Today’s featured entry from the Vatican Observatory Faith and Science pages: “Laura Maria Caterina Bassi of Bologna” (click here for it) Laura Maria Caterina Bassi (1711-1778) of Bologna, Italy is often identified as being the first woman to earn a doctoral degree and the first to be a university professor (where she eventually became the highest paid member of the faculty)…. Laura Bassi accomplished her work in the realm of science while also being a wife, and mother of eight children… [click here to continue]. The Faith and Science pages (F&S) are a unique resource on the web.  The material in F&S is stuff that you will find nowhere else (or at least not without a lot of digging).  Featured areas on F&S include “History of Church and Science”; “Church and Science Today”; “Science and Scripture”; “Science, Religion & Society”; “Life in the Universe”; “Cosmology”; and more.  The level of the F&S material ranges from being accessible to all audiences, … Continue reading →

Today’s featured entry from the Vatican Observatory Faith and Science pages: “Misplaced Obsessions: Understanding Why Christmas Is On December 25th” (click here for it) Fr. James Kurzynski writes on the subject of the date of Jesus’s birth in this post on The Catholic Astronomer blog [click here to continue]. The Faith and Science pages (F&S) are a unique resource on the web.  The material in F&S is stuff that you will find nowhere else (or at least not without a lot of digging).  Featured areas on F&S include “History of Church and Science”; “Church and Science Today”; “Science and Scripture”; “Science, Religion & Society”; “Life in the Universe”; “Cosmology”; and more.  The level of the F&S material ranges from being accessible to all audiences, with even some material oriented toward young readers, up to material for university specialists. The F&S pages, like this blog, are made possible by the Vatican Observatory Foundation (the Vatican Observatory’s US operation that operates the Vatican … Continue reading →

Today’s featured entry from the Vatican Observatory Faith and Science pages: “From MIT to Specola Vaticana: Guy Consolmagno at TEDx via Della Conciliazione” (click here for it) Brother Guy Consolmagno is a Planetary Scientist at the Vatican Observatory…. He earned a degree from MIT and did post-doctorate work at MIT and the Harvard College Observatory. When he was 29, he joined the Peace Corps in Kenya. There, he taught suffering people about astronomy. He discovered that the desire for scientific knowledge is not limited to educated westerners, but is original and alive in the poor and uneducated. In this way, he discovered that astronomy belongs to us all [click here to continue]. The Faith and Science pages (F&S) are a unique resource on the web.  The material in F&S is stuff that you will find nowhere else (or at least not without a lot of digging).  Featured areas on F&S include “History of Church and Science”; “Church and Science Today”; … Continue reading →

Today’s featured entry from the Vatican Observatory Faith and Science pages: “Emilie Du Châtelet on the existence of God” (click here for it) Gabrielle Émilie Le Tonnelier de Breteuil, Marquise Du Châtelet, wrote, among other things, a translation and commentary on Isaac Newton’s Principia (published posthumously in 1759), and a physics textbook for her son…. The second chapter of this textbook was addressed to the question of God’s existence [click here to continue]. The Faith and Science pages (F&S) are a unique resource on the web.  The material in F&S is stuff that you will find nowhere else (or at least not without a lot of digging).  Featured areas on F&S include “History of Church and Science”; “Church and Science Today”; “Science and Scripture”; “Science, Religion & Society”; “Life in the Universe”; “Cosmology”; and more.  The level of the F&S material ranges from being accessible to all audiences, with even some material oriented toward young readers, up to material for university … Continue reading →

Twice each month Sacred Space Astronomy features mini-posts that highlight of one of the entries from the Vatican Observatory Faith and Science pages.  These mini-posts appear on the 8th and 25th of the month.  The 1st and the 15th would be too boring, too normal, and not astronomical enough, therefore, these mini-posts appear on the 8th, because there are eight major planets orbiting the sun, and on the 25th, because the amount of time that passes from one moonrise to the next is approximately 25 hours! Today’s featured entry from the Vatican Observatory Faith and Science pages: “A conversation imagined: The meeting of science and faith” (click here for it) Dr. Michelle Francl (quantum chemist at Bryn Mawr and Vatican Observatory adjunct scholar) imagines a conversation between herself and Pope Francis about science and religion [click here to continue]. The Faith and Science pages (F&S) are a unique resource on the web.  The material in F&S is stuff that you will … Continue reading →

Today’s featured entry from the Vatican Observatory Faith and Science pages: “Vatican I on Faith and Science – Dei Filius” (click here for it) [T]he Catechism of the Catholic Church on faith and science references the fourth chapter of “Dei Filius” from the First Vatican Council. The PDF here contains both the document in Latin and an English translation [click here to continue]. The Faith and Science pages (F&S) are a unique resource on the web.  The material in F&S is stuff that you will find nowhere else (or at least not without a lot of digging).  Featured areas on F&S include “History of Church and Science”; “Church and Science Today”; “Science and Scripture”; “Science, Religion & Society”; “Life in the Universe”; “Cosmology”; and more.  The level of the F&S material ranges from being accessible to all audiences, with even some material oriented toward young readers, up to material for university specialists. The F&S pages, like this blog, are made … Continue reading →