> Prof. Johnson cites the recent study in which the level of religious
> belief in "leading" scientists (defined by membership in the NAS) came
> out quite low, in contrast to the results for scientists in general.
I wonder if Larson and Witham checked for a very simple factor in their
survey: age of the scientist.
Based upon personal experience, there seems to be a generational shift
in attitudes towards religion among scientists. "Older generation"
scientists, in general, seem to be a lot more hostile towards religion
than the younger generation. The "leading scientists" in the
National Academy would be mostly of the "older generation."
Loren Haarsma