On “the cosmic religious feeling”

First, a few science-related links:

“How do we know how old the Earth is?  Geology professor Alan Collins from the University of Adelaide answers a great question from a young reader.”

“Remarkable fossils capture mammals’ recovery after the dino-killing asteroid: Survivors grew from the size of a rat to that of a wolf within 700,000 years of the impact”

“How mammals inherited the Earth: Scientists map out first million years of life after the dinosaurs.”

“Quarrying stone for Easter Island statues made soil more fertile for farming: Huge carved figures were partially buried at the site for ceremonial purposes, researchers say”

“How Long Will It Take to Find Proof of Alien Life?  Will it take 10 years? Twenty? More?”

“Technology Will Keep Us From Running Out of Stuff:  Opinion: Such dire warnings ignore the force of capitalism and technological progress, what Abraham Lincoln called “the fuel of interest to the fire of genius.””

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I maintain that the cosmic religious feeling is the strongest and noblest motive for scientific research. Only those who realize the immense efforts and, above all, the devotion without which pioneer work in theoretical science cannot be achieved are able to grasp the strength of the emotion out of which alone such work, remote as it is from the immediate realities of life, can issue. What a deep conviction of the rationality of the universe and what a yearning to understand, were it but a feeble reflection of the mind revealed in this world, Kepler and Newton must have had to enable them to spend years of solitary labor in disentangling the principles of celestial mechanics! . . .

Those whose acquaintance with scientific research is derived chiefly from its practical results easily develop a completely false notion of the mentality of the men who, surrounded by a skeptical world, have shown the way to kindred spirits scattered wide through the world and through the centuries. Only one who has devoted his life to similar ends can have a vivid realization of what has inspired these men and given them the strength to remain true to their purpose in spite of countless failures. It is cosmic religious feeling that gives a man such strength. A contemporary has said, not unjustly, that in this materialistic age of ours the serious scientific workers are the only profoundly religious people.

Albert Einstein, in New York Times Magazine, 9 November 1930, pages 1-4, reprinted in Albert Einstein, Ideas and Opinions, Crown Publishers, Inc. 1954, pages 36-40.

Posted from Orlando, Florida