In November 2014 Sir John Houghton gave the annual Edmund Halley lecture at St Margaret’s church, Lee, south-east London, where I was rector, on the theme of climate change. The audience, including secondary school students, was packed. He was gracious, obviously knowledgable and clear-sighted about the dangers awaiting us. He was also sure, as a religious believer, that the universe did not contain its own final explanation.
