Erik Hammerstrom '97

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Erik Hammerstrom '97 published his first book, The Science of Chinese Buddhism: Early Twentieth-Century Engagements, with Columbia University Press in August 2015. Examining dozens of previously unstudied writings from the Chinese Buddhist press, this book maps Buddhists' efforts to rethink their traditions through science in the initial decades of the twentieth century. Showcasing the rich and progressive steps Chinese religious scholars took in adapting to science's rising authority, this volume offers a key perspective on how a major Eastern power transitioned to modernity in the twentieth century and how its intellectuals anticipated many of the ideas debated by scholars of science and Buddhism today.