in to the office this weekend to finish a few odd jobs. After submitting my taxes online, I dutifully paid what I owed from my online bank account. Unpleasant tasks finished, I then submitted a paper to a journal, sent in an overdue referee report, registered for a conference, checked up on a grant proposal with the EU and read the latest journals and preprints in my field -- all done online of course. Just before leaving, I couldn't resist a quick peek at the ISI index to see who had been citing my papers (vanity of vanities; all is vanity).

Just as much of our work has become web-based, so also the dialogue between science and faith is increasingly being expressed through online media. But, the proliferation of websites, discussion groups, blogs, podcasts, and RSS/XML feeds may feel a bit overwhelming. It's hard to separate the wheat from the chaff.

In this new feature, each PreCiS will highlight a few sites that we think are particularly helpful, or stimulating (or both). We start with a focus on our sister organisations in the USA, Australia, and Canada:

www.cis.org.uk/resources/links/sister_organisations.shtml

1) www.asa3.org

The American Scientific Affiliation (ASA), our US based sister organisation, has a website absolutely packed with useful information. Exploring the content requires a bit of patience, as there is no clear menu structure, but it is well worth the effort.

A particularly noteworthy feature is the "Faith-Science News" blog run by Dr. Jack Haas

www.asa3.org/weblog/jackhaas/ with many new posts each day.

2) www.csca.ca

The Canadian Scientific and Christian Affiliation (CSCA) takes the opposite approach in web-design, with an easily navigable website, but without much original material. Its main role seems to be organisational. Still well worth a look.

3) http://www.iscast.org.au/

The nicely designed website for the Institute for the Study of Christianity in an Age of Science and Technology (ISCAST), our Australian counterpart, has many online papers and other quality original content. One highlight is their online "Science Faith Introduction" course

www.iscast.org.au/sciencefaith/ which should greatly help beginning (and even seasoned) participants in science-faith dialogue.

Dr Ard Louis, CiS International Secretary

Thanks for financial contributions

Thank you to all those who responded positively to John Bryantπs letter which was enclosed with the June PreCiS. This has greatly relieved the Treasurer. Since then we have had two further encouraging developments. In the autumn Ruthπs church donated her salary for the final three months of the year. We are very grateful for this practical backing as well as their continuing support. A different kind of encouragement comes with the news that the Sir Halley Stewart Trust has agreed to fund Ruthπs salary and expenses for this year and next. We are truly grateful for all this generosity and to God for answering our prayers in so straightforward a way.

There is however no room for complacency. We need to build up a sufficiently robust system to be able to continue to support a salaried worker in 2008. Ruth has been with us for over a year now and it is increasingly clear how important it is for CiS to have someone who can travel, meet people, (particularly students and those working with them,) to raise the profile of CiS and to encourage those who are engaged in integrating their science and their faith. Local Groups are a key step forward to this end. Recent controversies in the USA highlight some of the issues whilst attacks from people like Richard Dawkins and Dan Dennett remind us of the need for thoughtful responses. Some good examples may be found on the CiS website.

But none of this is possible without financial input; and this explains the need for the substantial rise in the CiS subscription mentioned in John Bryantπs June letter.

Caroline Berry, CiS Secretary

Subscription Renewals

- are due on April 1st (!) so a form is enclosed with this mailing. We would encourage you to return it promptly and to make use of the standing order form which will simplify renewals both for you and for CiS.

Science and Theology Advanced Research Series

STARS is a new four-year, $2.5 million research granting programme, based at the Centre for Theology and the Natural Sciences, Berkeley, California. Applications are invited from scientists and humanities scholars on ≥Science and the quest for ultimate reality≤. Places are also available at three conferences in January 2007.

Go to www.ctns.org/stars/ for more details

The procedure for CiS to become a registered Charity is well under way. At its recent meeting the committee agreed the åObjects of the Charityπ and the System of Governance, both steps that are part of the legal requirements. A members meeting will need to be held in due course and annual AGMs thereafter.

The political world of Education in the UK has been in turbulence since the last education report. Seasoned educationalists will not be surprised, whatπs new they might say?

However if you have been involved in Education for a while you will probably have taken note of Labour (albeit New Labour) introducing a White Paper advocating greater independence for state schools. Labour traditionalists do not like it and fear that choice and independence will lead to greater privilege for some with the associated undermining of the less wealthy or unaware. They fear a segregated and two-tier education system, perhaps, one where the comprehensive ideal is crushed in the rush for better schools and higher levels of attainment.

But what is education really about? What is the purpose of our school system and how do we best serve future generations of school children trying to grasp their place within a world that is increasingly complex and culturally diverse?

To answer this question with a single Christian ≥magic bullet≤, would, I think be unsatisfactory. What is surely required is Christian engagement with educational issues and a working out of cultural, social, technological and political responses.

On April 29^th the Stapleford Centre and Christians in Science with the involvement of the Association of Christian Teachers will engage in the process of dialogue and exchange (details on page 6 of this newsletter and www.cis.org.uk). I hope that perspectives and conversations will provide a basis of support for the Christian church as it tackles its daily business.

If your everyday work is affected by the Education Secretaryπs white paper, I would be pleased to hear your views. For those interested a summary or full version may be found at: http://www.dfes.gov.uk/publications/schoolswhitepaper

Next issue: Rupert Kaye, CEO, on the work of the Association of Christian Teachers.

Sunday 2^nd April, Spring Harvest, Minehead, Science and Creation Dr Jo Knight

Monday 15^th May, Teaching on Science and Christianity at Cornhill Training Course.

To CiS member Sir John Houghton FRS who has recently been awarded the prestigious Japan Prize, (a Japanese Nobel prize equivalent). The award was made ä For pioneering research on atmospheric structure and composition based on his satellite observation technology and for promotion of international assessments of climate change. More information is available on www.japanprize.jp where both English and Japanese language versions are available.

Please let us know of any events that you are involved in over the next few months.

Denis Alexander: Beyond Belief? Science and Religion in the 21st Century
Boldrewood Lecture Theatre 1,
University of Southampton
Monday 8th May 2006, 7:30pm

A discussion group mets on the first Tuesday of even numbered months. The next meeting will be on Tuesday 4th April.

Anybody who is interested can phone Geoff Bagley on 0115 925 8801 or email gbagley@ntlworld.com

"Design in Biology - a useful concept for the 21st century?" at St Andrew's Church, Linton Road at 7.30 pm on Friday March 10th.

Contact Diana Briggs to join the mailing list for future events (diana.briggs@gmail.com).

Christians in Science and the Stapleford Centre with the Association of Christian Teachers

Ann Holt: Doing the same things differently - bringing a Christian perspective to the task of teaching.

Nick Spencer: Thoughts on hidden liberal and libertarian challenges to the Christian message.

Martin Rogers: Science and Religion Project for Schools – progress in developing resources for Schools.