Charles Townes, Noble Prize laureate in physics and co-creator of the laser, spoke about the middle ground between science and religion during the inaugural talk, entitled “Veritas: The Pursuit of Truth,” at a Cal State Long Beach lecture hall on Wednesday.
“Science, as well as religion, uses faith,” Townes said. “In science, we make a guess and approximate, and we have faith that what we think now is probably right.”
The strategy of pursuing the most logical explanation regarding science or religion is what helped Townes develop the laser.
“The laser, in my view, is a revelation,” Townes said.
The concept of a revelation is something that, for many, is considered unique to religion, but Townes argues differently.
“Another parallelism between science and religion is revelation,” Townes said. “Einstein recognized that and had many of them.”
Some revelations can bring about changes in religious and scientific theories as well. Once-common theories are constantly disproven as new evidence, and practices become available in science and religion.
“Sometimes we find we have to change our views,” Townes said. “…We believe the laws of science are constant … that is supposition.”
He said science is a constantly evolving field of study — one that can change its beliefs from week to week. Religion parallels science in that regard as well.
“We have to recognize that we don’t completely understand God; God is a mystery in many ways,” Townes said.
The lecture given by Townes is part of a new series sponsored by the Veritas Faculty Group of CSULB and the Christian Student Union at Long Beach State. The organizations want to engage students and faculty in discussions about life’s hardest questions.
“We seek to discuss rather than debate,” professor of physics Andreas Bill said.
In an attempt to decide what truth is, Townes said the process is up to the individual.
A student asked what the best way to evaluate one’s belief is, and Townes responded, “Pick what you think is more likely correct and follow it.”
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