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UD physicist receives papal medal
5:56 p.m., March 20, 2007--Stephen Barr, a professor of physics at UD and a lifelong Catholic, has long been interested in the relationship between science and religion. He has lectured and written about the topic, which culminated in a book, Modern Physics and Ancient Faith, published in 2004 by the University of Notre Dame Press. His activities in exploring the links between religion and science also led to his receiving the Benemerenti (good merit) Medal, a papal award for service to the church, presented by Bishop Michael A. Saltarelli at a Mass on Dec. 3 at the Cathedral of St. Peter in Wilmington. Created by Pope Pius VI in 1791, the medal depicts the image of Christ on a gold Greek cross. Barr was cited in The Dialog, the Wilmington diocesan newspaper, for his “significant intellectual contributions in promoting Catholic teaching and in Catholic apologetics, the defense of the faith.” Barr's writing career on religion and science began with a book review he wrote for First Things, an ecumenical religious journal that has Protestant, Jewish and Catholic members on its editorial board, now including Barr. “I submitted a review of a book that interested me in 1995, they printed it, and I have written articles and book reviews for them ever since,” he said. He also has written for other national magazines and has lectured at William and Mary and Dartmouth colleges, given the 2002 Erasmus Lecture of the Institute of Religion and Public Life and the 2006 Thomas Merton Lecture at Columbia University, plus many talks to churches, synagogues and other organizations. Most recently, Barr was invited to join the American board of advisors of the Templeton foundation, which funds many projects involving the relationship between science and religion. “At the time I wrote Modern Physics and Ancient Faith, there did not seem to be a book addressing the links, rather than the conflicts, between science and religion. I wrote the book for myself, actually my younger self when I was about 16, and wished there were a book like it,” Barr said.
In his book, Barr writes, “the conflict is not between religion and science, it is between religion and materialism,” whose basic tenet is that “nothing exists except matter and that everything in the world must therefore be the result of the strict mathematical laws of physics and blind chance.” “For me the laws of physics and the orderliness of the universe are an affirmation of religion. If they were even slightly different, life would not exist,” Barr said. The book was well-received by reviewers. The American Library Association Booklist reviewer wrote “... modern science here provides the basis for an unusual and provocative affirmation of religious faith.” The National Review critic wrote, “Barr has produced a stunning tour de force,” and the Jewish Press reviewer wrote, ”Barr's clarity and logic is invaluable in his description of physical processes and scientific theories.” Barr's research is in the area of theoretical particle physics. A graduate of Columbia University, he received his doctorate from Princeton University and carried out postdoctoral research at the University of Pennsylvania. He came to the Bartol Research Institute at UD in 1987, from the University of Washington and later the Brookhaven National Laboratory. Article by Sue Moncure
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