Scientists, Naturalists & Inventors

A lot of Christians these days are increasingly uncomfortable with the word scientist. It isn't just the anti-intellectuals, either: in our man-centered society, the materialist idea that science can explain everything has led to a virtual naturalist priesthood for whom divine revelation is an old-fashioned pre-enlightened myth held onto by the weak and ignorant.

In one way, the naturalists are right. Paul said explicitly that Christ came to shame the wise and weaken the strong, that the Gospel is foolishness to those who are perishing. Christianity is for the weak and ignorant. What the naturalists don't realize is that, compared to God, we are all weak and ignorant and foolish, dependent on the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob for salvation.

Since we believe God created the world, we also believe it is our duty to understand and study that world as humans. Everything we learn about the universe He made is a little more we understand about Him, and to abandon that task just because some godless men and women with Ph.D.s do science for the wrong reasons is to claim defeat in a battle in which God has already awarded Himself victory.

Not every scientist or inventor is anti-Christian, either. Plenty of the greats from the earliest times until now have been earnest believers, motivated by their love of God and His works to try to understand the Earth and improve our lives upon it. One of the greatest inventors of all time, Johannes Gutenberg (whose printing press in many ways led to the explosion of humanist thinking), created his machine in order to print Bibles for the masses.

We aren't saying that only Christian scientists are worthy of our study. Insofar as secular scientists operate within reasonable limits and limit themselves to what can be seen and felt and observed (not claiming Evolution as a field of scientific study, for instance), they are just as capable as God-fearing scientists to learn, discover and help us understand more about our world.

Of course, knowing whether a given individual was a Christian or not can help us understand his studies and conclusions. It would be naive to think that one's faith had no influence over the ideas they propounded, or even of the way they conducted research. We hope these life stories guide you not only to a deeper appreciation of science and scientists, but to a renewed sense of wonder for God and what He has created.

Review by C. Hollis Crossman
C. Hollis Crossman used to be a child. Now he's a husband and father who loves church, good food, and weird stuff. He might be a mythical creature, but he's definitely not a centaur. Read more of his reviews here.
Did you find this review helpful?
282 Items found Print
Ada Byron Lovelace
by Laurie Wallmark, illustrated by April Chu
from Creston Books, LLC
for Kindergarten-2nd grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$4.80 (1 in stock)
Adventures of Munford: Munford Meets Robert Fulton
by Jamie Aramini
Fir from Geography Matters
for 2nd-4th grade
in Geography Matters products (Location: GEO-GEOM)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
AIO Imagination Station Book #21
by Marianne Hering
from Focus on the Family
for 1st-3rd grade
in Imagination Station (Location: SER-AIO)
$5.09
Albert Einstein and the Theory of Relativity
Solutions: Profiles in Science for Young People
by Robert Cwiklik
from Barron's
for 5th-8th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
Albert Einstein: Young Thinker
by Marie Hammontree
from Aladdin Paperbacks
Biography for 3rd-6th grade
in Childhood of Famous Americans (Location: BIO-COFA)
Aleck Bell
Childhood of Famous Americans
by Mable Cleland Widdemer
from Bobbs-Merril Co
for 3rd-6th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
Alessandro Volta and the Electric Battery
Immortals of Science
by Bern Dibner
from Franklin Watts
for 6th-8th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
Alexander Graham Bell
by Elizabeth MacLeod
from Kids Can Press
Biography for 3rd-6th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
Alexander Graham Bell
National Geographic Kids Level 2
by Barbara Kramer
from National Geographic
for 1st-3rd grade
in National Geographic Early Readers (Location: EAR-NGR)
Along Came Galileo
by Jeanne Bendick
from Beautiful Feet Books
Biography for 4th-8th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$11.86
Always Inventing
by Tom L. Matthews
from National Geographic
for 3rd-6th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
Amazing Life of Benjamin Franklin
by James Cross Giblin
from Scholastic Inc.
for 1st-4th grade
2001 NCTE Orbis Pictus Honor Book
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$6.79
Amazing Mind of Granville Woods
The Good and the Beautiful Library
by Maggie Felsch; illustrated by Kessler Garrity
from The Good and the Beautiful
for 2nd-4th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
Archimedes and the Door of Science
by Jeanne Bendick
from Bethlehem Books
Biography for 5th-8th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$12.71
Archimedes and the Door of Science
by Jeanne Bendick
from Franklin Watts
Biography for 5th-8th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
Archimedes and the Door of Science
by Jeanne Bendick
from Purple House Press
Biography for 5th-8th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$9.34
Audubon
by Constance Rourke, illustrated by James MacDonald
from Harcourt, Brace & World
for 7th-12th grade
1937 Newbery Honor Book
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin
Dover Thrift Editions
by Benjamin Franklin
from Dover Publications
for 9th-Adult
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$5.10
Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin
World's Greatest Literature
by Benjamin Franklin
from Spencer Press
for 9th-Adult
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
Ben Franklin
Sterling Point Books
by Thomas Fleming
from Sterling Publishing Co.
for 5th-9th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
Ben Franklin of Old Philadelphia
Landmark Series
by Margaret Cousins
from Random House
Biography for 5th-8th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$5.09 $3.20 (2 in stock)
Ben Franklin of Old Philadelphia
Landmark #28
by Margaret Cousins
from Random House
for 5th-8th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
Benjamin Franklin
Heroes of History
by Geoff & Janet Benge
from Emerald Books
Biography for 4th-7th grade
in Heroes of History (Location: BIO-BENGE)
$10.19
Benjamin Franklin
by R. Conrad Stein
from Rand McNally
Biography for 3rd-6th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$2.40 (2 in stock)
Benjamin Franklin
by Carl Van Doren
from Penguin Putnam
for 10th-Adult
in Clearance: History & Geography (Location: ZCLE-HIS)
Benjamin Franklin
by Carl Van Doren
from Library of America
for 10th-Adult
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$14.00 (1 in stock)
Benjamin Franklin's Adventures With Electricity
by Beverly Birch & Robin Bell Corfield
from Barron's
Biography for 4th-6th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$3.20 (2 in stock)
Benjamin Franklin: Printer, Scientist, Author, and Diplomat
Spirit of America: Our People
by Ann Heinrichs
from Child's World
for 3rd-6th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$3.20 (1 in stock)
Benjamin Franklin: The Autobiography and Other Writings
Signet Classics
by Benjamin Franklin
Reprint from Signet Classics
Autobiography for 9th-Adult
in 18th Century Literature (Location: LIT5-18)
$5.06
Benjamin Franklin: Young Printer
by Augusta Stevenson
from Aladdin Paperbacks
Biography for 3rd-6th grade
in Childhood of Famous Americans (Location: BIO-COFA)
$6.79 $3.20 (1 in stock)
Better a Shield Than a Sword
by Edward Teller
from Free Press
for Adult
in History for Adults (Location: ADU-HIS)
$6.40 (1 in stock)
Big Game Hunter: Carl Akeley
by Felix Sutton
from Julian Messner
for 6th-8th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
Biography of Benjamin Franklin
Sons of Liberty Series
by William M. Thayer
from A Beka Books
for 5th-9th grade
in A Beka Book Report books (Location: REA-ABK)
Boy Who Harnessed the Wind
by Bryan Mealer, William Kamkwamba
from Harper Perennial
for 10th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$13.59
Boy Who Harnessed the Wind (Young Reader's Edition)
by William Kamkwamba & Bryan Mealer
from Dial Books for Young Readers
for 4th-8th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
Boy Who Harnessed the Wind (Young Reader's Edition)
by William Kamkwamba & Bryan Mealer
from Rocky Pond Books
for 4th-8th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$8.49
Carl Linnaeus
Great Minds of Science
by Margaret Anderson
from Enslow
for Kindergarten-3rd grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
Carry On, Mr. Bowditch
by Jean Lee Latham
from Houghton Mifflin
Biography for 5th-9th grade
1956 Newbery Medal winner
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$13.59
Carry On, Mr. Bowditch
by Jean Lee Latham, illustrated by John O'Hara Cosgrave II
from Houghton Mifflin
Biography for 5th-9th grade
1956 Newbery Medal winner
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$16.00 (1 in stock)
Carry On, Mr. Bowditch - Audio CD
by Jean Lee Latham
from Well-Trained Mind Press
for 5th-8th grade
in Audio Books & Dramas (Location: CD-AUDIO)
$36.95
Carver: A Life in Poems
by Marilyn Nelson
from Boyds Mill Press
for 7th-11th grade
2002 Newbery Honor Book, Coretta Scott King Honor Award
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$14.41
Champions of Invention
Champions of Discovery
by John Hudson Tiner
from Master Books
for 4th-8th grade
in Inventions & Discoveries (Location: SCI-INV)
$4.79 $3.50 (3 in stock)
Champions of Mathematics
by John Hudson Tiner
from Master Books
for 4th-8th grade
in History of Science & Mathematics (Location: SCI-HIS)
$4.79 $3.50 (3 in stock)
Champions of Science
Champions of Discovery
by John Hudson Tiner
from Master Books
for 4th-8th grade
in History of Science & Mathematics (Location: SCI-HIS)
$4.79 $3.50 (2 in stock)
Charles Darwin and Natural Selection
Immortals of Science
by Alice Dickinson
from Franklin Watts
for 9th-Adult
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
Charles Darwin and the Origin of Species
by Walter Karp
from Harper & Row
for 4th-8th grade
in Horizon Caravel Books (Location: VIN-HOR)
Charles Darwin's Around-the-World Adventure
by Jennifer Thermes
from Abrams Books for Young Readers
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$6.40 (1 in stock)
Chord of Steel
by Thomas B. Costain
from Doubleday & Company
for 8th-Adult
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$3.20 (1 in stock)
Collector, The
by Jack Nisbet
from Sasquatch Books
for 10th-Adult
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Cry of the Kalahari
by Mark and Delia Owens
from Houghton Mifflin
for Adult
in History for Adults (Location: ADU-HIS)
$4.80 (1 in stock)
Curies and Radium
Immortals of Science
by Elizabeth Rubin
from Franklin Watts
for 6th-8th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
David Douglas, A Naturalist at Work
by Jack Nisbet
from Sasquatch Books
for 10th-Adult
in Pacific States (Location: HISV-PNW)
Dear Benjamin Banneker
by Andrea Davis Pinkney, illustrated by Brian Pinkney
from Houghton Mifflin
for 2nd-4th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$8.49
Did It Take Creativity to Find Relativity, Albert Einstein?
by Gilda Berger, Melvin & Gilda Berger, Melvin Berger
from Scholastic Inc.
for 4th-6th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$4.24 $2.80 (1 in stock)
Did You Invent The Phone All Alone, Alexander Graham Bell?
by Gilda Berger, Melvin Berger
from Scholastic Inc.
for 4th-6th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$4.24
Discovery
by John K. Terres
First Ediition from J.B. Lippincott Co.
for 9th-Adult
in Biography Anthologies (Location: BIO-ANTH)
$7.20 (1 in stock)
DK Biography: Albert Einstein
by Frieda Wishinsky
from DK Children
for 4th-6th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
DK Biography: Marie Curie
by Vicki Cobb
from DK Children
for 3rd-6th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$5.09 $3.20 (1 in stock)
Doctors Who Conquered Yellow Fever
Landmark #78
by Ralph Nading Hill
from Random House
for 5th-9th grade
in American Landmark Books (Location: VIN-LAND)
Dr. Jenner and the Speckled Monster
by Albert Marrin
from Dutton Juvenile
for 4th-6th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
Dr. Jenner and the Speckled Monster
by Albert Marrin
1st edition from Dutton Juvenile
for 4th-8th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$7.60 (1 in stock)
Dr. William Harvey and the Discovery of Circulation
by William C. Harrison
from Macmillan
for 4th-8th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
Edison: His Life and Inventions
from CreateSpace
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
Electrical Wizard
by Elizabeth Rusch, illustrated by Oliver Dominguez
from Candlewick Press
for 3rd-6th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
Eli Whitney
Childhood of Famous Americans
by Dorothea Snow
from Bobbs-Merril Co
for 3rd-6th grade
in Childhood of Famous Americans (Location: BIO-COFA)
Eli Whitney: Great Inventor
by Jean Lee Latham
from Garrard Publishing Company
for 4th-8th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
Elias Howe: Inventive Boy
Childhood of Famous Americans
by Jean Corcoran
from Bobbs-Merril Co
for 3rd-6th grade
in Childhood of Famous Americans (Location: BIO-COFA)
Everything DaVinci Book
by Cynthia Phillips and Shana Priwer
from Adams Media Corp.
for Adult
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$4.80 (1 in stock)
Exploring with the Bartrams
by Ann and Myron Sutton
from E.M. Hale and Company
for 4th-6th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
Fabulous Opal Whiteley
by Elbert Bede
from Binford & Mort Publishing
for 8th-Adult
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
Farmland Innovator
Creative Minds Biographies
by Catherine A. Welch, illustrated by Jan Naimo Jones
from Lerner Publishing Group
for 2nd-4th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$3.60 (1 in stock)
Fine Print
by Joann Burch
from Carolrhoda Books, Inc.
Biography for 4th-6th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$12.99 $9.00 (2 in stock)
Five Equations that Changed the World
by Michael Guillen
from Hyperion Press
for 9th-Adult
in Math Reference & Teaching Aids (Location: MATR-TA)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Five Notable Inventors
by Wade Hudson
from Cartwheel Books
in Scholastic / Hello Reader! (Location: EAR-SCH)
$1.50 (1 in stock)
Flying to the Moon
by Michael Collins
from Sunburst Book
for 4th-8th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$7.64
Four American Inventors
by Frances M. Perry
from Yesterday's Classics
for 4th-8th grade
in Biography Anthologies (Location: BIO-ANTH)
$11.86 $6.40 (1 in stock)
From Immigrant to Inventor
by Michael Pupin
from Charles Scribner's Sons
for 10th-Adult
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$10.00 (1 in stock)
From the Eagle's Wing
by Hildegarde Hoyt Swift, illustrated by Lynd Ward
from William Morrow & Company
for 5th-8th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
From the Eagle's Wing
by Hildegarde Hoyt Swift, illustrated by Lynd Ward
from William Morrow & Company
for 5th-8th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
Galen and the Gateway to Medicine
by Jeanne Bendick
from Bethlehem Books
Biography for 5th-8th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$12.71
Galileo and the Magic Numbers
by Sidney Rosen
for 5th-8th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$16.99
Galileo and the Magic Numbers
by Sidney Rosen, illustrated by Harve Stein
from Little, Brown & Company
for 5th-8th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
Galileo for Kids
by Richard Panchyk
from Chicago Review Press
for 4th-6th grade
in Renaissance & Reformation (Location: HISW-REN)
$18.95 $12.00 (2 in stock)
Galileo's Daughter
by Dava Sobel
from Penguin Putnam
for 11th-Adult
in History for Adults (Location: ADU-HIS)
Galileo: First Observer of Marvelous Things
by Elma Ehrlich Levinger
from Kingston House
for 7th-9th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
Genius
by Marfe Ferguson Delano
from National Geographic
for 5th-9th grade
2006 NCTE Orbis Pictus Honor Book
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$9.00 (1 in stock)
George Pullman: Young Sleeping Car Builder
by Elisabeth P. Myers, Illustrated by Al Fiorentino
from Bobbs-Merril Co
for 3rd-6th grade
in Childhood of Famous Americans (Location: BIO-COFA)
George Washington Carver
Sowers Series
by David Collins
from Mott Media
Biography for 5th-7th grade
in Sowers Biographies (Location: BIO-SOW)
George Washington Carver
Heroes of History
by Geoff & Janet Benge
from Emerald Books
Biography for 4th-7th grade
in Heroes of History (Location: BIO-BENGE)
$10.19
George Washington Carver
Landmark #38
by Anne Terry White
from Random House
for 5th-9th grade
in American Landmark Books (Location: VIN-LAND)
George Washington Carver
by Matt Doeden
from Barnes & Noble
for 3rd-6th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
George Washington Carver
by Tonya Bolden
from Harry N. Abrams, Inc.
for 3rd-6th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
George Washington Carver
by Carol Greene
from Children's Press
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$3.20 (1 in stock)
George Washington Carver: America's Scientist
Heroes of History for Young Readers
by Renee Taft Meloche
from Emerald Books
for 1st-4th grade
in Heroes for Young Readers (Location: BIO-HERO)
George Washington Carver: An American Biography
by Rackham Holt
from Doubleday, Doran & Company Inc.
for 9th-12th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
George Washington Carver: Botanist
Black Americans of Achievement
by Gene Adair, introduction by Coretta Scott King
from Chelsea House Publishing
for 4th-8th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
$3.20 (1 in stock)
George Washington Carver: The Man Who Overcame
by Lawrence Elliott
from Prentice Hall
for Adult
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
George Washington Carver: The Peanut Wizard
by Laura Driscoll
from Grosset & Dunlap
for 2nd-5th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
George Westinghouse
by Montrew Dunham
from Bobbs-Merril Co
for 3rd-6th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
Giants of Science
by Philip Cane, illustrated by Samuel Nisenson
from Grosset & Dunlap
for 4th-8th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
123