Ian G. Barbour

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Barbour, Ian Graeme age 90, of Northfield, Minnesota, died December 24, 2013. Barbour, Professor of Religion Emeritus at Carleton College, is credited with launching the current international dialogue between science and religion. After graduating from Swarthmore College, Ian received a Ph.D. in physics from the University of Chicago, where he was a teaching assistant of Enrico Fermi. He taught physics at Kalamazoo College for four years, until his evolving interests led him to complete a degree at Yale Divinity School. Ian came to Carleton College in 1955 with the founding of the Religion Department. He later became the Winifred and Atherton Bean Professor of Science, Technology, and Society, retiring in 1986. As a scholar, Barbour was a crucial figure in the founding of the interdisciplinary field of Science and Religion in the 1960s. He published sixteen books, including Issues in Science and Religion (1966), Myths, Models, and Paradigms (1973), and two volumes developed from his Gifford Lectures in Scotland, Religion in an Age of Science (1990) and Ethics in an Age of Technology (1993). Barbour's most recent books were When Science Meets Religion (2000), which has been translated into 14 languages, and Nature, Human Nature, and God (2002). In 1999 Barbour was awarded the Templeton Prize for Progress in Religion in recognition of his efforts to create dialogue between science and religion. Barbour was predeceased by his wife Deane and his brother Freeland. He is survived by his brother Hugh (Sirkka) of Sleepy Hollow, New York; four children, John (Meg Ojala) of Dundas, Blair of Oak Park, Illinois, David of Richfield, and Heather (Tom Eberhart) of Arlington, Virginia; three grandchildren, and a great grandson. A memorial service will be held at the Carleton College Chapel on January 18, 2014 at 3:00 p.m. In lieu of flowers, contributions in Ian's memory may be given to the First United Church of Christ in Northfield, the Ian Barbour Memorial Fund to benefit religious studies and religious life at Carleton College, or the Center for Theology and Natural Sciences in Berkeley, California.

Published on January 5, 2014