The Composed Self of the Scientist and Christian

Abstract

This paper draws on extended life story interviews with five British men – all scientists and Christians – who have advanced arguments about relations between science and religion in books, public talks, and broadcasts. Close attention to the ways in which these interviewees have moved between scientific, Christian, and special ‘science and religion’ communities suggests that oral historians should beware of assuming that ‘composure’ is achieved by coherence or integration in lives and in life stories.