Living Book Cees Dekker
"Wonder about the world"
We live in a confusing world with lots of very different information coming to us. I find myself wandering around, wondering to myself if and how all of this makes sense.
Even when I was a teenager I was amazed by how the world presents itself to us. All kinds of questions emerged within me:
- How do all these things work?
- Why does Saturn have a ring?
- How does grass grow?
- Why does universe expand?
- What is the nature of nature?
- Is there a God?
- What is meaning of life?
And so on and so on.
I started studying physics (after also pondering psychology, theology, and other routes). Science is to me one of the ways to learn more about the world around us., and indeed a very gratifying enterprise. I have found great joy in science. In the 1990s, I researched nanotechnology, techniques to explore the world at the level of single atoms and molecules, gaining some fame with the beautiful carbon nanotubes. In the 2000s, I moved to biology at the level of single DNA molecules, proteins and cells. Currently I am leading a Kavli Institute of Nanoscience, I chair a new Department of Bionanoscience, and, most importantly, I lead a group of researchers in areas such as nanopores, DNA repair, and bacteria in nanoslits.
Part of the search for answers goes well beyond natural science. Existential questions demand insight from philosophy and religion. Indeed, I have become a Christian and have been quite involved in the dialogue between science and faith in recent years.
This book is open ended. There is so much more to explore in the future. Some questions have been answered. But answers evoke new questions. And so my search continues. And the road is entirely enjoyable.
View the debate between Cees Dekker and Herman Philipse: Debate between Christian Biophysicist and Atheist
