The Hindu Business Line : Missionary with a quest for science

Jacques Arnould is driven by the quest for knowledge. Which is perhaps, why this French priest belonging to the Dominican order has trained as an agricultural engineer, has PhDs in science history and theology and has written over a dozen books on subjects such as religion, philosophy, evolution and space.

“I would say that I am a researcher,” declares Arnould, who is currently an adviser on the ethical, social and cultural dimensions of space to CNES — the French space agency. His diverse professional interests, however, have one thing in common — all of them deal with the relationships between culture, religion and science.

The best way to avoid a conflict between religion and science is to recognise that there are clear differences between the scientific dimension and the religious dimension, he believes.

“The ‘how’ questions are for science and the ‘why’ questions are for religion,” he points out. And dialogue is the best way to ensure that science and religion can coexist, adds Arnould who is in India on a lecture tour organised by the French Embassy and the Alliance Francaise network.

In fact, it was a dialogue with a scientist from America’s National Aeronautics and Space Administration that got Arnould interested in space and its ethical and cultural issues.

All activity in space, whether it is exploring Mars or surveillance of the earth by satellites, has a consequence for humans, he believes. And it is these activities, the ethical challenges they pose and generating a debate on these issues that fascinate him today. Arnould is, in fact, already thinking about a book on surveillance and its implications for liberty, security, risk acceptance and risk management.

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Missionary with a quest for science