The social researches of religion perception by scientists in various countries

Despite an extensive discussion of the religion and science relations, until recently there has been a deficiency of empirical data on views of scientists on this question. The author summarizes results of the most remarkable studies focusing on the views of the scholars of the United States, Great Britain and other countries, discusses their limitations and possible interpretations. The article considers the specificity of the Russian situation, and the conclusions obtained on the basis of the researches undertaken by the author.