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So how do we understand the general relationship of science and religion? What models are available to us as we try to envisage their possible relationships? One of the most influential accounts of approaches to the relation of science and religion is due to Ian G. Barbour (1923–2013), a pioneer of studies in the field of science and religion. Many would argue that the emergence of the field of ‘science and religion’ as an area of study in its own right dates from 1966, when Barbour's landmark work Issues in Science and Religion was published. Barbour was born on 5th October 1923 in Beijing, China, and initially focused his studies on the field of physics, gaining his PhD from the University of Chicago in 1950. His first academic appointment was at Kalamazoo College, Michigan, as professor of physics. However, he had a strong interest in religion, which he was able to pursue through studies at Yale University, leading to a BD in 1956. He served for many years in various roles, including Chairman of the Department of Religion and Professor of Physics at Carleton College, Northfield, Minnesota (1955–1981). He finally became Winifred and Atherton Bean Professor of Science, Technology and Society at the college (1981–1986). He died in 2013.

Barbour's characteristic concern to relate science and religion developed during the 1960s, and led to the publication of the book for which he is best known – Issues in Science and Religion (1966). This book reflected his experience of teaching in both the areas of science and religion – teaching interests which he was able to maintain throughout most of his academic career. During the 1970s, Barbour developed his interests further through a program on ethics, public policy, and technology, which identified and engaged with a series of religious issues. Issues in Science and Religion is widely regarded as an authoritative, clearly written, and learned book that introduced many people to the fascinating questions which were associated with this field. Since then, Barbour has authored or edited a series of works dealing with issues on the interface of science and religion (most notably Religion in an Age of Science, which appeared in 1990, based on the Gifford lectures given at the University of Aberdeen in 1989). He is widely regarded as the doyen of dialogue in this field, and was honoured for this by the American Academy of Religion in 1993. Barbour was awarded the Templeton Prize for Progress in Religion in 1999 in recognition of his efforts to create a dialogue between the worlds of science and religion.

Barbour has played an enormous role in catalysing the emergence of this distinct field, and has had considerable personal influence on shaping its dynamics – including his formulation of an influential typology of possible relationships between science and religion. Barbour's typology of ‘ways of relating science and religion’ first appeared in 1988 and remains widely used, despite some obvious weaknesses. Barbour lists four broad types of relations: conflict; independence; dialogue; and integration. In what follows, we shall set out and illustrate Barbour's fourfold scheme, before noting some questions that need further exploration.