The Chestnut Hill College community welcomes Michelle Francl, Ph.D., Bryn Mawr College chemistry department chair, who will present her lecture “Working at the Subtle Edge: The Intersection of Science and Religion,” Tuesday, November 18, at 7 PM, at the College’s Commonwealth Chateau, SugarLoaf Hill.

“We tend to think of science as grappling with the tangible world - what we can see and touch - using methods that are dispassionate and objective.   We see faith as sitting on the opposite pole, contemplating the ineffable in ways that are passionate, personal and subjective. I work as a scientist and as a theologian, delighting in contemplating the world through both of these lenses,” said Dr. Francl.

Dr. Francl said her lecture wrestles with notions of whether or not science and theology are compatible with one another, what can science and faith tell each other at the practical, methodological and metaphysical levels and the risks of working at “the subtle edge” for both science and religion.

“I'm hoping that people will come away with a better appreciation for the ways in which science and religion look at the universe, and a sense that religion should not fear science, and vice versa,” said Dr. Francl regarding her lecture.

As Professor of Chemistry on the Clowes Fund in Science and Public Policy at Bryn Mawr College where she has served on its faculty for 28 years, Dr. Francl is a quantum chemist who has published works such as the development of methods for computational chemistry and structures of topologically intriguing molecules. She has written essays on science, culture and policy for publications such as Nature Chemistry and was elected a fellow of the American Chemical Society in 2009. Dr. Francl also writes a regular column called “Catholic Spirituality” for CatholicPhilly.com, the Philadelphia archdiocese’s news site.

Dr. Francl’s lecture is free and open to the public and sponsored by Chestnut Hill College’s Institute for Religion and Science. Contact Kathy Duffy, Ph.D., SSJ, at kduffy@chc.edu or 215-248-7197 for more information.