CTNS Congratulates Colleagues on ESSSAT Prize, Announces English Version of Online Encyclopedia

Berkeley, California — The Center for Theology and the Natural Sciences (CTNS) today publicly hailed Professor Giuseppe Tanzella-Nitti and his colleagues at the Pontificia Università della Santa Croce in Rome for their successful launch of the Dizionario Interdisciplinare di Scienza e Fede (DISF), an online encyclopedia of science and faith in the Italian language. The DISF website recently won the prestigious ESSSAT Communication Prize from the European Society for the Study of Science and Theology. Dr. Robert J. Russell, founder and director of CTNS, said: "We heartily congratulate our colleagues on this valuable new online resource, and we commend ESSSAT for recognizing its importance for the international dialogue on science and religion."

Russell and Tanzella-Nitti also announced the rollout of a new English-language version of the DISF web encyclopedia, prepared by the DISF project team with financial support and scholarly consultation from CTNS. "We are especially pleased," Russell added, "to partner with our colleagues to make this material available in English as well as Italian." Tanzella-Nitti thanked CTNS for its investment of US$15,000 in the web translation project, saying: "We are happy and honored to be involved in this common project with CTNS, cooperating together to strengthen the dialogue between American and European scholars."

Both versions of the DISF web encylopedia stem from a print encyclopedia by the same title, edited by Tanzella-Nitti and Alberto Strumia and originally published in 2002 by Urbaniana University Press and Città Nuova. The print version comprises two volumes with 161 articles by distinguished scholars and scientists; the online versions feature some 60 key articles in both languages. In the last six months of 2003 alone, Tanzella-Nitti noted, the DISF website registered nearly 166,000 "hits," of which about 30% were from visitors outside Italy and some 18,000 were for the English version.

The DISF website, www.disf.org, is designed as a portal with links to bibliographies, editorials, news articles, and event announcements as well as the encyclopedia. The portal is co-sponsored by the Servizio Nazionale per il Progetto Culturale. The English encyclopedia co-funded by CTNS is available at www.disf.org/en/ and at www.ctns.org/encyclopaedia.html.

The Center for Theology and the Natural Sciences (www.ctns.org) is a nonprofit academic center and international membership organization affiliated with the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, California. CTNS' mission is to promote the creative mutual interaction of theology and the natural sciences through research, teaching, and public service. Established in 1981, CTNS has conducted major programs such as the Science and Religion Course Program, the Science and the Spiritual Quest program, and the CTNS-Vatican Observatory Research Collaboration. CTNS recently launched a new peer-reviewed journal entitled Theology and Science. For more information, visit www.ctns.org, email ctnsinfo@ctns.org, or call 510-848-8152.