Volume 125 Issue 2 March/April 2010

Editorial: Just believe: It seems that anti-science is on the rise, but hopefully we've found the antidote

Cover Story

Battle of the Babies: A new book argues that liberal secularism and high birth rates are fuelling a revival of religious fundamentalism. Caspar Melville speaks to its author Eric Kaufmann

My pious past: Did you know Peter Tatchell used to be a Sunday School teacher?
Beyond nature: The human finger points the way to what makes us truly human, say Raymond Tallis

Is anyone out there?: Aliens, Martians, extraterrestrials – how do we find out whether there’s life on other planets? Paul Davies has a formula
Leap of faith: Ruth Turner, Chief Executive of Tony Blair’s Faith Foundation, makes the case for faith-based aid
Man & other beasts: Humanism is under attack in the academy for its assumption of man’s superiority over animals. John Appleby visits the intellectual borderland between humans and animals
Cast away: How humanist are the three main parties? With the general election fast approaching, Paul Sims has been canvassing
Judgement day: Is the world really getting safer? Lawrence M Krauss, the scientist who reset the Doomsday Clock, cautions against complacency
Going to the ladies: From the latrine to the loo, the pissoir to the powder room, Sally Feldman explores the sexual politics of toilets
Shadow pope: What do the Pope and the secular philosopher Jürgen Habermas have in common, asks Jonathan Rée

Diary: The gradual anarchist: Stan Cohen remembers Colin Ward, the opposite of the cloak-and-dagger image of the anarchist
Endgame: Aura & out: Laurie Taylor balances his chakras

The last of the bohemians: Tom McDonough celebrates the subversive poetic vision of the Situationists

The Bishop's Man by Linden MacIntyre: Francis Beckett on a bleak timely novel about those charged with covering up Catholic child abuse
Alex's Adventures in Numberland by Alex Bellos: Matt Parker visits Numberland with Alex Bellos
Dark Matter by Juli Zeh: Stuart Sim enjoys a metaphysical thriller
Dreams in a Time of War by Ngugi wa Thiong'o: Toby Saul reviews the memoir of an African master
The New Old World by Perry Anderson: Stephen Howe on Perry Anderson's monumental analysis of Europe