Sir, – William Reville ("Fallout after my science and religion column", Science, August 1st) has misinterpreted Einstein in his article.
Prof Reville implied that Einstein believed in God.
Einstein always declared himself to be Jewish, but also said he did not believe in a personal God.
He did what many people do, which is to associate with a religious group for cultural reasons. His belief was pantheistic, that is he believed that the laws of nature and the whole universe were “God”.
This kind of God bears no resemblance to the standard supernatural personal God of the main religions of the world.
Einstein was a member of the Humanist Association of New York when he lived there, and indeed wrote extensively on humanism. His writings on the subject have been collected and published in a book entitled Essays in Humanism. – Yours, etc,
Prof GREG ATKINS,
Fellow Emeritus,
Moyne Institute,
Trinity College Dublin,
Dublin 2.