his project aims to investigate the concept and meaning of infinity viewed through an interdisciplinary perspective consisting of mathematics, physics and cosmology, philosophy, and theology. It has two goals. The first of which is to produce a series of recommendations (“white papers”) on the ways long-range research on this interdisciplinary topic should be pursued through a major Request for Proposal (RFP) program. The second goal is to produce a scholarly interdisciplinary book that includes key essays written by conference participants. The principal investigator is Dr. Robert John Russell, founder and director of the Center for Theology and the Natural Sciences (CTNS).
“Infinity is both a technical, specialized topic in mathematics,” says Russell, “and it’s also a term that surfaces everywhere—in the history of Greek philosophy, in theology, in questions about the universe, in physics and cosmology.” The term has an ancient pedigree, but he believes that since modern developments in mathematics beginning with the work of George Cantor have revolutionized the concept of infinity, it is now necessary to arrive at a proper interdisciplinary definition that is accurate in every specialized usage but broad enough to be applicable in different fields.
The major event of this program was an international conference convened in August 2006 by CTNS in the Republic of San Marino, near Rimini, Italy, on the concept and meaning of infinity in an interdisciplinary context. The distinguished scholars participating included Enrico Bambieri and Edward Nelson, from the field of mathematics; Wolfgang Achtner, David Bentley Hart, and Robert John Russell from philosophy and theology; and from physics and cosmology, Freeman Dyson and Michael Heller.
The conference was organized along different lines from most such events today. “We didn’t read the papers during the conference,” explains Russell. “Instead, we used the new methodology for progress in interdisciplinary scholarship CTNS developed with the Vatican Observatory over the past decade where you read the papers in advance, then come and just discuss them. Each author takes notes on the critique, rewrites the paper and then it’s sent out to editors.” The papers were posted on the CTNS website a month before the conference to allow careful study.
“This process allows an equal voice to all the participants around the table,” Russell says of the Infinity research program, “thus taking seriously the interdisciplinary balance of scientists and theologians.” In the discussions, theologians were able to ask scientists “How does this illumine my discipline?” At the same time, they had the opportunity to point out to scientists that the scientists’ implicit philosophical assumptions are broader, and that they may have wider implications than they previously realized.

Book on Infinity
An outcome of the conference was a book of the participants’ edited papers and some additional contributions. This is in preparation, with the same title as the symposium, New Frontiers in Research on Infinity, co-edited by Dr. Charles Harper, Jr., Senior Executive Vice President and Chief Strategist of the John Templeton Foundation, who also chaired the conference. The book will address the concept and meaning of infinity viewed through the perspectives of history, mathematics, physics and cosmology, philosophy, and theology, and will be divided into sections for each of those disciplines. “I think it’s going to be a really good contribution to the growing field of theology and science,” says Russell.

Exploring the Infinite RFP
The primary purpose of the “New Frontiers in Research on Infinity” project was to provide guidelines for a significant RFP program by the Templeton Foundation on this topic. This program is designed to further our understanding of the topic of infinity by supporting serious and rigorous scholarly research and by helping to build a global network of scholars who will advance technical, in-guild research on infinity as well as cross-disciplinary inter-fertilization between guilds.
The successful submissions to this program have now been selected by a panel of jurors chaired by Harvey Friedman, who holds the posts of Distinguished University Professor, Professor of Philosophy, Professor of Computer and Information Science, and Professor of Music at Ohio State University. “We first selected a pool of people that we would solicit proposals from,” explains Friedman. “This was not an open RFP.” So an initial list was constructed by the jurors from which a certain proportion of people did submit proposals. Eventually 21 grants were awarded.
What does Friedman believe are the most important questions that should be asked about infinity? He points out that, in the material sent out to invitees, he actually proffered some suggestions, though with the clear caveat that submissions could be on any relevant topic. “So I am on record as to what I think is particularly important. Among them are things like: How exactly is infinity used in mathematics? When can it be eliminated and when is it necessary? These are some favorite issues of mine.” He notes that some of the proposals do, in fact, address these questions.