SCIENCE AND RELIGION:

COMPATIBLE OR CONTRADICTORY?

A Presentation By:

Tasveer Khawaja

Magnet

• Science has been something I loved studying from the start.

• I come from a very religious, Muslim family.

• Exposure to both has driven me to broaden my understanding of their relationship.

Science, Religion, and Me

Thesis Statement

• Science and religion are two compatible sources of knowledge. – Biology and Psychology, – The Big Bang theory– The Anthropic Principle.

Biology and Psychology Numerous connections can be established between

biology/psychology and religion. Spiritual medicine Physical responses to mental stimuli

The Big Bang Theory

• Widely accepted theory to explain the origin of the universe.

• Edwin Hubble proved that the universe is expanding.

• If the universe is expanding, there must have been a point of origin.

The Big Bang Theory Cont.

• Universe began with a dense, minute “ball” of matter and energy.

• Where did this “ball” originate from?

• Many believe that the only explanation lies in the existence of a higher being.

The Anthropic Principle

• The Anthropic Principle consists of three occurrences that science struggles to explain.– The creation of the universe even with the

presence of antimatter.– The universe’s rate of expansion after the Big

Bang.– The existence of heavy elements in the universe.

Matter and Antimatter

• After the Big Bang, matter and antimatter were present in equivalent quantities.

• Their collision causes the destruction of both.

• Why does anything exist?

Rate of Expansion• The Universe is expanding.

• First concluded by Edwin Hubble,

• The velocity at which galaxies move away from us is directly proportional to their distance.

Rate of Expansion Cont.

• If this rate had been different by “had been smaller by even one part in 100 thousand million million, the universe would have recollapsed before it reached its present size”

- Steven Hawking

Heavy Elements

Elements are constituted by orbiting electrons and a nucleus. Electrons are negatively charged. The nucleus is positively charged.

Heavy Elements Cont.

The perfection of these charges allow for heavy elements to be created. Helium or Hydrogen would only exist

otherwise. Can we attribute this perfection to a

higher being?