[Bachelard] is neither a self-confessed and tortured atheist like
Satre, nor, like Chardin, a heretic combining a belief in God with a
proficiency in modern science. But, within the French context, he is
almost as important as they are because he has a pseudo-religious force,
without taking a stand on religion. To define him as briefly as
possible - he is a philosopher, with a professional training in the
sciences, who devoted most of the second phase of his career to
promoting that aspect of human nature which often seems most inimical to
science: the poetic imagination ... - J.G. Weightman, The New York
Times Review of Books