Quakers and Science

Just what is Quakers' relationship to science?

I spend some time reading The Oxford Handbook of Quaker Studies by Stephen Angell and Pink Dandelion, including its chapter on "Quakers and Science."

Isaac Pennington (1616-1679) asserted that "the study of physical nature did not lead to Truth, and those who pursued science were not merely wasting their time but by pursuing a false path they were denouncing the opportunity to gain salvation."

On the other hand, William Penn "urged the study of the Book of Nature was far more worthwhile than studying grammar, rhetoric, or foreign languages."

In 1761, John Bartram carved above the door of his greenhouse a quote from Alexander Pope: "Slave to no sect, who takes no private road, but looks through Nature up to Nature's God." Bartram's botanical work eventually earned him the role of King's Botanist in the colonies. In one of his letters, Bartram wrote

"I am continually impelled by a restless spirit of curiosity in pursuit of new productions of nature, my chief happiness consists in tracing and admiring the infinite power, majesty, and perfection of the great almighty Creator, and in the contemplation, that through divine aid and permission, I might be instrumental in discovering, and introducing into my native country, some original productions of nature, which might become useful to society."

In Quaker schools in the 1800s "natural history was deemed of educational value because it taught careful observation and classification of species."

The list of Quakers active in science is quite long and many have written about the relationship between Quaker spirituality and their scientific work.

Jocelyn Bell Brunell, Clerk of  Britain Yearly Meeting for several years in the 1990s, is a noted astrophysicist who wrote:

"Quakerism and research science fit together very, very well. In Quakerism you're expected to develop your own understanding of God from your experience in the world. There isn't a creed, there isn't a dogma... [I]t also means that you keep redeveloping your understanding as you get more experience, and it seems to me that's very like what does on in "the scientific method"...Nothing is static [in science], nothing is final, everything is held provisionally."

Much more to share from this book, but one intriguing topic is ways in which Quakers are ambivalent about science:

• Today, most Quakers are comfortable with the idea that "study of the natural world continues to exert strong attraction as a source of reflection ... [and] science offers power over nature and the the ability to use natural materials for the benefit of mankind." 
•  Quakers express concern about
• "losing their state of grace if their involvement in science takes precedence over their religious commitments."
• "power over nature not being an unmixed blessing." Science pursued in the absence of social considerations can become a threat, even a threat to human existence.

There is much more in this article to share, but maybe this time I will stop here.

To me, science is characterized by curiosity, diligence, skepticism, listening, and openness. The same characteristics apply to Quaker spirituality, in my experience.