The statistics were taken from Baruch Shalev’s 100 Years of Nobel Prizes (Los Angeles, 2005) and, far from being over stated, the number of theists may even have been higher still, as the he records that just over 65% of the overall winners identified as Christian, whilst over 20% were Jewish and just
under 1% were Muslim. Although the author’s methodology is not explained in detail, it is certainly significant if the Nobel Laureates identified as such, even though some may have been associating themselves with a religion in more of a nominal or cultural sense. The Jewish figure is particularly striking, as they only represented about 0.02% of the world’s population, whereas, by contrast, Muslims made up around 20%. Just under 11% of the winners had no belief in God (e.g. atheists and
agnostics), although, interestingly, far more of them were in the field of literature (around 35% of winners), than in scientific disciplines (7% of winners in chemistry, 9% in medicine and 5%
in physics).
Indeed, one of the fascinating features of the research is some of the differences across the subjects. Rather than being less represented in the scientific disciplines, Christians made up just
under two–thirds of those receiving the physics and medicine awards (64% and 65% respectively), whilst the figure was even higher for chemistry, as they accounted for nearly three–quarters
of the winners (74%). As for the peace prize, if you exclude those going to organisations, 78% of them went to Christians, 11% to Jews, 4% to non–believers, 2% to Buddhists, 2% to
Muslims, 1% to Quakers and 1% to those holding Shinto beliefs.
The study certainly raises all kinds of interesting questions about how we account for the differences, as it is important to acknowledge, for example, the way in which the prize is
awarded, how people identify themselves, as well as factors like the age and location of the recipients. Nevertheless, althoughthe findings do not include the past two decades, they do at least
support John Lennox’s (one of the most prominent Christian apologists today) contention that science and religion are not considered to be opposed to one another, and that, up until very
recently, many of the world’s most eminent academics believed in God.
Also, the scientists who laid the foundation of modern science where believers in God like, Michael Faraday, Gregor Mendel, Isaac Newton, Alessandro Volta, J. J. Thomson, Blaise Pascal, Charles Babbage, Johannes Kepler, Robert Boyle, James Prescott Joule etc.! They believed if there is a law in nature, there ought to be a law giver.
under 1% were Muslim. Although the author’s methodology is not explained in detail, it is certainly significant if the Nobel Laureates identified as such, even though some may have been associating themselves with a religion in more of a nominal or cultural sense. The Jewish figure is particularly striking, as they only represented about 0.02% of the world’s population, whereas, by contrast, Muslims made up around 20%. Just under 11% of the winners had no belief in God (e.g. atheists and
agnostics), although, interestingly, far more of them were in the field of literature (around 35% of winners), than in scientific disciplines (7% of winners in chemistry, 9% in medicine and 5%
in physics).
Indeed, one of the fascinating features of the research is some of the differences across the subjects. Rather than being less represented in the scientific disciplines, Christians made up just
under two–thirds of those receiving the physics and medicine awards (64% and 65% respectively), whilst the figure was even higher for chemistry, as they accounted for nearly three–quarters
of the winners (74%). As for the peace prize, if you exclude those going to organisations, 78% of them went to Christians, 11% to Jews, 4% to non–believers, 2% to Buddhists, 2% to
Muslims, 1% to Quakers and 1% to those holding Shinto beliefs.
The study certainly raises all kinds of interesting questions about how we account for the differences, as it is important to acknowledge, for example, the way in which the prize is
awarded, how people identify themselves, as well as factors like the age and location of the recipients. Nevertheless, althoughthe findings do not include the past two decades, they do at least
support John Lennox’s (one of the most prominent Christian apologists today) contention that science and religion are not considered to be opposed to one another, and that, up until very
recently, many of the world’s most eminent academics believed in God.
Also, the scientists who laid the foundation of modern science where believers in God like, Michael Faraday, Gregor Mendel, Isaac Newton, Alessandro Volta, J. J. Thomson, Blaise Pascal, Charles Babbage, Johannes Kepler, Robert Boyle, James Prescott Joule etc.! They believed if there is a law in nature, there ought to be a law giver.
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