Ismail Serageldin addressed the closing session of a roundtable of distinguished Egyptian intellectuals discussing the challenges of the knowledge society. He emphasized that the culture of science and the values of scientific inquiry must be broadly embraced throughout society, and that the scientific method must be the only authority recognized in the magisterium of science. In fact, recognition of the distinctive nature of the domains of religion and science is at the heart of the ability to advance significantly in science, a lesson that the great Muslim scientists of the middle ages were among the first to recognize. Serageldin then sketched our the key aspects that he felt were needed for an Egyptian renaissance and focused on the BAs role in spreading this culture of science in society.