Charlotte Sleigh

Science, Religion, and the Human Future: Conflict, Collusion, and Consequences demonstrates that the myth of an inevitable conflict between science and faith is based on a misunderstanding of history, with potentially adverse consequences for human futures. The work focuses first upon ancient, medieval and Islamic scholars and the intimate connections they made between theology and the investigation of the natural world-and why we know so little about them. Moving into the modern era, it argues that one of the most concerning features of the science-faith relationship was their collusion in defining and validating the 'civilising mission' of Western imperialism. This collusion recontextualises the creation of the conflict thesis. Turning to the present day, the book investigates episodes of scientific controversy in which effective science communication was hindered not as a result of a clash between science and faith but because of a close and unexamined entanglement between the two. In cases ranging from space colonisation to AI, climate change to Covid-19, the problem is not so much science's split from faith as the unexamined and problematic theologies that remain implicit within it. Learning from these examples, the book outlines some productive and non-conflict-based frameworks for talking about science and faith in the future.

What does it mean to be human? And what, if anything, does it have to do with being a member of the animal species Homo sapiens? This dazzling book gets to the very heart of our (rather unscientific) motivations and prejudices about humanity, showing how, by understanding them, we can go some way to resolving the world’s biggest problems. From beasts to aliens, widespread but often problematic links with six other beings are explored. Deep philosophical questions are tackled, including humanity’s common purpose, life’s meaning and what it means to be accepted as part of a community. Global in its outlook and illustrated by stunning pictures, Human is a powerful, funny and iconoclastic antidote to post-humanism.

The growing field of literature and science is for the first time given a fully theorized overview. Using case studies from a three hundred year history, Sleigh focuses on literary form and argues that novels did not just reflect or inform areas of science, but were part of a broader, ongoing cultural negotiation about how to read things.

The growing field of literature and science is for the first time given a fully theorized overview. Using case studies from a three hundred year history, Sleigh focuses on literary form and argues that novels did not just reflect or inform areas of science, but were part of a broader, ongoing cultural negotiation about how to read things.

The Bible is bursting with teaching about nature: how God created it, how humans fit into it, and how it is part of his big story of justice, love and redemption. But what does the Bible have to say about the environmental issues that face us? These seven Bible studies explore such questions as: How well rooted are you in God's creation? Can you take your ethics to the shops? Does what you eat really make a difference? Is an environmentally friendly lifestyle just too painful to contemplate? Each Bible study is accompanied by a variety of lively and engaging activities, from the practical to the reflective. Each one will inspire and encourage you to lead a greener, more fulfilling life that respects and honours God's awesome creation.

Ants are legion: at present there are 11,006 species of ant known; they live everywhere in the world except the polar icecaps; and the combined weight of the ant population has been estimated to make up half the mass of all insects alive today.When we encounter them outdoors, ants fascinate us; discovered in our kitchen cupboards, they elicit horror and disgust. Charlotte Sleigh’s Ant elucidates the cultural reasons behind our varied reactions to these extraordinary insects, and considers the variety of responses that humans have expressed at different times and in different places to their intricate, miniature societies. Ants have figured as fantasy miniature armies, as models of good behaviour, as infiltrating communists and as creatures on the borderline between the realms of the organic and the machine: in 1977 British Telecom hired ant experts to help solve problems with their massive information network.This is the first book to examine ants in these and many other such guises, and in so doing opens up broader issues about the history of science and humans’ relations with the natural world. It will be of interest to anyone who likes natural history or cultural studies, or who has ever rushed out and bought a can of Raid.