Max Planck

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=max+planck&btnG=Google+Search&aq=f&oq=&aqi=g-p1g9

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Max_Planck

Max Planck (April 23, 1858 – October 4, 1947) was a German physicist. He is considered to be the founder of the quantum theory, and thus one of the most important physicists of the twentieth century. Planck was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1918.

http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Max_Planck

http://www.mpg.de/english/

http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/physics/laureates/1918/planck-bio.html

The Religious Affiliation of Physicist Max Planck

http://www.adherents.com/people/pp/Max_Planck.html

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=max+planck&search_type=&aq=f

http://www.godandscience.org/apologetics/sciencefaith.html

Max Planck (1858-1947)
Planck made many contributions to physics, but is best known for quantum theory, which revolutionized our understanding of the atomic and sub-atomic worlds. In his 1937 lecture "Religion and Naturwissenschaft," Planck expressed the view that God is everywhere present, and held that "the holiness of the unintelligible Godhead is conveyed by the holiness of symbols." Atheists, he thought, attach too much importance to what are merely symbols. Planck was a churchwarden from 1920 until his death, and believed in an almighty, all-knowing, beneficent God (though not necessarily a personal one). Both science and religion wage a "tireless battle against skepticism and dogmatism, against unbelief and superstition" with the goal "toward God!"

http://www.doesgodexist.org/JanFeb08/Nobel-MaxPlanck.html

"There can never be any real opposition between religion and science; for one is the complement of the other. Every serious and reflective person realizes, I think, that the religious element in his nature must be recognized and cultivated if all the powers of the human soul are to act together in perfect balance and harmony. And indeed it was not by accident that the greatest thinkers of all ages were deeply religious souls."

"[Science and religion] do not exclude [each] other; rather they are complementary and mutually interacting. Man needs science as a tool of perception; he needs religion as a guide to action."

"... it is no wonder, that the movement of atheists, which declares religion to be just a deliberate illusion, ... eagerly makes use of progressive scientific knowledge and in a presumed unity with it, expands in an ever faster pace its disintegrating action on all nations of the earth and on all social levels. I do not need to explain in any more detail that after its victory not only all of the precious treasures of our culture would vanish, but--which is even worse--also any prospects at a better future."

"It is the steady, ongoing, never-slackening fight against skepticism and dogmatism, against unbelief and superstition, which religion and science wage together. The directing watchword in this struggle runs from the remotest past to the distant future: 'On to God!'"

http://doesgodexist.multiply.com/journal/item/603/Max_Planck_-_the_Father_of_Quantum_Theory_a_Theist

If you are interested in Physics, you have heard of Max Planck. He's the starting point of modern physics in my opinion. He was a major stimulus to Einstein's work and the puzzles that Einstein struggled with until his death were directly tied to Planck's discoveries and theories. Planck's fundamental work is still highly relevant and accurate despite most of it being over 100 years old now.

Planck was very scientific and apparently also had a strong personal sense of God.

The following are quotes of his. (emphasis is mine):
(they came from here - http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Max_Planck)

"As a man who has devoted his whole life to the most clear headed science, to the study of matter, I can tell you as a result of my research about atoms this much: There is no matter as such. All matter originates and exists only by virtue of a force which brings the particle of an atom to vibration and holds this most minute solar system of the atom together. We must assume behind this force the existence of a conscious and intelligent mind. This mind is the matrix of all matter."
“Das Wesen der Materie” (The Nature of Matter), speech at Florence, Italy, 1944 (from Archiv zur Geschichte der Max-Planck-Gesellschaft, Abt. Va, Rep. 11 Planck, Nr. 1797)

"We have no right to assume that any physical laws exist, or if they have existed up to now, that they will continue to exist in a similar manner in the future."
The Universe in the Light of Modern Physics (1931)

"I regard consciousness as fundamental. I regard matter as derivative from consciousness. We cannot get behind consciousness. Everything that we talk about, everything that we regard as existing, postulates consciousness."
The Observer (January 25th, 1931)

"Anybody who has been seriously engaged in scientific work of any kind realizes that over the entrance to the gates of the temple of science are written the words: Ye must have faith. It is a quality which the scientist cannot dispense with."
Where Is Science Going? (1932)

"Both Religion and science require a belief in God. For believers, God is in the beginning, and for physicists He is at the end of all considerations… To the former He is the foundation, to the latter, the crown of the edifice of every generalized world view."
Religion and Natural Science (Lecture Given 1937) Scientific Autobiography and Other Papers, trans. F. Gaynor (New York, 1949), pp. 184

Eine neue wissenschaftliche Wahrheit pflegt sich nicht in der Weise durchzusetzen, daß ihre Gegner überzeugt werden und sich als belehrt erklären, sondern vielmehr dadurch, daß ihre Gegner allmählich aussterben und daß die heranwachsende Generation von vornherein mit der Wahrheit vertraut geworden ist.
Translation: A new scientific truth does not triumph by convincing its opponents and making them see the light, but rather because its opponents eventually die, and a new generation grows up that is familiar with it.
'Wissenschaftliche Selbstbiographie. Mit einem Bildnis und der von Max von Laue gehaltenen Traueransprache. 35 pp. (Leipzig, 1948). Scientific Autobiography and Other Papers, trans. F. Gaynor (New York, 1949), pp.33-34 (as cited in T.S. Kuhn, The Structure of Scientific Revolutions).
Condensed variant: Die Wahrheit triumphiert nie, ihre Gegner sterben nur aus. ~ Truth never triumphs -- its opponents just die out.
Other condensed variant: Science advances one funeral at a time.

Under these conditions it is no wonder, that the movement of atheists, which declares religion to be just a deliberate illusion, invented by power-seeking priests, and which has for the pious belief in a higher Power nothing but words of mockery, eagerly makes use of progressive scientific knowledge and in a presumed unity with it, expands in an ever faster pace its disintegrating action on all nations of the earth and on all social levels. I do not need to explain in any more detail that after its victory not only all the most precious treasures of our culture would vanish, but – which is even worse – also any prospects at a better future.
Religion und Naturwissenschaft (Leipzig, 1958)

(I must say I disagree with his extreme view of atheists in the prior quote.)

New scientific ideas never spring from a communal body, however organized, but rather from the head of an individually inspired researcher who struggles with his problems in lonely thought and unites all his thought on one single point which is his whole world for the moment.
Address on the 25th anniversary of the Kaiser-Wilhelm Gesellschaft, 10/11 January 1936. Quoted in Macrakis, Kristie Surviving the Swastika: Scientific Research in Nazi Germany (Oxford, 1993) ISBN 0-19-507010-0.


I suspect that the avowed atheists in this group will say Planck was just a victim of a religious upbringing, or of a highly religious era, or that he would have believed differently if he had lived today and knew all that we know today. I strongly disagree. He was highly rational and scientific. He had the benefit of many years of good science before him and he understood the difference between faith and proof, yet he still chose to believe in something greater than himself. Whether you call that 'something' God, or Cosmic Consciousness, or the Universe, or the Source, or All That Is, does not matter.

Planck also seemed to share the understanding that consciousness is not easily explained and could well be so deeply intertwined with the nature of reality that it could be inseparable.

http://www.informationphilosopher.com/solutions/scientists/planck/

http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Max_Planck

Max Planck was a devoted Christian from early life to death. As a scientist, however, he was very tolerant toward other religions and alternate views, and was discontent with the church organization's demands for unquestioning belief. He noted that "natural laws … are the same for men of all races and nations."
Planck regarded the search for universal truth as the loftiest goal of all scientific activity. Perhaps foreseeing the central role it now plays in current thinking, Planck made great note of the fact that the quantum of action retained its significance in relativity because of the relativistic invariance of the Principle of Least Action.
Max Planck's view of God can be regarded as pantheistic, with an almighty, all-knowing, benevolent but unintelligible God who permeates everything, manifest by symbols, including physical laws. His view may have been motivated by an opposition—like that of Einstein and Schrödinger—to the positivist, statistical, subjective universe of scientists such as Bohr, Heisenberg, and others. Planck was interested in truth and the Universe beyond observation, and he objected to atheism as an obsession with symbols.[1]

http://www.angelfire.com/folk/infidel/MaxPlanck.html

Remarkable attitude of Max Planck to religion

The view that an important physicist's positive attitude towards a religion proves the truth of that religion, or at least the truth of the statement that there is no contradiction between science and religion, is false. It is the classical (and fallacious) argumentum ad hominem, which is encountered in a vulgar form, for example, if one rejects a view just because the person expressing it is disreputable. However, even a homeless person can be correct about a specific issue while an educated and highly-placed man may be wrong. The truth is reached only by logic and not by a person's reputation. There is a priori no definite correlation between a person's circumstances and the truth of the statements he makes. Nevertheless, it is interesting to know what great scientists thought about religion at different times. Modern readers will be obviously interested mostly in the views of modern scientists.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f0LOfrbnRhc


sehen wir uns durch das ganze leben hindurch  einer höheren macht unterworfen deren wesen wir vom standpunkt der exakten wissenschaft aus niemals werden ergründen können die sich aber auch von niemanden der einigermassen nachdenkt ignorieren lässt hier gibt es für einen besinnlichen menschen nur zwei einstellungen zwischen denen er wählen kann entweder angst, feindseliger widerstand oder ehrfurcht und vertrauensvolle hingabe und wem es vergönnt ist an dem aufbau einer exakten wissenschaft mitzuarbeiten der wird mit unserem großen deutschen dichter dann genügen und inneres glueck finden in dem bewusstsein das erforschliche erforscht zu haben  und das unerforschliche ruhig zu verehren und naturwissenschaften begegnen sich in der frage nach der existenz nach dem wesen einer höchsten die welt regierenden macht bei dieser übereinstimmung ist aber doch auch ein grundsätzlicher unterschied zu beachten für den religiösen menschen ist gott unmittelbar und primär gegeben aus ihm aus seinem allmächtigen willen kommt alles leben und alles geschehen in der körperlichen wie in der geistigen welt wenn er auch nicht mit dem verstand erkennbar ist so wird er doch durch die religiösen symbole in der anschauung unmittelbar erfasst und legt seine heilige botschaft in die seelen derer die nach ihm gläubig sich anvertrauen im gegensatz dazu ist für den naturforscher das einzig primär gegebene der inhalt seiner sinneswahrnehmung und der daraus abgeleiteten messungen wenn also beide religionen und naturwissenschaft zu ihrer betätigung des glaubens an gott bedürfen so steht gott für die eine am anfang für die andere am ende alles denkens der einen bedeutet er das fundament der andern die krone des aufbaus jeglicher weltanschaulicher betrachtung wohin und wie weit wir blicken mögen zwischen religion und naturwissenschaft finden wir nirgends einen widerspruch wohl aber gerade in den entscheidenden punkten volle übereinstimmung.

Throughout life we ​​see ourselves subjected to a higher power whose essence we will never be able to fathom from the point of view of exact science, but which cannot be ignored by anyone who thinks to a certain extent. For a contemplative person, there are only two attitudes between which to choose; one can either fear, being in hostile resistance or awe and trustful devotion, and whoever is allowed to work on the development of an exact science will then suffice with our great German poet and find inner happiness in the awareness of having explored the explorable and to calmly adore the inexplicable to be quietly worshiped and natural sciences meet in the question of the existence of the essence of a supreme power ruling the world with this agreement, however, there is also a fundamental difference to be observed for religious people, God is directly and primarily given out of him out of his almighty will everything come to life and everything happens in the physical as well as in the spiritual world even if he is not recognizable with the mind, he is immediately grasped by the religious symbols in the view and puts his holy message in the souls of those who believe after him. In contrast to this, entrusting is the only thing primarily given for the natural scientist, the content of his sensory perception and the measurements derived from it, so if both religions and natural science need to believe in God for their activity, then god stands for one at the beginning for the other at the end of all thinking to one it means the fundament the other, the crown of the structure of any ideological consideration where and how far we may look between religion and science, nowhere do we find a contradiction, but especially in the crucial points full agreement.

Ao longo da vida, nos vemos submetidos a um poder superior cuja essência nunca seremos capazes de sondar do ponto de vista da ciência exata, mas que não pode ser ignorada por quem pensa até certo ponto. Para uma pessoa contemplativa, existem apenas dois cenários entre os quais escolher: um é medo, resistência hostil ou temor e devoção confiante e quem quer que tenha permissão para trabalhar no desenvolvimento de uma ciência exata, então, bastará com nosso grande poeta alemão e encontrará a felicidade interior na consciência de ter explorado o explorável e adorar com calma o inexplicável e as ciências naturais se encontram na questão da existência da essência de um poder supremo governando o mundo com esta correspondência, mas há também uma diferença fundamental a ser notada para o homem religioso, deus é direta e principalmente dado por ele desde sua graduação. Com a vontade certa vem toda a vida e tudo acontece tanto no mundo físico quanto no espiritual, mesmo que ele não seja reconhecível pela mente, ele é imediatamente captado pelos símbolos religiosos em vista e coloca sua mensagem sagrada nas almas daqueles que vêm depois dele confiar em si mesmo na fé, por outro lado, para o naturalista, a única coisa que é dada principalmente é o conteúdo de sua percepção sensorial e as medidas derivadas dela, então se ambas as religiões e as ciências naturais exigem a crença em deus para sua atividade, então deus representa um no início e o outro no final para todo pensamento. Para alguns, significa o fundamento, e para outros, a coroa da estrutura de qualquer visão ideológica, onde e até onde possamos olhar entre a religião e as ciências naturais, não encontramos uma contradição em parte alguma, mas precisamente nos pontos cruciais total concordância.