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Immediate Release Books of Distinction Program Highlights May 20, 2007/Conshohocken, PA—The Books of Distinction program calls to your attention three books that examine recent scientific studies that illustrate the impact of science on philosophy and religion and expand our knowledge of life’s big questions. Books of Distinction is an annual marketing program that encourages classroom adoption, group sales, individual sales, and further media attention of books that advance the exploration of the nature of the universe. The selected books benefit from a supplementary marketing program funded by the John Templeton Foundation and managed by Templeton Foundation Press. Nobel Prize winner (1974) and one of the best-known pioneers in cell biology, Christian de Duve examines the origin of life and its philosophical implications in Life Evolving: Molecules, Mind, and Meaning (Oxford University Press, 2002, 978-0-19515-605-8, $40.00, hardcover). Along the way, he discusses the evolution of humans, the origins of consciousness, the development of language, the birth of science, and the origin of emotion, morality, altruism, and love. Contrary to many other scientists, he argues that life was bound to arise and that it probably only took millennia (maybe tens of thousands of years) to move from rough building blocks to the first organisms possessing the basic properties of life. He concludes with his conjectures on the future of humanity—for instance, we may evolve, perhaps via genetic engineering, into a new species, and he shares his personal thoughts about God and immortality. In a review in Booklist, Gilbert Taylor wrote: “de Duve delineates biology excellently and authoritatively, introducing it with wonder and curiosity that are bound to excite the next generation. A worthy legacy of a great career.” Concepts of Simultaneity: From Antiquity to Einstein and Beyond by Max Jammer (John Hopkins University Press, 2006, 978-0-80188-422-1, $49.95, hardcover) presents a comprehensive, accessible account of the historical development of an important and controversial concept—which played a critical role in initiating modern theoretical physics—from the days of Egyptian hieroglyphs through to Einstein’s work in 1905 and beyond. Beginning with the use of the concept of simultaneity in ancient Egypt and in the Bible, the study discusses its role in Greek and medieval philosophy as well as its significance in Newtonian physics and in the ideas of Leibniz, Kant, and other classical philosophers. The central theme of Jammer’s presentation is a critical analysis of the use of this concept by philosophers of science, like Poincaré, and its significant role in inaugurating modern theoretical physics in Einstein’s special theory of relativity. Particular attention is paid to the philosophical problem of whether the notion of distant simultaneity presents a factual reality or only a hypothetical convention. The study concludes with an analysis of simultaneity’s importance in general relativity and quantum mechanics. Martin Nowak’s Evolutionary Dynamics: Exploring the Equations of Life (Belknap Press, 2006, 978-0-67402-338-3, $35.00, hardcover) draws on the languages of biology and mathematics to outline the mathematical principles according to which life evolves. His work introduces readers to the powerful yet simple laws that govern the evolution of living systems, no matter how complicated they might seem. Evolution has become a mathematical theory, Nowak suggests, and any idea of an evolutionary process or mechanism should be studied in the context of the mathematical equations of evolutionary dynamics. He presents a range of analytical tools that can be used to this end: fitness landscapes, mutation matrices, genomic sequence space, random drift, quasispecies, replicators, the Prisoner’s Dilemma, games in finite and infinite populations, evolutionary graph theory, games on grids, evolutionary kaleidoscopes, fractals, and spatial chaos. Nowak then shows how evolutionary dynamics applies to critical real-world problems, including the progression of viral diseases such as AIDS, the virulence of infectious agents, the unpredictable mutations that lead to cancer, the evolution of altruism, and even the evolution of human language. He makes a clear and compelling case for understanding every living system—and everything that arises as a consequence of living systems—in terms of evolutionary dynamics. ### Next month, Books of Distinction will highlight several books that deal with science and religion. For additional information on Books of Distinction, please visit: http://www.scienceandreligionbooks.org/bod Customers may purchase books through this website (with a 20 percent discount) or wherever books are sold. For review copies of the books presented in this release, or any other Books of Distinction, please contact the publicity department of each book’s publisher. For
Immediate Release Books of Distinction 2007 April 20, 2007/Conshohocken, PA—Twenty-one books from a variety of publishers have been selected to receive supplementary marketing and promotion as Books of Distinction. With subjects that range from science and religion, to science, religion, psychology, and social science/philanthropy, the books increase awareness of spirituality in daily life and advance the global science-religion dialogue. Launched in 2004, Books of Distinction (BOD) is an annual marketing program funded by the John Templeton Foundation and managed by Templeton Foundation Press. To date, eighty-seven books have been promoted by the BOD program through direct mail pieces, national advertising, and press releases to the media with the goal of encouraging classroom adoption, group sales, individual sales, and further media attention. Please visit the Web site for additional information on the books and the program: http://www.scienceandreligionbooks.org/bod This month, BOD highlights five books in the religion and science field. If you missed any of these titles when they were first released, we hope you will want to review and/or discuss the books in your columns; if you have covered one or more of them, we hope you will consider additional coverage in light of their topical issues. Science, Faith and Ethics: Grid or Gridlock? by Denis Alexander and Robert S. White (Hendrickson Publishers, 2006, 978-1-59856-018-3, $16.95 paperback) offers an even-handed examination of how thoughtful Christianity and responsible science can co-exist. As they explore evolution, abortion, human cloning, sustainable consumption and other scientific and ethical challenges of our age, the authors consider the question of whether or not religion belongs in the laboratory. A resource for concerned laypeople, Christian college science classes, and adult Sunday schools, this well-regarded book helps readers think deeply about the need for careful, well-reasoned faith at the frontiers of technology. In God’s Universe (Belknap Press, 2006, 978-0-674-02370-3, $16.95 hardcover) Owen Gingerich argues that an individual can be both a creative scientist and a believer in divine design—that indeed the very motivation for scientific research can derive from a desire to trace God’s handiwork. Eric Ormsby wrote in New York Sun that Gingerich “provides a brief but magisterial history of science that is as astute as it is original. He’s a superb writer too, handling scientific and theological complexities with equal aplomb but enlivening his account throughout with poetry, dramatic anecdote, and snippets of autobiography.” And Margaret Wertheim commented in the Los Angeles Times Book Review, “We do not have to agree with his conclusions to be buoyed and enchanted by the journey on which he takes us.” Theoretical physicist Michael Guillen has grappled with the issues of science and faith in the public eye for more than a decade as a television journalist. In Can a Smart Person Believe in God? (Nelson Books, 2004, 978-0-7852-8789-6, $12.99 paperback) he explains why he believes it is possible to embrace the discoveries of science and, at the same time, see God, the universe, and humanity in full, multidimensional glory. Guillen weaves into his account anecdotes from his childhood as the son of a Pentacostal preacher in the Mexican barro of East Los Angeles, an appraisal of how his scientific aspirations and education shaped him into a “practical atheist” before life experiences helped him rediscover his faith, and stories about his work in television and research. J. Wentzel van Huyssteen applies interdisciplinary methodology to an investigation into the question of human uniqueness in Alone in the World? Human Uniqueness in Science and Theology (Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2006, 978-0-8028-3246-7, $40.00 hardcover). Studying theological anthropology and paleoanthropology, he argues that scientific notions of human uniqueness help ground theological notions of human distinctiveness rather than complex theological abstractions regarding the “image of God.” Focusing on the interdisciplinary problem of human origins and distinctiveness, he accesses the origins of the embodied human mind through the spectacular prehistoric cave paintings of Western Europe, fifteen of which are reproduced in color in this volume. The Work of the Spirit: Pneumatology and Pentecostalism, edited by Michael Welker (Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2006, 978-0-8028-0387-0, $35.00 paperback) is another interdisciplinary study, this one honoring a century of intense reflection on and involvement with the Holy Spirit. In a collection of essays by theologians, scientists, and Pentecostal scholars, connections are made between the study and experience of the Holy Spirit. Contributors begin by addressing theological implications, then move on to the Pentecostal experience, and conclude by connecting the spirit to scientific and philosophical reflections. ### For review copies of the books highlighted in this release, or any other Books of Distinction, please contact the publicity department of each book’s publisher. Next month, three Books of Distinction in the field of science will be promoted. For
Immediate Release Marketwire Release April 20, 2007/Conshohocken, PA—The 2007 Books of Distinction (BOD) marketing program will call attention to twenty-one books in the categories of religion and science, science, religion, psychology, and social science/philanthropy. The selected books, which are published by a wide range of publishers, receive supplementary national promotion campaigns that encourage classroom adoption, group sales, individual sales, and further media attention. Launched in 2004, BOD is funded by the John Templeton Foundation and managed by Templeton Foundation Press. To date, eighty-seven books that increase awareness of spirituality in our lives and advance the science-religion dialogue have been promoted by the BOD program through direct mail pieces, national advertising, and press releases to the media. The Books of Distinction Web site, http://www.scienceandreligionbooks.org/bod, includes descriptive copy about the books, author biographical data, critical reviews, and other information. Customers ordering through the Web site receive a 20 percent discount, and books are shipped within 24 hours. Books of Distinction for 2007, grouped in categories, are: Religion and Science: Science, Faith and Ethics: Grid or Gridlock? by Denis Alexander and Robert S. White (Hendrickson Publishers, 2005) God’s Universe by Owen Gingerich (Belknap Press, 2006) Can a Smart Person Believe in God? by Michael Guillen (Nelson Books, 2006) Is Nature Enough? Meaning and Truth in the Age of Science by John F. Haught (Cambridge University Press, 2006) Can You Believe in God and Evolution? A Guide for the Perplexed by Ted Peters and Martinez Hewlett (Abingdon Press, 2006) The God of Hope and the End of the World by John C. Polkinghorne (Yale University Press, 2002) Science and the Search for Meaning: Perspectives from International Scientists edited by Jean Staune (Templeton Foundation Press, 2006) Alone in the World? Human Uniqueness in Science and Theology by J. Wentzel van Huyssteen (Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2006) Pascal’s Fire: Scientific Faith and Religious Understanding by Keith Ward (Oneworld Publications, 2006) The Work of the Spirit: Pneumatology and Pentecostalism edited by Michael Welker (Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2006) Religion: Muhammad: A Prophet of Our Time by Karen Armstrong (HarperCollins Publishers, 2006) Powers and Submission: Spirituality, Philosophy and Gender by Sarah Coakley (Blackwell Publishers, 2002) Incarnation by Alister E. McGrath (Fortress Press, 2006) Research on Altruism and Love: An Annotated Bibliography of Major Studies in Psychology, Sociology, Evolutionary Biology, and Theology edited by Jeffrey Schloss, Michael McCullough, Byron Johnson, and Stephen Post (Templeton Foundation Press, 2003) The Victory of Reason: How Christianity Led to Freedom, Capitalism, and Western Success by Rodney Stark (Random House, 2006) Science: Life Evolving: Molecules, Mind, and Meaning by Christian de Duve (Oxford University Press, 2002) Concepts of Simultaneity: From Antiquity to Einstein and Beyond by Max Jammer (John Hopkins University Press, 2006) Evolutionary Dynamics: Exploring the Equations of Life by Martin Nowak (Belknap Press, 2006) Psychology: A Brief Tour of Human Consciousness: From Imposter Poodles to Purple Numbers by V. S. Ramachandran (PiPress, 2005) Handbook of Forgiveness edited by Everett L. Worthington Jr. (Routledge, 2005) Social Science/Philanthropy: Taking Philanthropy Seriously: Beyond Noble Intentions to Responsible Giving edited by Bill Damon and Susan Verducci (Indiana University Press, 2006)
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