Erica Carlson

Jonathan Bartlett

Physicist, West Lafayette, Indiana

Erica Carlson struggled with feeling unsupported by her church while she was in grad school. “It’s the time commitment that has been hard for most of my church communities to understand,” she said, explaining that she felt an expectation that Christians attend up to three weekly events. “I always had too much homework to do, and I knew I should do it, since God was calling me into a technical career,” she said. “It was very lonely, both in undergraduate and graduate school.”

Furthermore, academia contains barriers that impede family life, making it a difficult path for women with families. After obtaining a PhD, it could take a person two or three postdoctoral positions (moves across the country) before finding a permanent position. “How many men do you know who would be willing to follow their wife around through four career moves in ten years?” she asked.

Carlson’s husband was. Fortunately, she only worked one postdoctoral position before landing a faculty position.

Today, she studies what electrons do inside of quantum materials. If scientists can learn to manipulate and control the quantum properties of electrons inside materials, they can be applied to new technologies. “This is the field that gave us computers and thumb drives,” she said. “We’re continually on the hunt for the next great material that will revolutionize our world.”

Carlson counters an old narrative among evangelicals that one can either choose God or science. “God calls the body of Christ into all places in society’s structures. After all, my science-minded friends need to know Jesus loves them. How will they know if they never meet a colleague who’s a believer?” she said.

Also in this series

Also in this issue

This month’s cover story examines the power of communal confession to heal the church’s—and society’s—deepest divisions. But pastor and writer Jeff Peabody doesn’t point to the early church or to liturgical traditions as the model for how we should pray; he turns to the famous ancient prayer of Daniel at the end of Israel’s long Babylonian exile. The prayer upends our typical notions of what it means to “speak prophetically,” and the implications for our fractious cultural and political moment are striking.

Cover Story

Forgive Us Our Sins (And Theirs, Too)

Set Free by the Cross, Why Do We Live in Bondage?

New Editor, Old Roots

The Motherly Love of a Wrathful God

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Democratic Christians Weigh Their Primary Concerns

Real Love Requires a Command

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Have You Noticed Church Is Farther Away Than it Used to Be?

María de los Ángeles La Torre Cuadros

Why Do Fewer Christian Women Work in Science?

Twelve Christian Women in Science You Should Know

Mary Schweitzer

Joanna Ng

Audrey Bowden

Margaret Miller

Lydia Manikonda

Jessica Moerman

Keila Natilde Lopez

Georgia Dunston

Mercy Akinyi

Alynne MacLean

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I Assumed Science Had All the Answers. Then I Started Asking Inconvenient Questions.

The Old Testament Twins We’ve Forgotten

Our March Issue: Us vs. Us

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Christian Martyr Numbers Down by Half in a Decade. Or Are They?

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Despite a Murder and Visa Denials, Christians Persevere in Turkey

The Many Faces of Narcissism in the Church

Review

Religious Parents Are Remarkably Similar, Even When They Belong to Different Religions

Review

Be Careful About Reading the Bible as a Political Guide

New & Noteworthy Books

Excerpt

My Generation Prized ‘Authenticity.’ Why I’ve Come to Love Wearing a Mask.

News

Why German Evangelicals Are Praising God in English

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