How we cite our quotes: Citations follow this format: (Part.Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #4
And so, in that Greek letter that looks like a shack with a corrugated tin roof, in that elusive, irrational number with which scientists try to understand the universe, I found refuge. (1.5.41)
Notice how Pi names himself after an elusive and irrational number. When Pi praises science – or math and reason – these tools are never ends in themselves. Science has the workings of faith and combats agnosticism just like religion. Or, as in this passage, math brings us to the mysterious, the irrational and elusive.
Quote #5
He was a regular visitor who read the labels and descriptive notices in their entirety and approved of every animal he saw. Each to him was a triumph of logic and mechanics, and nature as a whole was an exceptionally fine illustration of science. To his ears, when an animal felt the urge to mate, it said "Gregor Mendel", recalling the father of genetics, and when it was time to show its mettle, "Charles Darwin", the father of natural selection, and what we took to bleating, grunting, hissing, snorting, roaring, growling, howling, chirping and screeching were but the thick accents of foreigners. When Mr. Kumar visited the zoo, it was always to take the pulse of the universe, and his stethoscopic mind always confirmed to him that everything was in order, that everything was order. (1.7.2)
Pi's biology teacher sees the world in a certain way: as ordered, and alive with the precepts of science. Pi revels in the various and contradictory worldviews of his friends and teachers: the other Mr. Kumar sees God's sacred creation in the zoo. The animals must see something entirely different. Pi's father sees a business. For Pi, science, like religion, is a system of thought we place on the world to understand it. Pi delights in all these systems of thought and creates relgio-scientific patchwork of belief. Sounds complicated, but Pi simply delights in all forms of faith – and he thinks science is no different than religion.
Quote #6
[Mr. Kumar to Pi:] "There are no grounds for going beyond a scientific explanation of reality and no sound reason for believing anything but our sense experience. A clear intellect, close attention to detail and a little scientific knowledge will expose religion as superstitious bosh. God does not exist." (1.7.12)
Pi's biology teacher, Mr. Kumar, rails against religion. Pi doesn't know what to say. We know Pi admires Mr. Kumar quite a lot, but we also know Pi has a deep belief in God. When Pi takes stock of his supplies on the lifeboat, he organizes and lists with a scientific fervor. We might even say with "[a] clear intellect, close attention to detail and a little scientific knowledge" (1.7.12). For Pi, these tools don't necessarily mean that God doesn't exist. All harmonize in his democratic little noggin.