The 17th Century, with the work of Galileo, Kepler, and Newton, marked the beginnings of modern science. The whole Galileo story is so rich and complicated, we’ve given it its separate section; in this section we look at many of the other points of contact between Church and Science that occurred during the 17th century. Indeed, most all of the heroes of science from this era were devout believers, and many were Catholic clergy (and not only Jesuits!)
A Theology of Everything?
- Article (PDF)
- 7 pages
- Academic
Fr. George V. Coyne, S. J., Director of the Vatican Observatory from 1978 to 2006, examines one aspect of the history of the relationship between science and faith, noting that during the Enlightenment most scientists, who were religious believers, were unreasonable in their approach to religious belief, since they sought to found their religious belief on purely rational grounds.
A version of this essay is available in the European Review, Volume 21, Issue S1 (“Reason And Unreason In Twenty–First Century Science”) July 2013, pp. S20-S26.
Accuracy of Solar Eclipse Observations Made by Jesuit Astronomers in China
- Article
- 10 pages
- University specialist level
A 1995 Journal for the History of Astronomy article by F. R. Stephenson and L. J. Fatoohi:
Abstract: During the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, Jesuit astronomers at the Chinese court in Beijing observed many eclipses of the Sun and Moon. For most of these events the times of beginning, middle and end were measured and the magnitudes estimated. Summaries of virtually all of the observation made between A.D. 1644 and 1785 are still preserved. In this paper, that various solar eclipse measurements that the Jesuits made during the period are compared with computation based on modern solar and lunar ephemerides.
Click here to access this article via NASA ADS.
Click here to download a PDF of this article from NASA ADS.
Anatomy of a fall: Giovanni Battista Riccioli and the story of g
Article (PDF)- 5 pages
- High school level and up
The first person to conduct precise gravity experiments was Fr. Giovanni Battista Riccioli, S. J. in the early seventeenth century. This 2012 article from the magazine Physics Today discusses Fr. Riccioli’s experiments regarding how gravity works and what was the acceleration due to gravity (now known as ‘g’).
Click here for a the article in PDF format (from Physics Today).
From the article:
Riccioli set a fine example for all the free-fall experiments that would follow. He was thorough. He provided an extensive description of his experimental procedure. He gathered data of sufficient quality to assess accurately the model in question.
But Riccioli’s work is also a standard of scientific integrity: He had set out expecting to disprove Galileo, but even when his experiments vindicated Galileo, he made a point of promptly sharing the news with an interested colleague. His attitude, like his experiment, was that of a fine scientist.
Appealing to the Infinite: Philips Lansbergen and the Battling Star-Armies of God
- Article (blog post)
- 1000 words
- General Audience
A post by Chris Graney on The Catholic Astronomer website. “Why would a prominent Copernican, writing twenty years after the advent of the telescope, call the stars ‘the armies of God’? The answer to that is simple. He needed an explanation for why the stars were so giant…” The early Copernicans could not explain a lack of visible parallax in star positions except, ironically, by appealing to divine intervention.
Book: The Cambridge Concise History of Astronomy
Book- 380 pages
- High school students and above
As suggested by our research team. This description is from the publisher:
Astronomy is one of the oldest sciences, and one which has repeatedly led to fundamental changes in our view of the world. This book covers the history of our study of the cosmos from prehistory through to a survey of modern astronomy and astrophysics (sure to be of interest to future historians of twentieth-century astronomy). It does not attempt to cover everything, but deliberately concentrates on the important themes and topics. These include stellar astronomy in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, at the time subordinate to the study of the solar system, but the source of many important concepts in modern astronomy, and the Copernican revolution, which led to the challenge of ancient authorities in many areas, not just astronomy. This is an essential text for students of the history of science and for students of astronomy who require a historical background to their studies.
Click here for Table of Contents from Cambridge University Press.
Click here for an excerpt from Cambridge University Press.
Click here for a preview from Google Books.
Decree of Approval for the work “Elements of Astronomy” by Giuseppe Settele, in support of the heliocentric system (1820)
Pope Pius VII
- Article
- 300 words
- General audiences
The 1820 decree under Pope Pius VII removing all remaining prohibitions against the Copernican system. This arose from the request of Fr. Giuseppe Settele for an imprimatur on his book Elementi di ottica e di astronomia (Elements of Optics and Astronomy), which referenced Earth’s motion. The request was denied; Settele appealed to the Pope.
This translation is from the Interdisciplinary Encyclopedia of Religion and Science (Inters.org), which is edited by the Advanced School for Interdisciplinary Research, operating at the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross, Rome, and directed by Giuseppe Tanzella-Nitti. The translation is from the original Latin provided in W. Brandmüller and E.J. Greipl, eds., Copernico, Galilei e la chiesa : fine della controversia (1820) : gli atti del Sant’Uffizio {i.e. Copernicus, Galileo, and the Church: The End of the Controversy (1820), Acts of the Holy Office} (Florence: Leo Olschki, 1992), pp. 300-301.
[Rome], 1820 VIII 16
Vol. I, fol. 174v (Bruni, scribe)
The Assessor of the Holy Office has referred the request of Giuseppe Settele, Professor of Optics and Astronomy at La Sapienza University, regarding permission to publish his work Elements of Astronomy in which he espouses the common opinion of the astronomers of our time regarding the earth’s daily and yearly motions, to His Holiness through Divine Providence, Pope Pius VII. Previously, His Holiness had referred this request to the Supreme Sacred Congregation and concurrently to the consideration of the Most Eminent and Most Reverend General Cardinal Inquisitor. His Holiness has decreed that no obstacles exist for those who sustain Copernicus’ affirmation regarding the earth’s movement in the manner in which it is affirmed today, even by Catholic authors. He has, moreover, suggested the insertion of several notations into this work, aimed at demonstrating that the above mentioned affirmation [of Copernicus], as it is has come to be understood, does not present any difficulties; difficulties that existed in times past, prior to the subsequent astronomical observations that have now occurred. [Pope Pius VII] has also recommended that the implementation [of these decisions] be given to the Cardinal Secretary of the Supreme Sacred Congregation and Master of the Sacred Apostolic Palace. He is now appointed the task of bringing to an end any concerns and criticisms regarding the printing of this book, and, at the same time, ensuring that in the future, regarding the publication of such works, permission is sought from the Cardinal Vicar whose signature will not be given without the authorization of the Superior of his Order.
Click here for the decree from Inters.org.
Discovery in the New Cosmology of Copernicus, Kepler, and Galileo
Article (PDF)- 14 pages, 6100 words
- University and higher level
This article for the Paths of Discovery (published by the Pontifical Academy of Sciences) by Fr. George V. Coyne, S. J., Director of the Vatican Observatory from 1978 to 2006, suggests “three components contained in the notion of discovery: newness, an opening to the future and, in the case of astronomical discovery, a blending of theory and observation. Discovery means that something new comes to light and this generally happens suddenly and unexpectedly.”
Click here for a link to the Pontifical Academy of Sciences’ entire Paths of Discovery volume.
Early Observations of Sunspots: Scheiner and Galileo
Article- 18 pages
- University level
A 1997 article by Juan Casanovas, S. J., an astronomer with the Vatican Observatory, published in 1st Advances in Solar Physics Euroconference – Advances in Physics of Sunspots:
Abstract: There had been occasional observations of spots on the Sun since antiquity. Kepler observed a sunspot in 1607 but he interpreted it as a Mercury’s transit. One year after the introduction of the telescope astronomers identified spots on the Sun. J. Fabricius was the first to print a book on sunspots at the end of 1611, but this book had little diffusion. Fabricius rightly thought that the spots belonged to the Sun. The Jesuit C. Scheiner independently observed sunspots on the Sun and he announced his discovery at the end of 1611 in three letters under the pseudonym Apelles. Scheiner failed to observe the returning of the spots and hence did not recognize the solar rotation. Therefore he preferred to see the spots as caused by little bodies orbiting the Sun. Based on Scheiner’s observations, Kepler concluded that the spots were on the solar surface like dross floating on melted metal. When Scheiner’s letters reached Italy, Galileo claimed to have observed sunspots much earlier, but if this had been the case, he had not published anything on sunspots. Galileo replied to Apelles’ letters affirming that the spots were on the surface of the Sun, like clouds. A bitter and long fight followed between Galileo and Scheiner on the priority of discovery. Techniques for solar observation progressed quickly. The solar image was observed projected on a white paper for measurement of sunspots positions. Scheiner later perfected this method installing the telescope on an equatorial mounting. Scheiner made over 2000 solar observations and determined the orientation of the solar axis of rotation. His methods and results were presented in his monumental work Rosa Ursina.
Click here for this article from NASA ADS.
Click here to download a PDF of this article from NASA ADS.
Meet the Priest Who First Recorded the Transit of Mercury: Pierre Gassendi
Article (blog post)- 1100 words
- General audiences
A post by Fr. James Kurzynski on The Catholic Astronomer blog, reflecting on the work of Fr. Pierre Gassendi to synthesize faith and science. Fr. Kurzynski concludes,”it is my opinion that the best approach is to allow science to be science and theology to be theology, trusting that this mutual exploration of truth will provide natural ‘bridges’ between these great disciplines while respecting the integrity of each.”
Heliocentrism Condemned: 400 Years Ago, February 23-28
- Articles (blog post series)
- 500-1500 words each
- High school level and above
This is a series of blog posts from February 2016 for The Catholic Astronomer blog, by Fr. Paul Gabor, S. J., an astronomer with the Vatican Observatory. Fr. Gabor notes that “four hundred years is one of the periods in the Gregorian Calendar after which the days of the months are guaranteed to fall on the same days of the week. And so it is that this year we can re-live the events of 1616 with special acuity.”
February 23 (click here): Fr. Gabor describes the events of February 23, 1616, when the working session of the experts of the Holy Office reached unanimous agreement regarding two propositions encapsulating heliocentrism. The Palace of the Holy Office is shown in the photo.
February 24 (click here): Fr. Gabor explains why the heliocentric system of Copernicus seemed absurd to people educated in the scholastic tradition.
February 25 (click here): Fr. Gabor outlines the history of the first Galileo “trial”, in 1616, when heliocentrism was condemned by the Church.
February 26 (click here): Fr. Gabor continues to outline the history of the first Galileo “trial”, and discusses a meeting of Cardinal Robert Bellarmine (pictured at right) and Galileo.
February 27 (click here): Fr. Gabor discusses the biblical exegesis that would have been operating at the time of Galileo and Bellarmine.
February 28 (click here): Fr. Gabor continues discussion of the biblical exegesis that would have been operating at the time of Galileo and Bellarmine, and concludes his discussion of the events of this week in February 1616.
Scientific Spectacle in Baroque Rome: Athanasius Kircher and the Roman College Museum
Article (book chapter)- 60 pages
- University level
This article by Paula Findlen is a chapter in the 2003 book Jesuit Science and the Republic of Letters, edited by Mordechai Feingold and published by The MIT Press. Findlen discusses the museum constructed by Fr. Athanasius Kircher, S. J., in the seventeenth century—a museum filled with everything from demonstrations of optical illusions and magnetic clocks, to lodestones and asbestos, to artifacts from the cultures of Egypt and China. Findlen writes:
Kircher’s story not only sheds light on his own circumstances and on the formation of a remarkable museum; it also illuminates the importance of his religious order to early modern scientific culture. The Jesuits are one of the most important and understudied groups of scholars active during the scientific revolution. Through their vast networks and proliferation of education institutions, the Jesuits rightfully may claim to have developed one of the largest and most influential scientific communities in early modern Europe. Kircher certainly was not a typical Jesuit nor even a typical Catholic. He enjoyed privileges unavailable to ordinary members of his order, most important a great deal of latitude in his pursuit of highly unorthodox intellectual interests. Yet his prominence within the Jesuit educational system and the visibility of his museum provide us with a particularly interesting case study in the relations between Catholicism and early modern science. If Kircher was not typical, he certainly was exemplary of the tendency among Jesuit scholars to accommodate new ways of thinking alongside the old in the hope of reconciliation. In this respect, his museum served another important function: it was a meeting ground for different visions of the world, as much as it also expressed Kircher’s unique outlook on the state of knowledge…. The growing popularity of the museum and his tireless efforts to promote his work through a steady stream of publications contributed to his reputation as a man who seemed to know absolutely everything…. Kircher created scien- tific spectacles designed to please everyone. For scholars, he offered the pursuit of knowledge; for princes, an approved pastime to fill their leisure. For the curious patricians who secured the appropriate letters of introduction, Kircher promised a display that would satisfy the most theatrical sensibilities. The ability to anticipate the demands of his audience and the generosity with which he cited the work of his contemporaries made him one of the most successful natural philosophers of the seventeenth century…. Writing letters and receiving visitors, Kircher fulfilled the ideal of service that the Society of Jesus demanded, securing the position of the Roman College as a center for scientific communication and scholarly exchange.
Click here for an excerpt, courtesy of Google Books.
From the publisher, MIT Press:
Founded in 1540, the Society of Jesus was viewed for centuries as an impediment to the development of modern science. The Jesuit educational system was deemed conservative and antithetical to creative thought, while the Order and its members were blamed by Galileo, Descartes, and their disciples for virtually every proceeding against the new science. No wonder a consensus emerged that little reason existed for historians to take Jesuit science seriously. Only during the past two decades have scholars begun to question this received view of the Jesuit role in the Scientific Revolution, and this book contributes significantly to that reassessment. Focusing on the institutional setting of Jesuit science, the contributors take a new and broader look at the overall intellectual environment of the Collegio Romano and other Jesuit colleges to see how Jesuit scholars taught and worked, to examine the context of the Jesuit response to the new philosophies, and to chart the Jesuits’ scientific contributions. Their conclusions indicate that Jesuit practitioners were indeed instrumental in elevating the status of mathematics and in stressing the importance of experimental science; yet, at the same time, the Jesuits were members of a religious order with a clearly defined apostolic mission. Understanding both the contributions of Jesuit practitioners and the constraints under which they worked helps us to gain a clearer and more complete perspective on the emergence of the scientific worldview.
Jesuits: Savants
Article (book chapter)- 46 pages
- University level
This article by Mordechai Feingold is the introductory chapter to the 2003 book Jesuit Science and the Republic of Letters, edited by Feingold and published by The MIT Press. Feingold provides an overview of Jesuit scientists and of the advantages and disadvantages (from a scientific point of view) of doing science within the Jesuit order—an organization whose mission was not scientific but spiritual. Feingold writes:
The aim of this introductory chapter is to get past the stereotypes that surrounded the Society of Jesus during the first 200 years of its existence and evaluate the scientific dimension of its intellectual contribution, independent of its religious mission. It is my contention that, by and large, the scholarly activities and aspirations of Jesuits were indistinguishable from those of other contemporary savants, secular or ordained, irrespective of denomination. True, constraints on the pursuit of secular learning were more stringent among Jesuits, as were the mechanisms regulating their teachings, publications, and contacts with outsiders. But this cannot be automatically construed to mean that the Jesuits harbored a greater number of reactionary, prejudiced, or bigoted scholars than did other Catholic orders (or, for that matter, the various Protestant churches). Indeed, my research indicates that while scholarship often served partisan goals in the charged religious atmosphere of the early modern period, Jesuit scientific practitioners as a group seem to have resisted the temptation to yoke science to other ends as well as did practitioners of any other religious denomination….
It may seem surprising that, notwithstanding [the constraints, and disciplinary measures associated with them] (which must have been applied to hundreds of Jesuit philosophers and mathematicians in the course of the early modern period), only a few Jesuits left or were expelled from the Society as a consequence of such measures. In part, this is a testimony to the gravity with which Jesuit practitioners took their vows. But it is also clear that for most members—who never doubted the primacy of the religious mission of the Society even when they differed on the extent of the dangers that the new philosophies posed to the traditional relations between philosophy and theology—the constraints were a burden to be contended with from within the Order. Many continued to preach the benefit of at least a modicum of philosophical freedom, even in print.
Click here for an excerpt, courtesy of Google Books.
From the publisher, MIT Press:
Founded in 1540, the Society of Jesus was viewed for centuries as an impediment to the development of modern science. The Jesuit educational system was deemed conservative and antithetical to creative thought, while the Order and its members were blamed by Galileo, Descartes, and their disciples for virtually every proceeding against the new science. No wonder a consensus emerged that little reason existed for historians to take Jesuit science seriously. Only during the past two decades have scholars begun to question this received view of the Jesuit role in the Scientific Revolution, and this book contributes significantly to that reassessment. Focusing on the institutional setting of Jesuit science, the contributors take a new and broader look at the overall intellectual environment of the Collegio Romano and other Jesuit colleges to see how Jesuit scholars taught and worked, to examine the context of the Jesuit response to the new philosophies, and to chart the Jesuits’ scientific contributions. Their conclusions indicate that Jesuit practitioners were indeed instrumental in elevating the status of mathematics and in stressing the importance of experimental science; yet, at the same time, the Jesuits were members of a religious order with a clearly defined apostolic mission. Understanding both the contributions of Jesuit practitioners and the constraints under which they worked helps us to gain a clearer and more complete perspective on the emergence of the scientific worldview.
The earliest telescope preserved in Japan
Article- 10 pages
- University level
This 2008 article, written by Tsuko Nakamura and published in the Journal of Astronomical History and Heritage, features abundant full-color illustrations of the (Jesuit-influenced) telescope that is the subject of the article.
Abstract: This paper describes the antique telescope owned by one of Japan’s major feudal warlords, Tokugawa Yoshinao. As he died in 1650, this means that this telescope was produced in or before that year. Our recent investigation of the telescope revealed that it is of Schyrlean type, consisting of four convex lenses, so that it gives erect images with a measured magnifying power of 3.9 (± 0.2-0.3). This also implies that Yoshinao’s telescope could be one of the earliest Schyrlean telescopes ever. The design, fabrication technique, and the surface decoration of the telescopic tube and caps all suggest that it is not a Western make at all, but was produced probably under the guidance of a Chinese Jesuit missionary or by the Chinese, in Suzhou or Hangzhou in Zhejiang province, China, or in Nagasaki. Following descriptions in the Japanese and Chinese historical literature, we also discuss the possibility that production of Schyrlean-type telescopes started independently in the Far East nearly simultaneously with the publication of Oculus Enoch et Eliae by Anton Maria Schyrle in 1645.
Click here for this article from NASA ADS.
Click here to download a PDF of this article from NASA ADS.
How many great minds does it take to invent a telescope?
Article 1300 words General Audiences An article published in Aeon in 2017 by Thony Christie, discusses the people who contributed to the development of the reflecting telescope, including the Jesuit astronomer Niccolò Zucchi. Christie is the author of The Renaissance Mathematicus. Click here to access this article directly from Aeon. On 11 January 1672, the Fellows of the British Royal Society were treated to a demonstration of Isaac Newton’s reflecting telescope, which formed images with mirrors rather than with the lenses that had been used since the time of Galileo. Afterward, the fellows hailed Newton as the inventor of this marvellous new instrument, an attribution that sticks to the present. However, this linear historical account obscures a far more interesting, convoluted story. Newton’s claim was immediately challenged on behalf of two other contenders, James Gregory and Laurent Cassegrain. More confounding, the earliest known concept of using a curved mirror to focus light predated Newton by more than 1,500 years; the final … Continue reading →
Giuseppe Settele and the final annulment of the decree of 1616 against Copernicanism
Pope Pius VII
- Article (PDF)
- 3500 words
- University level and above
In 1820 Fr. Giuseppe Settele requested an imprimatur on his book Elementi di ottica e di astronomia (Elements of Optics and Astronomy), which referenced Earth’s motion. The request was denied; Settele appealed to Pope Pius VII. This article by Fr. Juan Casanovas, an astronomer with the Vatican Observatory, provides a brief historical background on and summary of the actions surrounding this event. Casanovas writes:
It is a merit of Settele that he insisted on obtaining the imprimatur. If he had just rewritten his textbook to say: supposing or in the case the earth moves around the sun… there would have been no difficulty. However he insisted and his insistence earned freedom for all subsequent writers of astronomy. Settele didn’t give in to the requests of the Pope’s palace “maggiordomo”.
[Download PDF]
Casanovas-Settele
The Parallel Worlds of Christoph Scheiner and Galileo Galilei
Article- 14 pages
- High school level and above
This 2016 article—written by Oddbjørn Engvold of the University of Oslo, Norway, and Jack B. Zirker, of the National Solar Observatory, USA, and published in the Journal for the History of Astronomy—provides an overview that compares and contrasts the solar observations made by Galileo Galilei on one hand, and by Christoph Scheiner of the Society of Jesus on the other. While Galileo is better known, Scheiner would go on to study the sun far more extensively that Galileo, and to become the world’s first true solar astronomer. Engvold and Zirker write:
Scheiner was a keen observer, who shares with Galileo the credit of discovering and describing many of the sunspot phenomena we know today. He recorded the behaviour of sunspots, sometime several times per day, allegedly over 16 years. From this mass of data, he deduced several important properties of the Sun, such as the latitude variation of rotation, as well as the small tilt of the solar axis. Independently of Galileo, he described in meticulous detail the life cycle of sunspots and their associated faculae. Lacking any knowledge of physics, he thought sunspots were dense solid bodies floating in an incandescent fluid surface. He even ventured to speculate on the depth variation of solar rotation and the birth of sunspots in a violent solar interior.
He invented a scheme for determining the precise locations of sunspots and was able to therefore distinguish their proper motions. He also developed such observational tools as the equatorial mount, the back projection scheme, and the wide-field eyepiece.
Scheiner struggled to overcome his religious convictions regarding the perfection of the heavenly bodies. In the end, he trusted the evidence of his eyes and rejected the orthodox Aristotelian worldview. However, he stubbornly rejected Copernicus’ heliocentric model and adopted instead the Tychonic geocentric model. This was a rational alternative, which could not be disproved for two centuries. Many breakthroughs in science are based on strong evidence, but the ultimate answers rely on the proof. The final proof of the revolution of the Earth was delayed until Bessel detected the annual stellar parallax in 1838.
Click here to access this article from The Journal for the History of Astronomy.
Click here to access this article from NASA/ADS.
Jesuit Science
- Article and Video
- 750 words (article), 1 hour (video)
- General audiences
Br. Guy Consolmagno, S. J., an astronomer with the Vatican Observatory, discusses Jesuits and their many contributions to science in an article and in a talk (on video). Br. Consolmagno notes:
A Jesuit scientist, supported by the order, is often not tied to a three-year funding cycle or six-year tenure review. Thus we have the time – it may take decades – to catalogue double stars, seismic velocities, or patterns in climate or terrestrial magnetic fields. Jesuits, for instance, invented the basic taxonomy of the plants of India. But this sort of science often meant that their work was unappreciated by their immediate peers. Famously in the 19th century the Whig historian and politician Thomas Macaulay sneered that the Jesuits “appear to have discovered the precise point to which intellectual culture can be carried without risk of intellectual emancipation” and that being a Jesuit “has a tendency to suffocate, rather than to develop, original genius.”
Tradition and Today: Religion and Science
- Article (PDF)
- 12 pages
- University and higher level
Fr. George V. Coyne, S. J., Director of the Vatican Observatory from 1978 to 2006, presents four case histories which indicate that the relationship between religion and science has, in the course of three centuries, passed from one of conflict to one of compatible openness and dialogue, to show that the natural sciences have played a significant role in helping to establish the kind of dialogue that is absolutely necessary for the enrichment of the multifaceted aspects of human culture, whether traditional or modern. He argues that the approach of science to religion in each of these periods can be characterized respectively as: (l) temptress, (2) antagonist, (3) enlightened teacher, (4) partner in dialogue.
[Download PDF]
Sci-Rel_4_epochs
A Theology of Everything?
- Article (PDF)
- 7 pages
- Academic
Fr. George V. Coyne, S. J., Director of the Vatican Observatory from 1978 to 2006, examines one aspect of the history of the relationship between science and faith, noting that during the Enlightenment most scientists, who were religious believers, were unreasonable in their approach to religious belief, since they sought to found their religious belief on purely rational grounds.
A version of this essay is available in the European Review, Volume 21, Issue S1 (“Reason And Unreason In Twenty–First Century Science”) July 2013, pp. S20-S26.
Anatomy of a fall: Giovanni Battista Riccioli and the story of g
- Article (PDF)
- 5 pages
- High school level and up
The first person to conduct precise gravity experiments was Fr. Giovanni Battista Riccioli, S. J. in the early seventeenth century. This 2012 article from the magazine Physics Today discusses Fr. Riccioli’s experiments regarding how gravity works and what was the acceleration due to gravity (now known as ‘g’).
Click here for a the article in PDF format (from Physics Today).
From the article:
Riccioli set a fine example for all the free-fall experiments that would follow. He was thorough. He provided an extensive description of his experimental procedure. He gathered data of sufficient quality to assess accurately the model in question.
But Riccioli’s work is also a standard of scientific integrity: He had set out expecting to disprove Galileo, but even when his experiments vindicated Galileo, he made a point of promptly sharing the news with an interested colleague. His attitude, like his experiment, was that of a fine scientist.
The “Memorial” of Blaise Pascal
Poem (PDF)- 230 words
- High school level and above
Blaise Pascal is a prominent figure in the history of science. Students in science classes everywhere learn of “Pascal’s Principle” concerning hydraulic pressure. Pascal also wrote on theological matters, with his best-known work being the Pensées. The PDF below is the text of a poem and prayer written by Pascal, referred to as his “Memorial”. Below the poem are links to two commentaries on the “Memorial”.
[Download PDF]
Pascal-Memorial
The two commentaries below have been selected by the Interdisciplinary Encyclopedia of Religion and Science (Inters.org), which is edited by the Advanced School for Interdisciplinary Research, operating at the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross, Rome, and directed by Giuseppe Tanzella-Nitti:
“Faith and Reason in Blaise Pascal’s ‘Memorial'”, by Romano Guardini (click here).
“Science and Religion in Blaise Pascal’s Life,” by William R. Shea (click here).
Giuseppe Settele and the final annulment of the decree of 1616 against Copernicanism
Pope Pius VII
- Article (PDF)
- 3500 words
- University level and above
In 1820 Fr. Giuseppe Settele requested an imprimatur on his book Elementi di ottica e di astronomia (Elements of Optics and Astronomy), which referenced Earth’s motion. The request was denied; Settele appealed to Pope Pius VII. This article by Fr. Juan Casanovas, an astronomer with the Vatican Observatory, provides a brief historical background on and summary of the actions surrounding this event. Casanovas writes:
It is a merit of Settele that he insisted on obtaining the imprimatur. If he had just rewritten his textbook to say: supposing or in the case the earth moves around the sun… there would have been no difficulty. However he insisted and his insistence earned freedom for all subsequent writers of astronomy. Settele didn’t give in to the requests of the Pope’s palace “maggiordomo”.
[Download PDF]
Casanovas-Settele
Discovery in the New Cosmology of Copernicus, Kepler, and Galileo
- Article (PDF)
- 14 pages, 6100 words
- University and higher level
This article for the Paths of Discovery (published by the Pontifical Academy of Sciences) by Fr. George V. Coyne, S. J., Director of the Vatican Observatory from 1978 to 2006, suggests “three components contained in the notion of discovery: newness, an opening to the future and, in the case of astronomical discovery, a blending of theory and observation. Discovery means that something new comes to light and this generally happens suddenly and unexpectedly.”
Click here for a link to the Pontifical Academy of Sciences’ entire Paths of Discovery volume.
Priest of Nature – The Religious Worlds of Isaac Newton
Book- 522 pages
- University level
It is often said that Isaac Newton, arguably the most prominent scientist in human history, wrote more about the Bible and religion than about science and math. However, his religious writings were generally unpublished, and have always been relatively inaccessible and little studied. Robert Iliffe, the author of the 2017 book Priest of Nature: The Religious Worlds of Isaac Newton, tells us that this is due to a number of reasons: in part due to Newton’s own views on publishing; in part due to the anti-Trinitarian nature of Newton’s own Christian faith; in part due to how Enlightenment-era thinkers who were perplexed by these writings explained them away as something Newton produced only later in life, when he had gone senile or even mad; in part due to modern scholars rejecting them as bizarre, irrelevant to his more significant work, and unbecoming of his genius. However, in the 21st century these writings have all becoming widely available—indeed, available in digital form, through the internet. Iliffe, an Oxford University Professor of History who directed the “Newton Project” that was responsible for making Newton’s religious writings so available, introduces his readers to Newton’s work and to his thought. Newton was anti-Trinitarian, anti-Catholic, and had a poor opinion of St. Athanasius (to put it mildly). He believed that much had been known to the Ancients, including scientific knowledge comparable to his own work such as the Principia—knowledge that the Ancients had received from the time of Noah but that was later corrupted and lost. He studied the book of Revelation assiduously. He sought to live a godly, almost monastic life (but he was also anti-monk). Iliffe shows Newton’s faith being central to all his work, throughout his life, whether that work was in physics, mathematics, or religion.
From Iliffe’s closing paragraphs of Priest of Nature:
Newton’s use of his intellect, and the moral and religious values he attributed to it, were central to his life and work. Like the imagination and the will, the understanding had been forged in the image of God, and one had a duty to use it….
The claims that the Principia had revealed the language and blueprint of the divine creation, and that (in Halley’s famous words) no mortal could approach the gods more closely, should not be read as mere hyperbole. If Newton’s achievements said a great deal about the human intellect, so they said much about the mind of God. God had the capacity to calculate and effect all the infinite motions and their causes that constituted the universe from one moment to the next, but armed with the Principia, humans created in the Image of God had the equipment to do something similar….
The will was most free the where the understanding was most perfect, and so its sincere and painstaking cultivation was the highest Christian duty…. Newton’s hymn to the will reached its zenith in his early text “De Gravitatione” and, in particular, in the General Scholium, where the intelligent designs of God were held to be the result of his supreme will.
Ultimately, Newton’s early life (to say nothing of his last three decades) was suffused with an overriding religious purpose. Convinced that he had been created in the Image of God, his scholarly life was in part an exercise in examining how he measured up to his maker. As such, it focused both on perfecting himself and on understanding the works of God. Accordingly, he strove to make his life that of a godly man, avoiding the temptations of the imagination and its chief effects, idolatry, idleness, and lust. He condemned the imaginary products of human artifice and instead nurtured his understanding so that he could dedicate himself to studying the divine truths of Scripture and Nature. The relentless cultivation of his own intellect was the precondition for gaining a mature wisdom, along with a purified will that could make the correct choice between good and evil, and between true and false religion. It was also this heroic intellectual labor that produced the monumental works in theology, natural philosophy, and mathematics that survive today.
From the publisher, Oxford University Press:
After Sir Isaac Newton revealed his discovery that white light was compounded of more basic colored rays, he was hailed as a genius and became an instant international celebrity. An interdisciplinary enthusiast and intellectual giant in a number of disciplines, Newton published revolutionary, field-defining works that reached across the scientific spectrum, including the Principia Mathematica and Opticks. His renown opened doors for him throughout his career, ushering him into prestigious positions at Cambridge, the Royal Mint, and the Royal Society. And yet, alongside his public success, Newton harbored religious beliefs that set him at odds with law and society, and, if revealed, threatened not just his livelihood but his life.
Religion and faith dominated much of Newton’s life and work. His papers, never made available to the public, were filled with biblical speculation and timelines along with passages that excoriated the early Church fathers. Indeed, his radical theological leanings rendered him a heretic, according to the doctrines of the Anglican Church. Newton believed that the central concept of the Trinity was a diabolical fraud and loathed the idolatry, cruelty, and persecution that had come to define religion in his time. Instead, he proposed a “simple Christianity”—a faith that would center on a few core beliefs and celebrate diversity in religious thinking and practice. An utterly original but obsessively private religious thinker, Newton composed several of the most daring works of any writer of the early modern period, works which he and his inheritors suppressed and which have been largely inaccessible for centuries.
In Priest of Nature, historian Rob Iliffe introduces readers to Newton the religious animal, deepening our understanding of the relationship between faith and science at a formative moment in history and thought. Previous scholars and biographers have generally underestimated the range and complexity of Newton’s religious writings, but Iliffe shows how wide-ranging his observations and interests were, spanning the entirety of Christian history from Creation to the Apocalypse. Iliffe’s book allows readers to fully engage in the theological discussion that dominated Newton’s age. A vibrant biography of one of history’s towering scientific figures, Priest of Nature is the definitive work on the spiritual views of the man who fundamentally changed how we look at the universe.
Click here for a preview, courtesy of Google Books.
Click here for the Newton Project website.
Mathematical Disquisitions – The Booklet of Theses Immortalized by Galileo
Book- 176 pages
- High school level and above
This 2017 book by Christopher M. Graney is the first complete English translation of an astronomical text written by scientists who stood opposite Galileo in the debate on the question of Earth’s motion. Galileo painted a very unfavorable portrait of Mathematical Disquisitions and its Jesuit authors, but the book itself turns out to be a competent scientific work and not much like Galileo’s portrayal of it.
From the publisher, the University of Notre Dame Press:
Mathematical Disquisitions: The Booklet of Theses Immortalized by Galileo offers a new English translation of the 1614 Disquisitiones Mathematicae, which Johann Georg Locher wrote under the guidance of the German Jesuit astronomer Christoph Scheiner. The booklet, an anti-Copernican astronomical work, is of interest in large part because Galileo Galilei, who came into conflict with Scheiner over the discovery of sunspots, devoted numerous pages within his famous 1632 Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems—Ptolemaic and Copernican to ridiculing Disquisitiones. The brief text (the original was approximately one hundred pages) is heavily illustrated with dozens of original figures, making it an accessible example of “geocentric astronomy in the wake of the telescope.”
The treatise provides valuable insight into the astronomical debates of the seventeenth century, a time when the question of the Earth’s motion was still very much in flux. Whereas Galileo’s works are readily available, there are far fewer translations of works arguing the other side. Christopher Graney’s translation focuses on the mathematical and astronomical core of Locher’s work and is suitable for undergraduate students in courses on the history of science, philosophy of science, astronomy, and physics.
Click here for a preview, courtesy of Google Books.
On Sunspots – Galileo Galilei and Christoph Scheiner
Book- 432 pages
- University level
On Sunspots by Eileen Reeves and Albert Van Helden features the work of Galileo Galilei, whose fame is well-known, and of Christoph Scheiner, the Jesuit astronomer who would go on to produce detailed, groundbreaking studies of the sun that far exceeded Galileo’s observations of sunspots. This 2010 book is unusual in that it contains complete translations of both Galileo’s writing and the writing of someone he considered to be one of his opponents (in this case Scheiner). As Nick Wilding of Georgia State University stated in a review of On Sunspots, “For the first time, readers have access to both sides of this important debate in the same language. This will be an essential text.”
Click here for a preview from Google Books.
From the publisher, University of Chicago Press:
Galileo’s telescopic discoveries, and especially his observation of sunspots, caused great debate in an age when the heavens were thought to be perfect and unchanging. Christoph Scheiner, a Jesuit mathematician, argued that sunspots were planets or moons crossing in front of the Sun. Galileo, on the other hand, countered that the spots were on or near the surface of the Sun itself, and he supported his position with a series of meticulous observations and mathematical demonstrations that eventually convinced even his rival.
On Sunspots collects the correspondence that constituted the public debate, including the first English translation of Scheiner’s two tracts as well as Galileo’s three letters, which have previously appeared only in abridged form. In addition, Albert Van Helden and Eileen Reeves have supplemented the correspondence with lengthy introductions, extensive notes, and a bibliography. The result will become the standard work on the subject, essential for students and historians of astronomy, the telescope, and early modern Catholicism.
God’s Universe
Book- 160 pages
- High school level and above
A short book by Harvard University astronomer and historian of science Owen Gingerich, published in 2006 by Harvard University Press. Gingerich addresses whether “mediocrity” (the “Copernican Principle”) is a good idea, whether a scientist dare believe in design, and the idea of questions without answers (persuasion vs. proof in science). From the publisher:
We live in a universe with a very long history, a vast cosmos where things are being worked out over unimaginably long ages. Stars and galaxies have formed, and elements come forth from great stellar cauldrons. The necessary elements are present, the environment is fit for life, and slowly life forms have populated the earth. Are the creative forces purposeful, and in fact divine?
Owen Gingerich believes in a universe of intention and purpose. We can at least conjecture that we are part of that purpose and have just enough freedom that conscience and responsibility may be part of the mix. They may even be the reason that pain and suffering are present in the world. The universe might actually be comprehensible.
Taking Johannes Kepler as his guide, Gingerich argues that an individual can be both a creative scientist and a believer in divine design—that indeed the very motivation for scientific research can derive from a desire to trace God’s handiwork. The scientist with theistic metaphysics will approach laboratory problems much the same as does his atheistic colleague across the hall. Both are likely to view the astonishing adaptations in nature with a sense of surprise, wonder, and mystery.
In God’s Universe Gingerich carves out “a theistic space” from which it is possible to contemplate a universe where God plays an interactive role, unnoticed yet not excluded by science.
Click here for additional information from the publisher, Harvard University Press.
Click here for a preview from Google Books.
Galileo Goes to Jail and Other Myths about Science and Religion
- Book
- 320 pages
- High school level and above
This 2009 book, edited by Ronald Numbers, contains much that will be of interest to many readers. From the publisher, Harvard University Press:
If we want nonscientists and opinion-makers in the press, the lab, and the pulpit to take a fresh look at the relationship between science and religion, Ronald L. Numbers suggests that we must first dispense with the hoary myths that have masqueraded too long as historical truths. Until about the 1970s, the dominant narrative in the history of science had long been that of science triumphant, and science at war with religion. But a new generation of historians both of science and of the church began to examine episodes in the history of science and religion through the values and knowledge of the actors themselves. Now Ronald Numbers has recruited the leading scholars in this new history of science to puncture the myths, from Galileo’s incarceration to Darwin’s deathbed conversion to Einstein’s belief in a personal God who “didn’t play dice with the universe.” The picture of science and religion at each other’s throats persists in mainstream media and scholarly journals, but each chapter in Galileo Goes to Jail shows how much we have to gain by seeing beyond the myths.
Click here for more information from the publisher.
Click here for a preview from Google Books.
Johannes Kepler and the New Astronomy
Book- 144 pages
- General audiences (middle school and up)
This book by James Voelkel is part of the Oxford Portraits in Science series for young adults. The general editor of this series is Owen Gingerich, a historian of science with Harvard University, and an astronomer with the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics. This book discusses the work and life of Johannes Kepler, one of the more prominent figures in the history of astronomy. Kepler was a deeply religious man living in a time of great religious strife. He included hymns of praise to God and prayers for Christian unity within his published works.
Click here for a preview from Google Books.
From the publisher, Oxford University Press:
Johannes Kepler (1571-1630) is remembered, along with Copernicus and Galileo, as one of the greatest Renaissance astronomers. A gifted analytical thinker, he made major contributions to physics, astronomy, and mathematics. Kepler was trained as a theologian, yet did not hesitate to challenge church doctrine and prevailing scientific beliefs by supporting the theory of a Sun-centered solar system. As Imperial Mathematician to the Holy Roman Emperor, he analyzed the precise observations of the heavens that his predecessor, the great astronomer Tycho Brahe, had recorded. The book follows the ingenious scientist along the difficult pathway from raw data to his monumental discovery–the three Laws of Planetary Motion. Kepler also made fundamental contributions to optical theory, including a correct description of the function of the eye and a new and improved telescope design. His unique Rudolfine Tables, universal calculations of planetary motion, were unprecedented in their accuracy. James Voelkel vividly describes these scientific achievements, providing enough background in astronomy and geometry so even beginners can follow Kepler’s thinking and enjoy this book. Equally captivating is his account of Kepler’s tumultuous life, plagued by misery, disease, war, and fervent religious persecution.
Oxford Portraits in Science is an ongoing series of scientific biographies for young adults. Written by top scholars and writers, each biography examines the personality of its subject as well as the thought process leading to his or her discoveries. These illustrated biographies combine accessible technical information with compelling personal stories to portray the scientists whose work has shaped our understanding of the natural world.
Book: The Cambridge Concise History of Astronomy
- Book
- 380 pages
- High school students and above
As suggested by our research team. This description is from the publisher:
Astronomy is one of the oldest sciences, and one which has repeatedly led to fundamental changes in our view of the world. This book covers the history of our study of the cosmos from prehistory through to a survey of modern astronomy and astrophysics (sure to be of interest to future historians of twentieth-century astronomy). It does not attempt to cover everything, but deliberately concentrates on the important themes and topics. These include stellar astronomy in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, at the time subordinate to the study of the solar system, but the source of many important concepts in modern astronomy, and the Copernican revolution, which led to the challenge of ancient authorities in many areas, not just astronomy. This is an essential text for students of the history of science and for students of astronomy who require a historical background to their studies.
Click here for Table of Contents from Cambridge University Press.
Click here for an excerpt from Cambridge University Press.
Click here for a preview from Google Books.
The Seashell on the Mountaintop: A Story of Science, Sainthood, and the Humble Genius who Discovered a New History of the Earth
Book- 228 pages
- High school level and above
The Seashell on the Mountaintop is a 2003 book by Alan Cutler, published by Dutton/Penguin, about the seventeenth century scientist and bishop Nicholaus Steno. From the dust jacket:
It was an ancient puzzle that stymied history’s greatest minds: How did the fossils of seashells find their way far inland, sometimes high up into the mountains? Fossils only made sense in a world old enough to form them, and in the seventeenth century, few people could imagine such a thing. Texts no less authoritative than the Old Testament laid out very clearly the timescale of Earth’s past; in fact one Anglican archbishop went so far as to calculate the exact date of Creation…October 23, 4004, B.C.
A revolution was in the making, however, and it was started by the brilliant and enigmatic Nicholaus Steno, the man whom Stephen Jay Gould called “the founder of geology.” Steno explored beyond the pages of the Bible, looking directly at the clues left in the layers of the Earth. With his groundbreaking answer to the fossil question, Steno would not only confound the religious and scientific thinking of his own time, he would set the stage for the modern science that came after him. He would open the door to the concept of “deep time,” which imagined a world with a history of millions or billions of years. And at the very moment his expansive new ideas began to unravel the Bible’s authoritative claim as to the age of the Earth, Steno would enter the priesthood and rise to become a bishop, ultimately becoming venerated as a saint and beatified by the Catholic Church in 1988.
Combining a thrilling scientific investigation with world-altering history and the portrait of an extraordinary genius, The Seashell on the Mountaintop gives us new insight into the very old planet on which we live, revealing how we learned to read the story told to us by the Earth itself, written in rock and stone.
Click here for a preview from Google Books.
Seashells on mountaintops are no longer a mystery. The science of geology employs thousands of people in academia, government, and industry. In searching for oil and mapping the structure of bedrock, geologists use Steno’s principles every day. Students of geology quickly learn to take them for granted. Out of these seventeenth-century ideas grew the modern concept of deep time, not to mention plate tectonics, evolution, global climate change, and dinosaurs. It all would greatly surprise Steno.
What might seem surprising to us looking back at Steno today is his status as a figure of both scientific innovation and staunch religious piety. Despite De solido’s clear connection to the volatile issue of interpreting Scripture, Steno’s science was never criticized by his contemporaries on religious grounds. There is no evidence that the Church objected to anything Steno wrote, or pressured him in any way. Both the hyper-orthodox Cosimo de Medici and the progressive Leibniz encouraged Steno to continue his geological research.As for Steno, even at the height of his religious zeal, he never disowned his science, never showed any concern that it might infringe on his faith.