This week a statistically significant major Pew Study revealed that most American scientists (51%) believe in some form of higher power deity. While this percentage is far lower than most average Americans, the study does note some very interesting data points.

• The same questions that were asked in a 1914 survey to American scientists were asked in 1996. While American culture has become less influenced by Judeo-Christian values, surprisingly American scientists answered almost the same way as their 1914 counterparts. 

• The Pew Research Poll shows a trend that younger scientists are more likely to believe in God than their older brethren. This shows that increasingly the younger generation is able to fuse a belief in the scientific physical world with a transcendent metaphysical worldview. 

 Source: Pew Research Center for the People & the Press survey, conducted in May and June 2009. For complete question wording, see survey topline. Numbers may not sum to 100 due to rounding.