In an era when public debate often casts science and religion as irreconcilable adversaries, a new book by engineer and author Meenakshi Dhar proposes a different framework. Living With Both: Faith, Science, and the Search for Meaning, released this October, contends that scientific understanding and spiritual belief are not competing explanations but complementary modes of engaging with reality. The book arrives as conversations about the role of expertise, the limits of empiricism, and the human search for meaning continue to intensify across public life.
Dhar, whose background is in engineering and technology systems connected to the space industry, brings an analytical perspective to questions often treated as purely abstract. Her central argument is not that science and faith answer the same questions, but that they operate in fundamentally different domains. Science, she writes, explains the mechanisms of the physical universe, while faith addresses meaning, value, and lived human experience. This distinction, she suggests, dissolves much of the perceived conflict between the two.
The book spans topics including cosmology, the Big Bang, evolution, consciousness, morality, grief, and existential purpose. Yet it is not a purely theoretical treatise. Dhar interweaves scientific concepts with personal narrative, most notably her experience of sudden loss. After her father died, she found that scientific reasoning could explain the biological and physiological causes of death with precision, but it could not address the emotional rupture that followed. That moment became a turning point in her intellectual and spiritual journey, leading her to see faith not as blind certainty but as a mode of understanding that provides emotional grounding, resilience, and the ability to live with unanswered questions.
Rather than rejecting science, Dhar emphasizes its importance as a tool of disciplined inquiry. She cautions, however, against what she calls “overreach”—the assumption that science alone can resolve questions of meaning, morality, or purpose. A complete worldview, she argues, requires intellectual humility: the recognition that different kinds of questions require different kinds of answers. This position challenges both those who claim science has displaced faith and those who reject scientific findings outright.
The implications extend beyond personal philosophy. In a world where technological advancement continues to expand knowledge but not always meaning, Dhar's book invites readers into a reflective space where doubt is welcomed and certainty is carefully examined. It speaks to scientists, skeptics, believers, and seekers alike, encouraging dialogue rather than division. For an industry that often publishes books reinforcing entrenched positions, Living With Both offers a counterpoint: a call for nuance in a time of polarization.
Dhar's professional experience in the space sector lends her argument a distinctive credibility, demonstrating that a scientific career need not preclude spiritual inquiry. Her writing focuses on the intersection of science, philosophy, and human meaning, exploring how individuals construct understanding in a world defined by both knowledge and mystery. Living With Both ultimately invites readers to navigate uncertainty with humility and openness, a message that resonates as debates over science and faith continue to shape public discourse.
