Abstract
Prolific philosopher of science and well-known skeptic Michael Ruse has been on a mission as of late to get beyond the vitriolic rhetoric that has marred much of the science-and-religion "conversation" conducted in opinion journals and the blogosphere. It is a noble task. And with Science and Spirituality, he directs his efforts especially to people of science. Ruse's overall formula is predictable: demonstrate how the unwarranted hyperbole of the partisans-using shorthand, literalists and creationists on the one hand and the new atheists on the other-harms constructive dialogue and understanding. And he addresses versions of questions he has written about previously: Is science fundamentally antithetical to religious thinking? And more specifically, can a person legitimately "cherish science and its achievements and be a Christian, holding with dignity and proper conviction the things that are central to that religion?" (pp. 7–8). But Ruse has not simply repackaged old arguments, and the book is quite different from others with a similar agenda of effecting mutual respect and civility between science and religion.