God and Nature Spring 2021
letter from the editors |
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By Sy Garte and Aniko Albert
Welcome to the Spring 2021 issue of God and Nature, and blessings to all this Eastertide! Spring is traditionally the season of hope, and that theme is especially meaningful this year. As we go to press, the pandemic and lockdowns are still with us, but the death rate has been falling steadily, and we are approaching vaccination of one third of the US population. We are praying for our brethren in Canada, Europe, and in other parts of the world where the vaccine rollout is lagging behind.
Spring is also the season of youth, and this issue includes several pieces by students/postdocs. Juuso Loikkanen’s essay on divine action and science is a fascinating and accessible look at a difficult philosophical problem. Lapo Lappin tackles a similarly complicated question in his discussion of the anthropic principle and the role of fine tuning. Katie McFarland has contributed a wonderful poem called “Imposition of Carbon.” We are thrilled to welcome these talented young people to God and Nature, and we look forward to seeing more work from them and others of their generation in the future.
Soil scientist Beth Madison is also a new contributor to God and Nature with her engaging essay on the relationship between humus and humility. We are also blessed to present new essays from three writers familiar to our readership. Angie Cornwell works her usual magic, this time with directions about finding our way with the help of God. Ken Touryan presents a thorough and important summary of the state of research into fusion energy, along with thoughts of where we go from here. Mario Anthony Russo writes about the great promise of the COVID-19 vaccines and raises critical questions of what else we should be thinking about as the pandemic crisis begins to ease.
We have two lovely photoessays in this issue, one by regular columnist Cheryl Grey Bostrom featuring an owl, and the other by John Redkoles on finding the unexpected in God’s world of nature.
In addition to Katie McFarland’s poem, we are happy to present another poem in this issue, by regular contributor Eugene E. Lemcio, about the “Manis Mastodon.” We know there are many poets out there, and we hope these two wonderful and quite different examples will inspire some of you to submit them for publication here.
No issue is complete without columnist Mike Clifford’s take on… just about everything, and his piece in this issue is one of his best! Prepare to laugh about things like peer review and the art of writing in “Boring”—which is, of course, pretty much the opposite of what this essay is.
Finally, an announcement about a new feature for God and Nature starting with this issue: thanks to a suggestion by Mario Russo, we have added a search box to the About God and Nature page found in the Information tab. You can now search for previous articles by author or title with just a couple of clicks. We welcome suggestions for improving the magazine in any way you can think of—just submit a comment in the Submit/Contact tab (which can also be used for other feedback).
Please enjoy this issue, spread the word, and, as always, we look forward to receiving your submitted essays, poetry, etc. We also hope to see you online this summer at the ASA Annual meeting!
Sy Garte Ph.D. Biochemistry, is Editor-in-Chief of God and Nature, and the author of The Works of His Hands: A Scientist's Journey from Atheism to Faith.. He has been a Professor of Public Health and Environmental Health Sciences at New York University, Rutgers University, and the University of Pittsburgh. He was also Associate Director at the Center for Scientific Review at the NIH. He is the author of five books, over 200 scientific papers, and articles in PSCF, God and Nature and The BioLogos Forum. Sy is Vice President of the Washington DC ASA Chapter, and a fellow of the ASA.
Aniko Albert grew up in Budapest, Hungary, and is a graduate of Eötvös Loránd University. A serial migrant, she taught English as a Foreign Language in her hometown, high-school Spanish in Kingston, Jamaica, and English and various subjects in Alameda, California. She is currently the Managing Editor of God and Nature, and Co-Chair of Rockville Help, an emergency assistance charitable organization in Rockville, Maryland.
Welcome to the Spring 2021 issue of God and Nature, and blessings to all this Eastertide! Spring is traditionally the season of hope, and that theme is especially meaningful this year. As we go to press, the pandemic and lockdowns are still with us, but the death rate has been falling steadily, and we are approaching vaccination of one third of the US population. We are praying for our brethren in Canada, Europe, and in other parts of the world where the vaccine rollout is lagging behind.
Spring is also the season of youth, and this issue includes several pieces by students/postdocs. Juuso Loikkanen’s essay on divine action and science is a fascinating and accessible look at a difficult philosophical problem. Lapo Lappin tackles a similarly complicated question in his discussion of the anthropic principle and the role of fine tuning. Katie McFarland has contributed a wonderful poem called “Imposition of Carbon.” We are thrilled to welcome these talented young people to God and Nature, and we look forward to seeing more work from them and others of their generation in the future.
Soil scientist Beth Madison is also a new contributor to God and Nature with her engaging essay on the relationship between humus and humility. We are also blessed to present new essays from three writers familiar to our readership. Angie Cornwell works her usual magic, this time with directions about finding our way with the help of God. Ken Touryan presents a thorough and important summary of the state of research into fusion energy, along with thoughts of where we go from here. Mario Anthony Russo writes about the great promise of the COVID-19 vaccines and raises critical questions of what else we should be thinking about as the pandemic crisis begins to ease.
We have two lovely photoessays in this issue, one by regular columnist Cheryl Grey Bostrom featuring an owl, and the other by John Redkoles on finding the unexpected in God’s world of nature.
In addition to Katie McFarland’s poem, we are happy to present another poem in this issue, by regular contributor Eugene E. Lemcio, about the “Manis Mastodon.” We know there are many poets out there, and we hope these two wonderful and quite different examples will inspire some of you to submit them for publication here.
No issue is complete without columnist Mike Clifford’s take on… just about everything, and his piece in this issue is one of his best! Prepare to laugh about things like peer review and the art of writing in “Boring”—which is, of course, pretty much the opposite of what this essay is.
Finally, an announcement about a new feature for God and Nature starting with this issue: thanks to a suggestion by Mario Russo, we have added a search box to the About God and Nature page found in the Information tab. You can now search for previous articles by author or title with just a couple of clicks. We welcome suggestions for improving the magazine in any way you can think of—just submit a comment in the Submit/Contact tab (which can also be used for other feedback).
Please enjoy this issue, spread the word, and, as always, we look forward to receiving your submitted essays, poetry, etc. We also hope to see you online this summer at the ASA Annual meeting!
Sy Garte Ph.D. Biochemistry, is Editor-in-Chief of God and Nature, and the author of The Works of His Hands: A Scientist's Journey from Atheism to Faith.. He has been a Professor of Public Health and Environmental Health Sciences at New York University, Rutgers University, and the University of Pittsburgh. He was also Associate Director at the Center for Scientific Review at the NIH. He is the author of five books, over 200 scientific papers, and articles in PSCF, God and Nature and The BioLogos Forum. Sy is Vice President of the Washington DC ASA Chapter, and a fellow of the ASA.
Aniko Albert grew up in Budapest, Hungary, and is a graduate of Eötvös Loránd University. A serial migrant, she taught English as a Foreign Language in her hometown, high-school Spanish in Kingston, Jamaica, and English and various subjects in Alameda, California. She is currently the Managing Editor of God and Nature, and Co-Chair of Rockville Help, an emergency assistance charitable organization in Rockville, Maryland.