Exploring the science of God

World-renowned scientist Robert Winston will present the inaugural Bleehen Lecture on “The Science of God” at St John’s College on Tuesday 26 May.

Lord Robert Winston, world-leading researcher in Reproductive and Developmental Biology, is to present the inaugural Bleehen Lecture at St John’s College next week, which will discuss the “Science of God”.

The lecture will be held on Tuesday 26 May in the Old Divinity School, and will examine how, as a leading scientist and observant Jew, Winston reconciles scientific understanding with religious faith.

“Many scientists argue that science is the pursuit of truth and that religion is merely organised superstition”, Winston said. “Others argue that scientists are simply ‘playing God’ and have lost the ethical and human dimensions of their work. But is science really ‘the truth’ and is ‘playing God’ really so wrong?”

Lord Winston’s talk will examine humankind’s journey from the caves of the Pyrenees to Renaissance Italy, the exploration of the universe by modern science, and the search for the elusive “God Particle” in the Large Hadron Collider, and ask whether science and religion are both attempts to resolve doubt and uncertainty.

The Bleehen Lectures are a new lecture series instituted by the Cambridge Lehrhaus Centre for Jewish Thought. The lectures are named after Professor Norman Bleehen, the first Cancer Research Campaign Professor of Clinical Oncology at Cambridge and a Fellow of St John’s College.

Robert Winston has been at the cutting-edge of reproductive science since the 1970s, when he developed gynaecological surgical techniques that improved fertility treatments. He later pioneered new treatments in IVF and pre-implantation diagnosis, which allows for embryos to be screened for genetic diseases. He now runs a research programme at the Institute of Reproductive and Developmental Biology at Imperial College, London.

The Cambridge Lehrhaus, opened in 2013, exists to explore topics in Judaism and the intersection of religion with philosophy, science and the wider world. It provides students and members of the local Cambridge community an opportunity to engage with Jewish sacred texts in a way that emphasies their relevance and meaning for today.

The inaugural Bleehen Lecture will be held in the Old Divinity School, St John’s College, on Tuesday 26 May at 18:00. Attendance is free and open to all.

For more information, please see: http://www.thelehrhaus.org/bleehen.