Agent Dana Scully, The X-Files

If ever there was a set up on television of the clash between science and faith, it was The X-Files.

Agent Fox Mulder was driven by his unflappable faith that extraterrestrials were real, and his sister was abducted by aliens -- and all of this was covered up by the government. He was a rogue agent who didn’t need any scientific proof to follow his mission. Agent Dana Scully, on the other hand, was assigned to be Mulder’s partner to debunk his paranormal work in The X-Files. She was a scientist and was always looking for the facts of a situation and the most logical, scientific explanation -- and not jumping on the first crackpot theory that Mulder or his buddies, the Lone Gunmen would expound.

However, what made Scully so interesting as a scientist was her ability to keep her mind open to possibilities that were in direct conflict with conventional science, something that all scientists should always do. She would not buy into Fox’s arguments without the burden of proof, but when it was there, when she could see the evidence, she did not allow preconceived notions to cloud her judgment. Sure, after awhile the series was derailed into Jesus imagery and nonsense, but during the early run of The X-Files, Scully was science personified (with a handgun).