Are science and religion opposed, with science somehow more ‘real’? Not at all, says Prof. Andrew Briggs, who holds degrees in both science and theology. Both science and religion, he says, start from an ultimate curiosity about the world – and science swims in the slipstream of the flow of the deep questions they ask about our existence.

“When young children first begin to ask ‘why?’ they embark on a journey with no final destination. The need to make sense of the world as a whole is an ultimate curiosity that lies at the root of all human religions. It has, in many cultures, shaped and motivated a more down to earth scientific interest in the physical world, which could therefore be described as penultimate curiosity. These two manifestations of curiosity have a history of connection that goes back deep into the human past.

His book, The Penultimate Curiosity, co-written with the artist and poet Robert Wagner, explores the long history of the relationship between science and religion: “the ultimate and the penultimate curiosity.” Here is a trailer.

The two have produced together two films that can be seen on YouTube:

The Roots of Curiosity

The Conflicts of Curiosity

Numbers limited to 40: booking essential. Tickets £10.