Description: Quakerism has a rich tradition of engaging with science and has produced many notable amateur and professional scientists in fields ranging from psychology to physics.

Quakers and Science discusses some of the historical reasons why Quakers embraced science and introduces ten 20th-century Quaker scientists to explore the intriguing resonances between science and Quakerism.

Author Helen Holt shows how the distinctive Quaker emphasis on ‘deeds not creeds’ motivated Quaker scientists to address the ethical questions raised by science, and how the emphasis on continual revelation meant that they often gladly reformulated their religious beliefs in the light of new scientific discoveries.

Verdict: From the 17th Century onward, Quakers have made significant contributions to science in a wide variety of fields.

Like other non-conformists, Quakers were barred from attending Universities in England until 1871. Many were therefore self-taught or, later, attended the ‘dissenting academies,’ which allowed the sons of non-conformist families to receive higher education. Quaker schools like Bootham School in the north of England and Westtown in Pennsylvania actively fostered their pupils’ interest in science.

Indeed, the early days of Quakerism coincided with the development of experiment and observation in science, and these had a natural affinity with Quaker curiosity and open-mindedness. Early Quakers were particularly drawn to observe God’s creation (as they saw it) in the natural world around them, particularly in the fields of botany, meteorology, and astronomy.

Thus, what we get here in the latest edition of the wonderful Quaker Quicks series is Quakers and Science by author Helen Holt. What Holt does, and veritably from the off, is deep dive into the whole science-and-religion debate that has been ongoing for, well, centuries.

Explaining, but moreover detailing in granular biographical form via ten highly insightful, and prominent Quaker scientists, the distinctive approaches that Quaker scientists have brought to their scientific work over that time, we soon learn all about the Quaker commitment to social justice, pacifism, experience and the Inner Light, amongst a host of other things.

At all times a highly readable, smooth-sailing prose, and one that even teaches us how to be socially responsible human beings, if we so choose to, Quaker Quicks - Quakers and Science is one of the most eye-opening and thought-provoking books that has been released on the subject to hand in a long time, in my humble opinion.

About the Author - Helen Holt has PhDs in physics and Quaker studies and an MSc on the relationship between science and religion. She is active in her local Quaker meeting in the beautiful Scottish Borders.

Official Book Purchase Link