Are there any statistics that show how many scientists are Christians or otherwise believe in a personal God? I was reading The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins and he mentions a study regarding the percentages of believers in the National Academy of Sciences and Royal Society. I was wondering if these figures mirrored the numbers for all other scientists, not merely those elected to prestigious societies. Unfortunately, googling "number of christian scientists" doesn't get me the kind of christian scientists I'm looking for...

Does anyone have any statistics on the number of scientists (Ph.D.-level researchers) who are Christian?
In 1998, Edward J. Larson and Larry Witham published an article in the leading scientific journal, Nature, their findings on the percent of believers among scientists in the National Academy of Sciences:


  We found the highest percentage of belief [in God] among NAS mathematicians
  (14.3% in God, 15.0% in immortality). Biological scientists had the
  lowest rate of belief (5.5% in God, 7.1% in immortality), with
  physicists and astronomers slightly higher (7.5% in God, 7.5% in
  immortality).


In regards to the question being asked, however, a Pew Survey in mid-2009 found that 33% of all scientists in America (not just those elected to NAS) believe in God, compared to 83% the American public. 18% believed in some sort of "higher power" (unaffiliated with any religion) and 41% are atheist. This suggests that the "average" scientist is more likely to believe in God than the most esteemed scientists.





This interesting article summarizes some of the findings from the Pew data.