Here is Archbishop Cushley’s Thought for the Day, broadcast this morning on BBC Radio Scotland. Listen here.*
“A couple of days ago I was up at Heriot Watt University here in Edinburgh. I was there for an annual event sponsored and promoted by its Chaplaincy.
This year’s lecture was given to us by Professor Russell Cowburn, who is an expert on nanotechnology at Cambridge University.Â
He was invited to tell us about something of the application of our current knowledge of things right down to the atomic level.
That’s stuff so incredibly small, you can’t see it. Every year the theme is different: astronomy, astro-physics, the history of science – and so this year we heard about making machines so small they’re very close to the atomic level.
There are breakthroughs in everything from fighting cancer to the unseen gubbinses of the smart phone in your pocket.
The talk was as accessible as it was fascinating – but what set it apart was that the context for his lecture was to let us see nanotechnology through the twin lenses of faith and science. That’s right, faith AND science.
Looking up at the stars makes us get all cosmic and wonder about our place in the universe – but drilling down to the atomic level can also fill us with awe and wonder. It lets us see how little we really still know about anything.
Einstein once said, “Science without religion is lame, [and] religion without science is blind”.
Some have seen faith and science in opposite corners, cancelling each other out in the search for truth, but I share the view that they’re actually better as partners in a dialogue.
When they talk to each other, as we see every year at Heriot Watt, faith and science help us to learn who we are, to let us glimpse what an amazing thing it is for us just to be here, and to let us understand just how little we know, and how much there is still for us to discover.
Well done to the Reverend Jane Howitt and the outgoing Principal of Heriot Watt, Professor Richard Williams, for hosting this fascinating event.
Faith AND science – now there is a marriage made in heaven… Have a good one!”
*Audio from BBC Radio Scotland, broadcast on 6 February 2026 and available for 29 days from day of broadcast.
