Reports

CFI’s Translations Project: MultiLingualizing Scientific Knowledge

The history of translation reveals a complex relationship between religion and science that defies straightforward categorization. This history is marked by recurring cycles of translation boom and decline, and the present moment appears no different. Theological conservatism has played a significant role. Ongoing debates about reconciling religious texts with modern science have led some communities to reject or actively discourage the translation of scientific works they believe contradict established religious doctrines and dogmas. Socio-economic challenges are also an important factor. Translation initiatives require substantial funding and institutional patronage. These resources are often scarce in societies facing pressing needs or competing priorities. Additionally, literacy has historically been confined to small elite classes versed in specialized languages such as Latin or classical Arabic. In the contemporary academic world, English has increasingly become the lingua franca of science. While this has undeniably facilitated the exchange of ideas and access to global scientific literature for many, it’s also restricted the dissemination of valuable research from and in languages other than English. In response to all this, two primary objectives have emerged for boosting multilingualism in scientific communication: 1) expanding access to scientific knowledge in languages beyond English and 2) fostering grassroots initiatives to democratize science communication and build inclusive communities. The Translations Project of the Center for Inquiry and the Richard Dawkins Foundation for Reason & Science has embraced these goals since its establishment in 2017. The Translations Project in a Nutshell In many Muslim-majority countries, access to secular literature and books on evolutionary theory remains limited due to theological concerns. The Translations Project addresses this gap by producing professional translations of landmark scientific works—beginning with Richard Dawkins’s books—into Farsi, Indonesian, Arabic, and Urdu. In 2023, Hindi was added following India’s controversial removal of evolutionary theory from ninth and tenth grade curricula. The project has grown beyond its initial focus on Dawkins’s books to encompass a broader range of titles. Current offerings include Yasmine Mohammed’s Unveiled: How Western Liberals Empower Radical Islam, four children’s books by Bailey Harris and Elle Harris that introduce humanist and scientific concepts to young readers, and Why We Believe in Gods by James Anderson Thomson and Clare Aukofer in Urdu. The past two quarters saw significant additions with Arabic translations of Jerry Coyne’s Why Evolution Is True and Charles M. Wynn’s Quantum Leaps in the Wrong Direction: Where Real Science Ends and Pseudoscience Begins, expanding the project’s coverage of both evolutionary biology and critical thinking about pseudoscience. As of today, the Translations Project website features fifty-four translations: fifteen in Urdu, thirteen in Farsi, twelve in Indonesian, thirteen in Arabic, and one in Hindi. The Translations Project in Numbers: Countries and Visits Between August and September 2025, the Translations Project attracted 5,221 online visits from seventy countries worldwide. The program has particularly strong engagement from Asian countries, especially those in South Asia, as well as from the Middle East. This pattern aligns closely with the project’s target languages—Urdu, Farsi, Indonesian, and Arabic—which are predominantly spoken in Muslim-majority countries across those regions. European and American traffic also represents an important component of the project’s reach; this engagement can be attributed to the significant diaspora populations of target language speakers in those regions. The Translations Project Website Visits per Language The Farsi-language page of the Translations Project website is the platform’s most mature and successful market. It generates over one-third of all visits. Farsi-speaking users actively navigate the entire content of the Farsi page on the Translations Project website to discover multiple titles rather than simply downloading a single work and departing. Although The God Delusion continues to lead in download rates, the remaining twelve titles also show active interaction. This engagement demonstrates that user interests extend well beyond critiques of religious claims and practices. Scientific works have gained substantial traction, especially for books such as The Greatest Show on Earth and Climbing Mount Improbable. The Indonesian translation page is our second-largest language segment with a total of 1,124 downloads. The Indonesian audience is particularly notable for its openness to diverse content types and formats. Our download and traffic data suggests that Indonesian users typically have better access to e-reading devices or simply favor digital formats optimized for mobile devices. The Urdu translation page presents a distinct profile characterized by focused interests and engagement patterns. This page exhibits behaviors that differ noticeably from the Farsi and Indonesian pages. The most striking characteristic of our Urdu traffic is its heavy concentration on The God Delusion, as well as Unveiled and Why We Believe in God. This indicates that Urdu-speaking users are primarily seeking religious critique content. Arabic-speaking users register the lowest average page visits per user, implying that users appear to arrive with clear intentions and proceed immediately to download content without exploratory browsing behavior. Content preferences in the Arabic segment reveal nuances that reflect the specific cultural and religious context of Arabic-speaking communities. Our data suggests an audience increasingly prepared to engage with scientific content that challenges traditional religious narratives. Concluding Remarks Non-English speakers find themselves at a disadvantage that prevents them from actively participating in the scientific conversation. The Translations Project continues to work to address this gap by offering vital secular literature and scientific content in the native languages of the world’s most religiously conservative societies. For science to improve lives and change thinking around the world, it must be made both multilingual and readily accessible. The Translations Project continues to provide a working model for doing just that. Thanks to the generous contributions of our donor community and the tireless efforts of our expert translators, we’ve been able to demonstrate how language barriers can be overcome in societies where scientific inquiry and religious authority often clash