\u201cEveryone who is seriously involved in the pursuit of science becomes convinced that some spirit is manifest in the laws of the universe, one that is vastly superior to that of man.\u201d<\/i>
\n— Albert Einstein<\/p>\n
Whether in their inadvertently brilliant reflections on gender politics<\/a> or in their seemingly simple but profound questions about how the world works<\/a>, kids have a singular way of stripping the most complex of cultural phenomena down to their bare essence, forcing us to reexamine our layers of assumptions. Take, for instance, the age-old tension between science and religion<\/a>, which has occupied the minds of luminaries from Galileo<\/a> to Carl Sagan<\/a>, as well as some of today\u2019s most renowned scientific minds<\/a>. The enormous cultural baggage of the question didn\u2019t stop a little girl from New York named Phyllis from posing it to none other than the great Albert Einstein<\/a> in a 1936 letter found in Dear Professor Einstein: Albert Einstein\u2019s Letters to and from Children<\/i><\/b><\/a> (public library<\/i><\/a>) \u2014 the same delightful collection that gave us Einstein\u2019s encouraging words to women in science<\/a>.<\/p>\n The Riverside Church<\/em><\/p>\n January 19, 1936<\/em><\/p>\n My dear Dr. Einstein,<\/em><\/p>\n We have brought up the question: Do scientists pray? in our Sunday school class. It began by asking whether we could believe in both science and religion. We are writing to scientists and other important men, to try and have our own question answered.<\/em><\/p>\n We will feel greatly honored if you will answer our question: Do scientists pray, and what do they pray for?<\/em><\/p>\n We are in the sixth grade, Miss Ellis\u2019s class.<\/em><\/p>\n Respectfully yours,<\/em><\/p>\n Phyllis<\/em><\/p>\n Only five days later, Einstein wrote back \u2014 isn\u2019t it lovely when cultural giants respond to children\u2019s sincere curiosity<\/a>? \u2014 and his answer speaks to the same spiritual quality of science that Carl Sagan extolled decades later<\/a> and Ptolemy did millennia earlier<\/a>. Six years prior, Einstein had explored that very subject, in far more complicated language and mind-bending rhetoric, in his legendary conversation with the Indian philosopher Tagore<\/a>.<\/p>\n January 24, 1936<\/em><\/p>\n Dear Phyllis,<\/em><\/p>\n I will attempt to reply to your question as simply as I can. Here is my answer:<\/em><\/p>\n Scientists believe that every occurrence, including the affairs of human beings, is due to the laws of nature. Therefore a scientist cannot be inclined to believe that the course of events can be influenced by prayer, that is, by a supernaturally manifested wish.<\/em><\/p>\n However, we must concede that our actual knowledge of these forces is imperfect, so that in the end the belief in the existence of a final, ultimate spirit rests on a kind of faith. Such belief remains widespread even with the current achievements in science.<\/em><\/p>\n But also, everyone who is seriously involved in the pursuit of science becomes convinced that some spirit is manifest in the laws of the universe, one that is vastly superior to that of man. In this way the pursuit of science leads to a religious feeling of a special sort, which is surely quite different from the religiosity of someone more naive.<\/em><\/p>\n With cordial greetings,<\/em><\/p>\n your A. Einstein<\/em><\/p>\n _____________________________________<\/p>\n Brain Pickings<\/i><\/a><\/em> is the brain child of Maria Popova<\/a>, an interestingness hunter-gatherer and curious mind at large obsessed with combinatorial creativity who also writes for Wired<\/em> UK<\/a> and The Atlantic<\/em><\/a>, among others, and is an MIT Futures of Entertainment Fellow. She has gotten occasional help from a handful of guest contributors<\/a>.<\/i><\/i><\/p>\n