After two centuries in the ascendancy, the Enlightenment project is under threat. Religious movements are sweeping the globe preaching unreason, intolerance and dogma, and challenging the idea that rational, secular enquiry is the best way to understand the world.
Over the next 12 pages, we report from the front line of this conflict. We investigate the roots, the aims and the capabilities of the religious fundamentalists and examine the likely consequences for science, culture and the environment. And we ask what can be done to halt the slide into a new age of unreason.
(See 鈥淓nd of the enlightenment鈥�) 鈥� What has fuelled the rise of fundamentalism, and why does it matter?
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(See 鈥淢eeting of minds鈥�) 鈥� What drives people into irrational belief?
(See 鈥淓nemy at the gates鈥�) 鈥� What is the campaign strategy against science, and who is bankrolling it?
(See 鈥淧eople in glass houses鈥︹��) 鈥� Does science have its own fundamentalists?
