Sir John Houghton  was formerly Professor of Atmospheric Physics at Oxford and  now, among other distinguished pursuits, is cochairman of the Science Assessment Working Group of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.   He was recently awarded the Gold Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society.

When 20th Century  scientific enquiry  gets to grips with fundamental questions of existence, such as: 

• `How did the universe begin?' (Cosmology), 
• `What is the natural world made of?' (Quantum theory), 
• `What is space  time?' (Relativity theory), 
• `What is life?' (DNA, etc.), 
• `What is human consciousness?' (Mind  brain relationships), 
• `Is the future predictable from the past?' (Quantum Theory  and Chaos Theory), 

John Houghton is one of several writers who, like John Polkinghorne, write from a position of clear Christian conviction.

Far from merely putting the case that there must be a Designer, the author takes us into the Judeo Christian world view of the Bible, using his scientific knowledge to illuminate such subjects as the 'Hiddeness of God', the  'Personality of God', 'Prayer' and 'Incarnation'.

The book is well written and should certainly be readable by an intelligent nonscientist.   Even his extra 'boxes' giving further insight for the scientifically trained are not difficult to follow.   For those who have read other authors in this general area there will still be much in this book to give further insight.

Like other Christians who are scientists his writing is kind to his atheistic opponents such as Richard Dawkins.   This reviewer believes the time is far overdue for a much stronger rebuttal of the all pervasive materialism that is the hidden unfounded assumption of so much modern scientific writing.   Nevertheless, John Houghton has given us a very helpful book that is certainly to be recommended to all who are interested in how a scientist who is a Christian reacts to the great questions of humankind about origins, meaning and final purpose.