All hail Noel

The unholy trinity of Lewis Wolpert, Richard Dawkins and Peter Atkins has been challenged by a retired consultant psychiatrist from Manchester, Noel Curran, aged 80, to "defend their absolute conviction of the non-existence of God who created the universe". He feels that Dawkins, Atkins and Wolpert need to be taught a lesson: "They are so sure of themselves, so arrogant."

Only Dr Atkins, a physicist based at Lincoln College Oxford, has accepted the challenge. "I got a letter from Dr Wolpert saying he couldn't accept because he wasn't a physicist. Dr Dawkins, most interestingly, has totally ignored the challenge. I haven't heard anything from him."

Dr Curran has studied the philosophy of science and religion and theology for 50 years in his spare time. So does he believe in God? "Of course I do! I am a Roman Catholic."