ABSTRACT
The study of ‘science and religion’ in different contexts carry different meanings. The dominant historiography of science and religion is focused mainly on two major themes: the conflict between science and religion, and the compatibility of science and religion. This binary understanding of science and religion gets questioned when anthropologists enter the field and discover new meanings. This binary of a conflictual or complementary relationship between science and religion also constituted the history of European modernity, the way it unfolded and became the master narrative for all societies. Societies were expected to mimic already scripted trajectories of growth and become the arena for similar debates on science and religion. This introductory chapter discusses the major debates and concerns in the study of science and religion, and argues for the need for more anthropological studies on science and religion.
