Some thoughts of a practising scientist and Christian
The kettle in my kitchen has just boiled, why? We could be described in purely physical terms: a voltage applied across the element forces electrons through it, and the resistance to electron flow produces heat which local heating of the water. Alternatively, it could be because I wanted a mug of coffee to drink while writing this. Of course both answers are correct, providing complementary viewpoints; one giving a mechanism the other purpose. Science and the Christian faith have a similar complementarity; although asigning mechanism to science and purpose to faith is overly simplistic.
Science and faith both seek answers to questions about the world around us; questions we expect to lead us closer to the truth. I believe that there is only one truth, and that scientific and religious investigation lead towards that truth. Therefore, there can ultimately be no disagreement between the two. Apparant disagreements are opportunities for constructive discussion, hopefully leading to greater understanding of both disciplines. For such a dialogue to be constructive one thing that must occur is for both disciplines to understand the nature, background and limitations of the other discipline; as well as the debates within each discipline about these things.
The nature of science
There are several views on the precise nature of science and the scientific method. There are, however, a number of things that are true of all of these views. These also highlight a number of axioms that underlie scientific endeavour; those things which scientist assume to be true (sometimes unconsciously) but which cannot be proved by the scientific method itself.
First, and foremost, is that science is an empirical discipline; that is it is concerned with what can be observed (or directly infered from observations) through experimental investigation. Scientists constantly probe the nature of the material world in which we live with whatever tools are most appropriate (whether physical devices or mathematical algorithms), and produce hypotheses, theories and laws to try and explain what is observed. In turn, these explanations are subject to experimental verification. It is axiomatic to the scientist that the material universe is open to such enquiry, and that the results of experiments will be repeatable and meaningful; it is assumed that the universe will make sense.
Second, science is fundamentally mathematical (even if in some branches of science little explicit maths is required). The "fundamental" laws and models of science (such as quantum mechanics, general relativity and thermodynamics) are all expressed as mathematical formulae. Why should that be? Scientists can't answer that question by appeal to science, yet science would have no success if it weren't so.
It is also the case that scientists assume that all aspects of the material universe are ultimately open to understanding by means of scientific investigation, and that they can be explained without recourse to non-material actions. When scientist don't understand something they don't say "Oh that must be God at work", rather they test and probe the mystery and revise their theories until an explanation is forthcoming. Science produces an entirely material (atheistic) description of the universe; it doesn't deny the existance of the spiritual, only that a description of the purely material does not require a spiritual element.
The nature of Christian belief
There is a popular misconception that faith is belief inspite of the evidence. On the contrary, Christian faith is putting ones' trust in God because the evidence is that He is trustworthy. The Christian life is based on historical events (especially the Resurrection) for which there is evidence, and involves an exploration of the nature of God and ourselves. The evidence may not be provable in a scientific sense, because it involves non-material elements that fall outside the limits that science has imposed upon itself.
As a Christian and a practising scientist I believe that the Christian faith has a lot that it can give to science. Belief in a Creator who is trustworthy and logical (a word derived from the Greek "Logos" which is used in the Gospel of John to describe Christ) encourages us to expect that the universe He created will also be ordered and intelligible to us. It was the expectation of such order that encouraged early scientists to examine the world around them. Many of these scientists were active Christians. The Christian faith can answer the questions as too why the material universe makes sense, and why it is described mathematically; it is because it is the creation of an intelligent God.
The Christian faith can also inject essential non-material elements into the scientific enterprise. Elements such as ethical considerations in how science is pursued, and giving a sense of purpose to processes that in purely material terms are meaningless. I believe that the interaction between science and the Christian faith can be very fruitful; whereas conflict and isolation will be to the detriment of both.