Elon physics department chair Pranab Das is in Oxford, England, preparing to head a library project for which the International Society for Science and Religion has named him executive editor.

The aim of the project, which officially starts Nov. 1, is to select about 250 texts on the topics of science and religion and to create a companion volume of critical essays written by society members about the included books.

After the library is compiled, approximately 150 sets of the volumes will be awarded to institutions of higher learning selected from a pool of international applicants. Das said the collections would go to libraries with the most opportunity for impact, such as libraries with little holdings or high traffic.

He explained that in third-world countries and other areas with limited access to academic resources, top-level scholars lack exposure to research and tend to recapitulate previous work. Remedying this problem is the basis of the library project. The society is currently looking at areas in South Asia and Eastern Europe as possible recipients of the texts.

The John Templeton Foundation is funding the project. Das said the rate of approvals for grant applications ranges from 25 percent to 5 percent.

“Needless to say, I’ve been very fortunate to have made it through the process four times with this same foundation,” Das said. “That is partly due to my excellent teammates and partly the result of a natural tendency in grant-writing for one successful project to make each subsequent one more credible in the eyes of the funder.”

Das’s primary task as executive editor of the project is to bring together the input of the society’s approximately 130 members, who will all participate in the selection process.

Das said the society would consider books with a depth of scholarship in all areas of science and religion to “present as clearly as possible the broad scholarship in the area with absolutely no bias.”

The project is expected to last three years, the first of which Das will spend on sabbatical from Elon. He will also lead another project, “Global Perspectives on Science and Spirituality,” which wrapped up last year but was recently awarded another grant to continue work until 2009.

In 2000, Das was chosen to participate in “Science and the Spiritual Quest,” a program that invited scientists to engage in dialogue on the subject.

Presently, he is working on a book about the history of science and religion, and editing a collection of works by participants of the “Global Perspectives on Science and Spirituality” program.

Reporter: Hannah McConaghy - 10/31/07