Category Archives: Priests and Religious of Science

Remembering Bill Stoeger: New Videos

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Today (March 24) marks the sixth anniversary of the death of Fr. Bill Stoeger. Many of us remember him for both his brilliant academic mind and his holy and gentle personality. Over the years there have been a number of posts here about him and his work… he was both a cosmologist (classmate and friend of Stephen Hawking, collaborator and co-author with a number of the great cosmologists of our era) and as a theologian. He also was greatly sought after as a spiritual director. He was also widely sought after as a speaker and subject of videos. His style was very different from most media-savvy astronomers; rather than having a glib answer ready to hand, he would speak slowly, gently, but clearly, weighing each word… and making the interviewer feel that this was perhaps the first time that question had been asked (even when in reality it was the millionth time!) Recently, at the Specola we got a lovely … Continue reading →

Religious Scientists: Canon Nicolaus Copernicus (1473-1543); Heliocentricism

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This entry is part 13 of 14 in the series Religious Scientists of the Catholic Church

When the name Copernicus is mentioned, what often comes to mind is the role that his heliocentric theory played in the Galileo affair. This creates the false impression of Copernicus as a controversial figure at loggerheads with Church authority. In reality, Copernicus was himself a Church figure. He was a canon (a church administrative role that at the time required ordination to minor orders) at his uncle’s diocese in Warmia. He held a doctorate in canon law. When his heliocentric system was presented to Pope Clement VII in 1533, it was favorably and enthusiastically received. Cardinal von Schoenberg of Capua encouraged him in a letter to promulgate the theory widely. In the seventy years after the publication of De Revolutionibus (until Galileo published his Siderius Nuncius) Copernicus’ work saw almost no objections on theological grounds. Biographical Sketch: Mikołaj Kopernik was born in Toruń in modern-day Poland on (it is believed) February 19, 1473. His father was a copper merchant, and … Continue reading →

Fr. George V. Coyne SJ (1933-2020)

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This entry is part 50 of 53 in the series Diary

George Coyne, who directed the Vatican Observatory for nearly 30 years and founded the Vatican Observatory Foundation (home of this site), died on Tuesday, February 11 at Upstate University Hospital in Syracuse, N.Y., where he was being treated for bladder cancer. He was 87 years old. The New York Times (online edition) has run an obituary for him, which you can link to here; their recognition is a tribute to his stature as an astronomer and a Jesuit. I also wrote up a short piece about him for the L’Osservatore Romano, which they edited and ran in Italian; below you’ll find the full English text that I submitted to them. What’s curious to me is that the Times led their article by talking about George’s work in Galileo and evolution whereas I didn’t even mention that in my article. It makes sense, of course. To most readers of the Times, those topics were the things that had brought him into … Continue reading →

ⓜ The Mad Scientist

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This entry is part 10 of 15 in the series And Then I Wrote

(And Then I Wrote…) In order to let my backlog of “Across the Universe” columns build up a bit, I am republishing a selection of other articles that I have written and published in various places…  In 2006-2007 I took a sabbatical year at Fordham University; where others take sabbaticals to get away from teaching and do research, my idea was to get a break from research and do some teaching! While there, I was invited to write a short article to introduce myself to the Fordham community. Here’s what I gave them: I fell into the scientific life by accident. I chose to attend MIT as much for its science fiction collection as anything else: the career of a mad scientist looked like fun! Once there… [In order to read the rest of this post, you have to be a paid-up member of Sacred Space, and logged in as such!] … Continue reading →

Religious Scientists: Fr. Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, S.J. (1881-1955); Jesuit paleontologist

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This entry is part 12 of 14 in the series Religious Scientists of the Catholic Church

If one mentions the name Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, the first thing that comes to mind is his philosophical/theological speculation on the evolution of Creation and mankind toward its ultimate Omega Point. During his lifetime (i.e. before the Second Vatican Council), such theories were quite controversial and he was not permitted to publish them. Even today, while many people embrace his writings, others continue to view them with skepticism. Regardless of one’s views regarding his theology or philosophy, one must also recognize that Pierre Teilhard de Chardin was quite an accomplished scientist in the fields of paleontology and geology. He investigated early hominids, and took part in the discovery of Peking Man in China. Biographical Sketch: Pierre Teilhard de Chardin was born on the first of May, 1881, into a large French family in the region of Auvergne. His father instilled in him an interest in geology, and his mother encouraged his prayer and spiritual development. He attended a Jesuit … Continue reading →

Religious Scientists: Sr. Mary Kenneth Keller B.V.M. (1913-1985) – Computer Science

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This entry is part 11 of 14 in the series Religious Scientists of the Catholic Church

When I was little, my dad bought an Apple II+ computer.  Every Christmas, my uncle would send us a pack of computer games on 5.25-inch floppy disks. We spent countless hours playing those games on its primitive green pixelated screen.  It was fun to play games made by somebody else, but even better was when I learned to make the computer do what I wanted it to do, with a little programming.  I learned a very simple computer language called Beginner’s All-purpose Symbolic Instruction Code, or BASIC.  With it, I made my own games, limited only by my imagination and skill.  For the freedom that programming in BASIC gave me, I have to thank a nun: Sr. Mary Kenneth Keller. Biographical Sketch: She was born Evelyn Marie Keller on Dec 17, 1913 (different sources disagree on this date) in Cleveland, Ohio. In 1932, she joined the Sisters of Charity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, where she took the name Mary … Continue reading →

Religious Scientists: Fr. Roger Boscovich S.J., F.R.S. (1711-1787) – Atomic Theory

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This entry is part 10 of 14 in the series Religious Scientists of the Catholic Church

Fr. Roger Joseph Boscovich S.J. was one of the last great polymaths. His areas of study and work include physics, mathematics, atomic theory, celestial mechanics, geodesy, philosophy, theology, architecture, poetry, and more. Biographical Sketch Ruđer Josip Bošković was born May 18, 1711 to a merchant family in Dubrovnik, in what is today Croatia.  He attended the Jesuit school in Dubrovnik. In 1725, he traveled to Rome to study at the Roman College, and in 1731 entered the Jesuit order. He was ordained a priest in 1744. He showed aptitude for mathematics and the natural sciences, and from 1740-1759 served as a professor of mathematics at the Roman College.  It is during this time that he made many of his more significant scientific contributions.  In 1742, Pope Benedict XIV requested Boscovich’s input on a little problem. The dome of St. Peter’s Basilica was developing cracks.  Boscovich recommended securing the dome with iron bands, which was then implemented successfully. This led him … Continue reading →

Religious Scientists: Sr. Miriam Michael Stimson O.P. (1913-2002); Structure of DNA

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This entry is part 9 of 14 in the series Religious Scientists of the Catholic Church

In 1962, Francis Crick, James Watson, and Maurice Wilkins received the Nobel Prize for discovering the double-helix structure of the DNA molecule.  This work could not have been done without the discoveries of numerous other scientists, many of whose contributions have gone unrecognized. One such unsung hero in the quest for the building blocks of life was a Catholic nun at a humble Michigan university: Sr. Miriam Michael Stimson, O.P. Biographical Sketch: Marian Emma Stimson was born into a devout Catholic family in Chicago on December 14, 1913. She attended Sienna Heights College in Adrian, Michigan. In 1935, she joined the Adrian Dominican Sisters, taking the name Miriam Michael. She received a B.S. in Chemistry from Siena Heights College in 1936. She continued her studies at the Institutum Divi Thomae in Cincinnatti, where she received her M.S. in 1939. She then joined the chemistry faculty at Siena Heights College, simultaneously working toward her Ph.D. at Institutum Divi Thomae, which she … Continue reading →

Leonis Regis Sol

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A month or so ago I was picking on the new “Lion King” movie for how unrealistic was its depiction of the night sky, despite everything else in the movie seeming so realistic in appearance.  Well, I have discovered another interesting critique of the “Lion King” sky.  It was on the WRAL (North Carolina) Weathercenter Blog.  There Tony Rice writes that While the animals and landscapes in [the 2019 “Lion King”] are photorealistic, the sunrise that opens this shot-for-shot remake is less realistic than the hand-drawn original. Rice compares the 1994 and 2019 versions of the movie, providing images of the sunrise from both, and noting how the 2019 version does not show the pronounced rippling effect that is seen in the 1994 version.  He writes: In the 2019 [version] the sun is rounder, nearly white and emerges smoothly above the horizon. The 1994 version shows a deeper yellow, almost orange, more flattened sun rippling its way up.  The undulating … Continue reading →

Religious Scientists: Fr. Francesco Grimaldi S.J. (1618-1663), Optics of Diffraction

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This entry is part 8 of 14 in the series Religious Scientists of the Catholic Church

Today I present yet another Jesuit physicist/astronomer: Francesco Maria Grimaldi.  He made a number of contributions in physics and astronomy, many of which in collaboration with another Jesuit: Fr. Giovanni Battista Riccioli S.J. (1598-1671). I will deal with Riccioli in a future post. However, Grimaldi can take full credit for pioneering the study of diffraction of light, and in coining the term, “diffraction.” Biographical Sketch:   Grimaldi was born in Bologna in 1618. His father, a wealthy silk merchant, died when Francesco was still very young. In 1632 (at age 14) he entered the Jesuit order with his brother Vincenzo.  After two years as a novice, he studied rhetoric for a year in Novellara. In 1635 he traveled to Parma for philosophy studies at the college of S. Rocco, but after only one year transferred to Ferrara to begin studying physics. He returned to Bologna to finish his philosophy studies. In 1638 he he was missioned to be professor at … Continue reading →

Religious Scientists: Fr. Domenico Troili S.J. (1722-1792), Meteoriticist

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This entry is part 7 of 14 in the series Religious Scientists of the Catholic Church

Today, I get to indulge in a couple topics that are important to me: meteorites and Jesuits. There are a few modern points of intersection of the two topics, including Br. Guy Consolmagno, Fr. Cyril Opeil, and myself. For this entry, however, we go back in time a couple of centuries to Fr. Domenico Troili, who lent his name to one of the most common minerals found in meteorites. Troili was a former pupil of the Fr. Roger Boscovich S.J. at the Roman College. (Boscovich is another religious scientist who will be discussed in a future blog post for his contribution to atomic theory.) He later became the curator of the Este family library in Modena, Italy. He witnessed the fall of a meteorite over Albareto, Italy in 1766. He took pains to document eyewitness accounts and collect specimens of the Albareto meteorite. This makes him the first person to formally document a meteorite fall, in Ragionamento della Caduta di un … Continue reading →

Religious Scientists on Vatican Observatory Faith and Science

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There is new thing on the Vatican Observatory Faith and Science archive!  We have added a new section—“Religious Scientists”.  We mean “religious scientists” in a broad sense: scientists who are people of faith, believers in God. There are two parts to this new section.  The first part is a listing of different scientists whose work is featured in the archive.  For each scientist, there is a link that takes you to the different entries in the archive related to that scientist.  Some of the scientists in the listing are well-known—Isaac Newton, for example.  Others are not so well known—William F. Rigge, S.J., for example. The second part is a simple listing of religious scientists.  Information about each scientist is limited.  However, the second part includes many more scientists compared to the first part. It is important to understand that both parts are listings of religious scientists, not saintly scientists.  Scientists are not always saintly.  Scientists are also often independent-minded and … Continue reading →