[ndt]

"See my post that suggests you start a thread on the topic you are interested in."

Not necessary. I read your reply (post #21) as suggesting that a religious background was somehow necessary for scientific advancement.

Your response(s) to my question (post 24) only reinforced my understanding of your original statement which you say is incorrect. If it's a misunderstanding, thats fine by me.

[syriacus]

I read your reply (post #21) as suggesting that a religious background was somehow necessary for scientific advancement.

I'm only saying that science and religion are not necessarily mutually exclusive. They can (possibly) enhance one another.

Scientists don't throw away their "non-scientific" knowledge of, say, language or history, when they work in their labs.

My brother didn't give up his love of languages when he worked at Argonne many years ago. He still loves learning languages like Japanese and Arabic, even though his work days are filled with solving computer-related issues in Boston.

My daughter is an artist and a soon-to-be-graduate in biochemistry. Can her skills in sculpture and her artistic imagination contribute to her work in the genetics lab?

Folks who want to eradicate religion from science seem a tad limited to me.