It seems pertinent to note here that the opposite is true also. Many of the greatest [Western] scientist of history have been religious and/or believers in God and often have had religious support.

Galileo, Huygens, Liebniz, Kepler and Newton are the first few that spring to mind. It used to be that (some at least, I didn't do a survey) of the biography boxes included "religion" as a characteristic.

For these named at least their religious beliefs were an active and important element of their lives and places their work in perspective.

Personally I find it lacking wrt NPOV to not include that information in the biography box.

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In response to your specifics re Einstein the cited wikipedia page includes (and included on 18 Sept the quote you claim to be missing (at least a form of it):

>"Your question [about God] is the most difficult in the world. It is not a question I can answer simply with yes or no. I am not an Atheist. I do not know if I can define myself as a Pantheist. The problem involved is too vast for our limited minds. May I not reply with a parable? The human mind, no matter how highly trained, cannot grasp the universe. We are in the position of a little child, entering a huge library whose walls are covered to the ceiling with books in many different tongues. The child knows that someone must have written those books. It does not know who or how. It does not understand the languages in which they are written. The child notes a definite plan in the arrangement of the books, a mysterious order, which it does not comprehend, but only dimly suspects. That, it seems to me, is the attitude of the human mind, even the greatest and most cultured, toward God. We see a universe marvelously arranged, obeying certain laws, but we understand the laws only dimly. Our limited minds cannot grasp the mysterious force that sways the constellations. I am fascinated by Spinoza's Pantheism. I admire even more his contributions to modern thought. Spinoza is the greatest of modern philosophers, because he is the first philosopher who deals with the soul and the body as one, not as two separate things.[19]" //

I don't think it does justice to Einstein's beliefs to say "'he was an agnostic' and that's all". For example the statement - though I've not looked at the wider context - that:

>"[...] Christianity as Jesus Christ taught it [...] is capable of curing all the social ills of humanity" Einstein "Ideas and Opinions" (1954), NY, Bonanza Books [via Wikipedia]

seems quite contrary to Bertrand Russell's position of whom it could equally be said 'he was an agnostic and that's all'.