The 19th century saw the culmination of what we now call Classical Physics and the high water mark of the mechanistic view of the universe. Clergy remained important contributors of science, even as the field (now called, for the first time, “science”) was becoming a viable way for laypeople to make a living. Two giants of this era were Gregor Mendel, the father of genetics (and a priest), and Angelo Secchi, the father of astrophysics (and also a priest).
A brief portion of an Easter sermon by Gregor Mendel
Article (PDF) 1 page Level: all audiences Gregor Mendel, who served as the Abbot of the Augustinian monastery in Brno in what is now the Czech Republic, is recognized today as the founder of the modern science of genetics, on account of of his experiments with the breeding of plants. This is a brief portion of an Easter sermon by Mendel (from notes written in his own hand) that makes reference to gardening and plants. [Click here to download PDF] … Continue reading →
Abbot Gregor J. Mendel O.S.A. (1822-1884), Father of Genetics
Article (blog post) 900 words Level: all audiences Br. Bob Macke, S. J. (an astronomer at the Vatican Observatory), posted this short article about Mendel on the V.O.’s Sacred Space Astronomy/The Catholic Astronomer blog. Macke visited Mendel’s monastery in Brno, Czech Republic, and so the post contains a selection of interesting photos from Brno. Click here to access this article from Sacred Space Astronomy. … Continue reading →
Accuracy of Solar Eclipse Observations Made by Jesuit Astronomers in China
Article 10 pages Level: university 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. … Continue reading →
Adam’s Ancestors
Book 301 pages Level: university Adam’s Ancestors is a story about a dark side of science and religion. Written by David Livingstone and published in 2008 by the Johns Hopkins University Press, Adam’s Ancestors traces the trajectory of the theory of the “pre-Adamites”: humans, or human-like beings, that were supposed to have possibly existed on Earth but that were not descendants of Adam and Eve. The theory of pre-Adamites arose as an attempt to explain the widespread distribution of people on the Earth (people of differing appearances, speaking differing languages), and also to explain certain portions of the book of Genesis. Thus, both science and religion are involved in the story. The theory that not all people are descendants of Adam and Eve—in other words, the idea that human beings are not all of one family—leads to some very ugly ideas. Livingstone does not censor the various people who speak on this idea, so the reader of Adam’s Ancestors must … Continue reading →
Agnes Mary Clerke
Articles (several) Various page lengths Level: all audiences Agnes Mary Clerke was an influential nineteenth-century writer whose primary subject of interest was astronomy. Below is the Catholic Encyclopedia entry for her (1913), followed by links to other articles about her. Agnes Mary Clerke Astronomer, born at Skibbereen, County Cork, Ireland, 10 February, 1842; died in London, 20 January 1907. At the very beginning of her study she showed a marked interest in astronomy, and before she was fifteen years old she had begun to write a history of that science. In 1861 the family moved to Dublin, and in 1863 to Queenstown. Several years later she went to Italy where she stayed until 1877, chiefly at Florence, studying at the public library and preparing for literary work. In 1877 she settled in London. Her first important article, “Copernicus in Italy”, was published in the “Edinburgh Review” (October, 1877). She achieved a world-wide reputation in 1885, on the appearance of her … Continue reading →
André-Marie Ampère on evidence from Science for the Existence of God
Article (excerpt) 150 words (French and English) Level: all audiences André-Marie Ampère was a French physicist and mathematician who did much work in the field of electricity. The unit of electrical current, the Amp is named for him. Click here for the text of Ampère’s statement and a discussion of Ampère, from Christianity and the Leaders of Modern Science, courtesy of Google Books. Click here for the original text, from Ampere’s Essai sur la Philosophie des Sciences of 1843. [Click here to download PDF] … Continue reading →
André-Marie Ampère: Enlightenment and Electrodynamics
Book 406 pages Level: university This 1995 biography of André-Marie Ampère is written by James R. Hofmann and published by Cambridge University Press. Ampère conducted pioneering studies of electricity, among other things (the unit of electrical current, the “Ampere” or “Amp” is named in his honor). This biography treats his scientific work in considerable detail. Ampère was Catholic, and he both valued his faith and also struggled with it at times. From a journal entry by Ampère after his final conversion (or reversion) to Catholicism: God has revealed to me what my eternal salvation depends upon. Could I ever forget it? Great Saint Joseph, to whose intercession above all I owe this grace, Saint Mary, mother of God, whose name I received at my baptism and to whom I also have this inexpressible gift, always intercede before God that he may conserve it for me and that I might make myself worthy of it! From the publisher: In this authoritative biography, James Hofmann … Continue reading →
Angelo Secchi, the Jesuit father of astrophysics
Article 2000 words Level: all audiences An article about the 19th-century Jesuit astrophysicist Angelo Secchi, published in August 2018 in the magazine America: The Jesuit Review. The author of the article is Adam Hincks, who is also an astrophysicist and a Jesuit. Secchi was a pioneer in the use of spectroscopy to study the stars and planets. Hincks writes: It is a mark of genius to come up with questions that are obvious in retrospect but that nobody had ever thought of asking before. The Jesuit astronomer Angelo Secchi (pronounced “sekki”), whose 200th anniversary of birth is being celebrated this year, had that talent. Before Secchi, astronomers were mainly interested in figuring out exactly where stars and planets were. This was important for navigation, and therefore commerce, and intricate mathematical systems were developed to track the motions of the heavens above in order to guide the motions of ships below. But Secchi asked a new question: What are stars and … Continue reading →
Angelo Secchi: L’avventura scientifica del Collegio Romano
In Italian. A source book concerning Fr. Angelo Secchi and the history of science pursued at the Roman College
Continue reading →Astronomical Essays of Fr. G. V. Leahy: Cassini, Piazzi, Sechi, Denza, and Clerke
Book (sections) 20 pages Level: all audiences This volume of astronomical essays has been compiled from a series of articles originally published in the Boston Pilot over the pen-name of Catholicus. The series is here presented connectedly at the request of the Most Reverend Archbishop of Boston, who has graciously written the author, “I highly commend your articles on astronomy for publication in book form.” So begins the Astronomical Essays, published in 1910, of Rev. George V. Leahy, S.T.L., who was professor of astronomy at St. John’s seminary in Brighton. The Boston Pilot is a Catholic newspaper in Boston, Massachusetts. Parts of Essays are as dated as one might expect for a science book from 1910, but Leahy’s discussions of various Catholic scientists are generally easy to read, interesting, and still relevant. All of these sections are available courtesy of Google Books: Mr. D. Cassini and Saturn—click here to read Fr. Piazzi and the discovery of the first asteroid—click here to read Fr. … Continue reading →
Astronomy on the Frontier
Article (blog post) 1200 words Level: all audiences Christopher Graney writes on The Catholic Astronomer blog about the first bishop of Vincennes, Indiana, Simon Guillaume Gabriel Bruté de Rémur (1779-1839), and his library. The library contained a significant collection of works on science, which Bishop Bruté hauled all the way to the American frontier from France. Graney writes: It turns out Bruté had been a top-notch student of science—one of the best students in his class at the medical school in Paris. So of course his library would include quite a bit of material on a variety of sciences, including astronomy. Still, Indiana was being settled at the time, and was pretty rough country: the land of Abraham Lincoln’s youth…; a land that had only become a state twenty years earlier; a land from which the Potowatami Indians were being forcibly evicted while Bruté was bishop, passing only a hundred miles to the north on a “Trail of Death.” Was it really worth … Continue reading →
Christianity and the Leaders of Modern Science
Book 403 pages Level: high school and above This book was written by Karl Alois Kneller, S. J., with an introduction by T. A. Findlay, S. J., and published in 1911 with approval from the bishop of Freiburg. The aim of the book is to illustrate the religious belief of various scientists. Kneller writes: Scientific discoveries, we are assured, have undermined the very foundations of religion — belief in the existence of God, and in the presence of a spiritual soul in man — and in short we must either renounce religion altogether or cast about for a new form of it, more in harmony with the results of the modern interpretation of nature. Assertions of this kind are to be met with everywhere. Newspapers and brochures are full of them; popular works on science treat them as self-evident, and seize every opportunity of insinuating that no one of any scientific standing any longer troubles about religion. Nor does it need … Continue reading →
Decree of Approval for the work “Elements of Astronomy” by Giuseppe Settele, in support of the heliocentric system (1820)
Article 300 words Level: all 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 … Continue reading →
Elizabeth Blackwell: First Woman Physician
Book 112 pages Level: all audiences This book on Elizabeth Blackwell was written by Tristan Boyer Binns and published by Scholastic in 2005. From the jacket cover: At a time when only men were supposed to become doctors, Elizabeth Blackwell earned a medical degree in 1849 from Geneva Medical College in New York. She was the first woman in the United States to ever earn such a degree. After graduating, she struggled to find ways to expand her medical knowledge. She traveled to France to study at La Maternite hospital in Paris. A serious eye infection forced Blackwell to lose her left eye and ended her dreams of becoming a surgeon. In 1853, she founded a free dispensary in New York City, the first of her many efforts to help provide women and children with better health care. Throughout her career, she fought tirelessly to help other women gain opportunities in medicine. Click here for a preview. This book is … Continue reading →
Father Secchi and the first Italian magnetic observatory
Article 13 pages Level: university A well-illustrated article about the work of Angelo Secchi, S. J. in 19th-century Rome, published in History of Geo- and Space Sciences in 2012. The authors are N. Ptitsyna (Institute of Terrestrial Magnetism, Ionosphere and Radiowave Propagation, Russian Academy of Science, St. Petersburg Filial, Russia) and A. Altamore (Physical Department “E. Amaldi”, University “Roma Tre”, Rome, Italy). Ptitsyna and Altamore write: The permanent observatories monitoring geomagnetic phenomena in the early decades of the 19th century have contributed greatly to our understanding of the dynamics of the Earth’s magnetic field. According to a guide on the organization of a geomagnetic observatory (Wienert, 1970): “The creation of a geomagnetic observatory is an ambitious enterprise which entails considerable financial commitments. Even more of a burden is the maintenance of the installation and the processing of data.” Seen in these terms, Father Secchi’s ambitious project was wholly successful. Secchi’s contributions to geomagnetism from the observational, theoretical, organizational and educational points … Continue reading →
Fr. Angelo Secchi S.J. (1818-1878), Pioneer of Astrophysics
Article (blog post) and video 1000 words (article)/17 minutes (video) Level: all audiences This short article, written by Br. Bob Macke, S. J. (an astronomer at the Vatican Observatory) and posted on the V.O.’s Sacred Space Astronomy/The Catholic Astronomer blog, provides an overview of the life and work of Fr. Angelo Secchi. The video, produced by the V.O., features Macke, Br. Guy Consolmagno (Director of the V.O.), Dr. Ileana Chinnici of Palermo Observatory, and others—and some great footage of the areas in Rome where Secchi worked. Click here to access this article and video from Sacred Space Astronomy. … Continue reading →
Fr. Angelo Secchi S.J., Jesuit Astrophysicist
Video 17 minutes Level: all audiences Fr. Angelo Secchi, S.J., father of astrophysics, is one of the greatest astronomers you have never heard of. Discover why, and find out about his contributions to stellar spectroscopy, solar physics, terrestrial magnetism, meteorology, and oceanography. This video features contributions from Ileana Chinnici, Aldo Altamore, Fr. Matteo Galaverni, and Vatican Observatory Director Br. Guy Consolmagno. It was produced by Br. Bob Macke, S.J. of the Vatican Observatory. … Continue reading →
Fr. Angelo Secchi, S.J. and the Voyage of the Immacolata Concezione
Article 1300 words Level: all audiences This article from Br. Bob Macke, S. J. (an astronomer at the Vatican Observatory) is from the web page of the International Society of Limnology (SIL), the oldest and only international society devoted to the study of inland waters. The SIL maintains a listing of Notable Limnologists, and Fr. Secchi is one of these, as well as being an astronomer. This article focuses on his work studying water while aboard the papal naval vessel Immacolata Concezione. Click here to access this article from SIL. … Continue reading →
Fr. Giuseppe Lais, Astronomer
Article 800 words Level: all audiences (Italian) Fr. Sabino Maffeo, a physicist with the Vatican Observatory since 1985, writes about Fr. Giuseppe Lais, who worked with Angelo Secchi and the early Vatican Observatory. Click here for the full text of this article, which was published in the Dizionario biografico degli italiani, Vol. 63 (2004), p. 93-94. … Continue reading →
Fr. Giuseppe Piazzi C.R. (1746-1826), Discoverer of the First Asteroid
Article 700 words Level: all audiences In this article from the Vatican Observatory’s Sacred Space Astronomy/The Catholic Astronomer blog, Br. Bob Macke, S. J. (an astronomer at the Vatican Observatory) writes that Today, just under 800,000 asteroids and Trans Neptunian Objects are known and catalogued by the Minor Planet Center of the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, with more being discovered every day. However, before 1800 the existence of this entire class of objects was entirely unknown. The first asteroid, which today we know as (1) Ceres, was discovered by an astronomer who was also a priest: Fr. Giuseppe Piazzi C.R. Click here to access this article from Sacred Space Astronomy. … Continue reading →
From Cosmologics: On Darwin and Place
Articles (two) 4500 words (total) Level: high school and above These are two articles related to work by David Livingstone of Queen’s University, Belfast, who gave the 2015 Dudleian Lecture at Harvard Divinity School. They were published in Cosmologics Magazine, which is a project of the Science, Religion, and Culture program at Harvard Divinity School. Click here to access “David Livingstone: Putting Darwinism in Its Place” from Cosmologics Magazine. This is an excerpt from Livingstone’s book Dealing with Darwin: Place, Politics and Rhetoric in Religious Engagements with Evolution. Livingstone argues that how Darwin’s ideas were received varied widely. In some places Darwin’s ideas were rejected. He notes how some sought to cast “Darwinism and Catholicism as twin allies against the inductive truths of science and the revealed truths of scripture. It thus became possible to conflate as a single object of reproach an old enemy—popery—and a new one—evolution…. these were indeed the enemies of God.” Others welcomed Darwinism as endorsing … Continue reading →
Galileo Goes to Jail and Other Myths about Science and Religion
Book 320 pages Level: high school 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 … Continue reading →
Giuseppe Piazzi and the Discovery of Ceres
Article (book chapter) 8 pages Level: university The first asteroid was discovered by Fr. Giuseppe Piazza, who gave it the name Ceres. Fr. Piazzi believed that in fact he had discovered a planet, but was hesitant to say so directly, and often referred to Ceres as a “comet”. Today Ceres is classified as a “dwarf planet”. This article on Piazzi is from the book Asteroids III, published in 2002 by the University of Arizona Press and the Lunar and Planetary Institute of the Universities Space Research Association (USRA). From the chapter abstract: In this chapter we focus on the circumstances that led Giuseppe Piazzi (1746–1826) to discover the first asteroid, Ceres, on January 1, 1801. Through the examination of published and archival documentation, we shed light on the reaction of the astronomical community at the announcement of the discovery and on Piazzi’s puzzling behavior. In the end, we briefly discuss the discoveries of Pallas, Juno, and Vesta and the theories put forward … Continue reading →
Giuseppe Piazzi and the Discovery of the Proper Motion of 61-Cygni
Article 8 pages Level: university Fr. Giuseppe Piazza discovered the proper motion of the star 61 Cygni at the end of the eighteenth century. A star’s proper motion is its motion across the sky compared to other stars. The position of 61 Cygni, a star that is faint but visible to the naked eye, changes measurably over the course of a year. A star whose position changes like this must be a relatively nearby star. In this 1990 article in the Journal for the History of Astronomy, Georgia Fodera Serio of the Palermo Observatory discusses the story of Fr. Piazzi and his “flying star”, and writes on the importance of Piazzi’s discovery. Serio notes that Piazzi “abandoned the old paradigm that ‘brightness implies nearness’”. This was an important step for astronomers, who previously had supposed that those stars that appear brighter in our night sky are nearer to us. In the 1830s the German astronomer Friedrich Wilhelm Bessel would measure … Continue reading →
Giuseppe Settele and the final annulment of the decree of 1616 against Copernicanism
Article (PDF) 3500 words Level: university 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”. Click here to access this article, published in Memorie della Società Astronomia Italiana, Vol. 60, p.791 (1989) via NASA ADS. [Click here to download PDF] … Continue reading →
Gregor Mendel – Father of Genetics
Book 128 pages Level: all audiences This 1997 book by Roger Klare is part of the Enslow Publishers Great Minds of Science series. It provides an overview of Fr. Gregor Mendel’s life and work that is oriented towards younger readers, and that is based largely on the biography of Mendel by Hugo Iltis. From the publisher: Gregor Mendel is known as the father of genetics. Genetics is the science of explaining how parents pass certain characteristics to their offspring. Mendel was an Austrian monk. He experimented with peas and other plants in the garden of the St. Thomas Monastery in what is now the Czech Republic. Mendel would cross-breed pea plants with different traits—round peas and wrinkled peas, for example. He wanted to see what their offspring were like. His experiments led to some startling discoveries. Though Mendel thought he had discovered something important, he never knew just how important his work really was. When Mendel published the results of … Continue reading →
Gregor Mendel and the Roots of Genetics
Book 109 pages Level: all audiences This book by Edward Edelson 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 Gregor Mendel, who is recognized today as being the founder of the modern science of genetics. Mendel was a monk and later abbot of the Augustinian monastery at Brno in the Czech Republic. Edelson writes: [In] an Easter sermon. Mendel took special note of the way that Christ appeared to Mary Magdalen when he rose after his crucifixion: as a gardener. He wrote that “the gardener plants seed or seedlings in prepared soil. The soil must exert a physical and chemical influence so that the seed of the plant can grow. Yet this is not sufficient. The warmth and light of the sun must … Continue reading →
Gregor Mendel: Planting the Seeds of Genetics
Book, web site, video 176 pages (book), 3 minutes (video) Level: high school and above Gregor Mendel was an Augustinian friar who founded the science of genetics. This book by Simon Mawer discusses Mendel’s life, life at his abbey, and the science and history of genetics. It was produced in association with the Field Museum in Chicago, which had an exhibit by the same name in 2006-2007. The web site associated with the book and exhibit is still available, as is a video from the Field Museum. (A Faith and Science entry for a related book on Mendel written for younger people is also available—click here). Click here for a Google Books entry for Gregor Mendel: Planting the Seeds of Genetics. From the Google entry: Considered one of the greatest scientists in history, Gregor Mendel was the first person to map the characteristics of a living things successive generations, thus forming the foundation of modern genetic science. In Gregor Mendel, distinguished novelist … Continue reading →
Gregor Mendel: The Friar Who Grew Peas
Book 32 pages Level: all audiences This colorful book by Cheryl Bardoe was produced in partnership with the Field Museum in Chicago. It tells about the life of Gregor Mendel and about his work. The book provides a fairly detailed discussion of both his life as a monk and of his experiments, even though it is only 32 pages long and is a “picture book” written to be accessible to grade school students. (A Faith and Science entry for a related book on Mendel written for a more advanced audience is also available—click here). Click here to download a brief excerpt. From the publisher, Abrams Books: The only picture book available about the father of genetics and his pea plants! How do mothers and fathers—whether they are apple trees, sheep, or humans—pass down traits to their children? This question fascinated Gregor Mendel throughout his life. Regarded as the world’s first geneticist, Mendel overcame poverty and obscurity to discover one of the fundamental … Continue reading →
James Clerk Maxwell – A Student’s Evening Hymn
Article (poem, PDF) 460 words Level: all audiences James Clerk Maxwell is one of the most important figures in the history of science. Students in physics courses everywhere study “Maxwell’s Equations” that mathematically describe electromagnetic waves. These waves include light, radio, x-rays, etc. They are how astronomers learn about the universe and they are the basis of all wireless communication technology, including smart phones. Maxwell was a devout Christian, and a poet. Here we see both his interest in science and his faith reflected in one of his poems. Click here for Maxwell’s poem from The Life of James Clerk Maxwell: With a Selection from His Correspondence (1882). [Click here to download PDF] … Continue reading →
James Clerk Maxwell – Science and Faith
Article (two letter excerpts) 350 words Level: all audiences James Clerk Maxwell is one of the most important figures in the history of science. Students in physics courses everywhere study “Maxwell’s Equations” that mathematically describe electromagnetic waves. These waves include light, radio, x-rays, etc. They are how astronomers learn about the universe and they are the basis of all wireless communication technology, including smart phones. Maxwell was a devout Christian who spoke of his faith in many of his letters. Below are two excerpts from letters which contain direct references to both his scientific work and his faith. The first is from a draft of a letter in 1875 regarding membership in “The Victoria Institute”: I think men of science as well as other men need to learn from Christ, and I think Christians whose minds are scientific are bound to study science that their view of the glory of God may be as extensive as their being is capable … Continue reading →
James Clerk Maxwell: A Model for Twenty-first Century Physics in the Christian Liberal Arts
Article 20 pages Level: university This paper by Heather M. Whitney, Assistant Professor of Physics at Wheaton College, was published in Christian Scholar’s Review in 2016. It is an overview of James Clerk Maxwell’s scientific work and religious faith, and also a discussion of Maxwell as a model for foundational science instruction in a faith-centered and collegial environment. It is also rich in Maxwell quotations. Whitney writes, “as a physics instructor… when I am actively engaged with the fullness of the intellectual arm of the body of Christ, I am best able to offer to my students instruction that is interdisciplinary engaged, grounded in physical reality, and pointing toward Christ”. From the paper’s abstract: Physicist James Clerk Maxwell (1831-1879) is considered by many to have been as important to physics as Newton and Einstein, especially for his work on electricity and magnetism and for being the first director of the Cavendish Laboratory. His technical achievements are significant, but he also offers … Continue reading →
Jesuit Astronomy (1904) – William F. Rigge, S.J.
Article (in three parts) 30 pages (total) Level: all audiences “Jesuit Astronomy”, written John Schreiber, S. J., and by the Creighton University astronomer William F. Rigge, S. J., was published in the magazine Popular Astronomy in 1904. It a broad overview of Jesuit activities in the field of astronomy, from founding of the order in 1540 through the end of the nineteenth century. Click here for the article, Part I, 1st section, courtesy of Google Books. Click here to access this section via NASA ADS. Click here for the article, Part I, 2nd section, courtesy of Google Books. Click here to access this section via NASA ADS. Click here for the article, Part II, 1st section, courtesy of Google Books. Click here to access this section via NASA ADS. Click here for the article, Part II, 2nd section, courtesy of Google Books. Click here to access this section via NASA ADS. Click here for the article, Part II, 3rd section, courtesy of Google Books. … Continue reading →
Jesuit Science
Article and Video 750 words (article), 1 hour (video) Level: all 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 … Continue reading →
Johann von Lamont (1805-1879): A pioneer in geomagnetism
Article 5 pages Level: all audiences In 2005 the Institute for Rock Magnetism Quarterly published this article in commemoration of the birthday of Johann Von Lamont, who was also a prominent astronomer. The article provides an interesting look at the life and work of a Catholic scientist who today is not so well-known among the general public, but who is well-regarded in his field. The article does not focus on Lamont’s Catholic faith specifically, but the church-science connection is apparent. There is also an entry on Lamont in the 1910 Catholic Encyclopedia and an obituary published in an 1879 issue of the Ave Maria Journal of the University of Notre Dame. [Click here to download PDF] … Continue reading →
John Henry Newman – on Darwin’s Theory of Evolution
Article (letter) 500 words Level: high school and above John Henry Newman writes about Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution, and asks what people find atheistic about it. Newman writes: It does not seem to me to follow that creation is denied because the Creator, millions of years ago, gave laws to matter. He first created matter and then he created laws for it — laws which should construct it into its present wonderful beauty, and accurate adjustment and harmony of parts gradually. We do not deny or circumscribe the Creator, because we hold he has created the self acting originating human mind, which has almost a creative gift; much less then do we deny or circumscribe His power, if we hold that He gave matter such laws as by their blind instrumentality moulded and constructed through innumerable ages the world as we see it. Click here for an excerpt selected by the Interdisciplinary Encyclopedia of Religion and Science (Inters.org), which is edited by the … Continue reading →
Life of Mendel
Book 336 pages Level: high school and above This biography of Fr. Gregor Mendel was written by Hugo Iltis in the early twentieth century (the introductory letter is dated January 1924). Iltis laments that the records Mendel left behind “were almost exclusively concerned with concrete facts… he never kept a diary, and his letters throw little light on the inner man”, so the biography is very factual in nature. And, given the time that has passed since Iltis wrote this biography, parts of the book are dated. Nevertheless, the book still provides a good in-depth look at Mendel’s life and his scientific work. Mendel, an Augustinian monk, is of course known for his pioneering work in essentially founding the science of genetics, but Iltis’s work reveals other scientific interests as well—Mendel observed the sun telescopically, for example, and kept a record of sunspots. The academic publisher Routledge issued a reprint of Iltis’s biography in 2018. Regarding Life of Mendel, Routledge … Continue reading →
Maria Mitchell: The Soul of an Astronomer
Book 123 pages Level: all audiences This book about America’s first professional woman astronomer is written for younger readers, but readers of all ages are likely to enjoy it. Written by Beatrice Gormley and published in 1995 by Eerdmans, Soul of an Astronomer descibes Mitchell’s life and scientific work, as would be expected from a biography, but it also gives much attention to her religious ideas. Mitchell was very concerned with religious matters—“Every formula which expresses a law of nature,” she once wrote, “is a hymn of praise to God”. However, she sometimes came into conflict with people over those matters, and the book covers that aspect of her life, too. From the publisher: In the mid-1800s, a turbulent time when women were often thought to be unworthy of higher education, Maria Mitchell rose above the prejudices of the day to become America’s first professional woman astronomer. This exciting biography tells the story of Maria Mitchell’s life, her amazing achievements, … Continue reading →
Michael Faraday – Physics and Faith
Book 128 pages Level: all audiences This book by Colin Russel 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. It discusses the life and work of Michael Faraday, one of the more prominent physicists in the history of science. As the book’s title suggests, Faraday was a religious man. Click here for a preview from Google Books. From the publisher, Oxford University Press: Michael Faraday (1791-1867), the son of a blacksmith, described his education as “little more than the rudiments of reading, writing, and arithmetic at a common day-school.” Yet from such basics, he became one of the most prolific and wide-ranging experimental scientists who ever lived. As a bookbinder’s apprentice with a voracious appetite for learning, he read every book he got his hands on. In 1812 he attended a series … Continue reading →
Monsignor Bouchet’s Telescope
Article (blog post) 850 words Level: all audiences In this post on The Catholic Astronomer blog, Christopher Graney writes about a telescope that belonged to Monsignor Michael Bouchet (1827 to 1903), former vicar-general of the Diocese of Louisville, Kentucky, and that is now housed in the Archdiocesan History Center of Louisville’s Cathedral of the Assumption. Bouchet was, among other things, an inventor (he constructed and patented a mechanical adding machine, which is on display in the History Center) and a science fiction writer (he wrote a story about a trip to the Moon). Graney writes that “Bouchet’s combination of interests—technology, astronomy, science fiction—is a combination found in many astronomers today, be they amateurs or professionals.” Click here to read the full article on The Catholic Astronomer – the blog of the Vatican Observatory Foundation. … Continue reading →
Newton’s Apple and Other Myths about Science
Book 304 pages Level: high school and above This 2015 book, published by Harvard University Press (HUP) and edited in part by Ronald Numbers, is a follow-up to the 2009 book Galileo Goes to Jail and Other Myths about Science and Religion which was also published by HUP and edited by Numbers. From HUP: A falling apple inspired Isaac Newton’s insight into the law of gravity—or so the story goes. Is it true? Perhaps not. But the more intriguing question is why such stories endure as explanations of how science happens. Newton’s Apple and Other Myths about Science brushes away popular misconceptions to provide a clearer picture of great scientific breakthroughs from ancient times to the present. Among the myths refuted in this volume is the idea that no science was done in the Dark Ages, that alchemy and astrology were purely superstitious pursuits, that fear of public reaction alone led Darwin to delay publishing his theory of evolution, and that … Continue reading →
On Stellar Spectrometry
Article 4 pages Level: high school and above This is an 1868 paper by Fr. Angelo Secchi, who conducted pioneering research into the nature of stars and whose work laid the foundations for the modern Vatican Observatory. Here Fr. Secchi groups stars by the characteristics of their spectra, noting that stars seem to fall into a certain number of types. He writes, “We have therefore, without doubt, in the heavens a grand fact, the fundamental distinction between the stars according to a small number of types; this opens a field for very many important cosmological speculations.” He also notes that observing the spectra of stars can tell us something about their motions. Indeed, studying the motions of stars by means of their spectra has yielded all sorts of information about them, including whether they have planets orbiting them. Fr. Secchi’s paper was published in the Report of the Thirty-Eighth Meeting of the British Association for the Advancement of Science [1868]. Click … Continue reading →
Pierre Duhem, Entropy, and Christian Faith
Article 18 pages Level: university In this 2008 article published in the journal Physics in Perspective, historian of science Helge Kragh discusses Pierre Duhem and the status of science and religion in the second half of the nineteenth century, when developments in the science of thermodynamics challenged the idea of an eternal, unchanging or cyclic universe. Kragh writes: The French physicist and polymath Pierre Duhem was strongly devoted to Catholicism but insisted that science and religion were wholly independent. In an article of 1905 he reflected at length on the relationship between physics and Christian faith, using as an example the cosmological significance of the laws of thermodynamics. He held that it was unjustified to draw cosmological consequences from thermodynamics or any other science, and even more unjustified to draw consequences of a religious nature. I place Duhem’s thoughts on “the physics of a believer” in their proper contexts by relating them to the late-nineteenth-century discussion concerning the meaning and … Continue reading →
Pioneer Work in Opening the Medical Profession to Women – Autobiographical Sketches by Dr. Elizabeth Blackwell
Book 264 pages Level: high school and above This 1895 autobiography of Elizabeth Blackwell, the first woman to receive a medical degree in the United States. Blackwell concludes her autobiography with the following: It has become clear to me that our medical profession has not yet fully realised the special and weighty responsibility which rests upon it to watch over the cradle of the race; to see that human beings are well born, well nourished, and well educated. The onward impulse to this great work would seem to be especially incumbent upon women physicians, who for the first time are beginning to realise the all-important character of parentage in its influence upon the adult as well as on the child — i.e. on the race. To every woman, as well as to every man, the responsible function of parentage is delegated. Our nature is dwarfed or degraded if the growth which should be attained by the exercise of parentage, directly … Continue reading →
Pope Leo XIII – De Vaticana Specula Astronomica Restituenda Et Amplificanda
Papal document 1600 words Level: university De Vaticana Specula Astronomica Restituenda Et Amplificanda, issued by Pope Leo XIII (1810-1903; elected Pope, 1878) in 1891, is the founding document of the Vatican Observatory. Pope Leo writes: Among all of these [natural] studies astronomy holds a preeminent position. It proposes to investigate those inanimate creatures which more than all others proclaim the glory of God and which gave marvelous delight to the wisest of beings, the one who exulted in his divinely inspired knowledge, especially of the yearly cycles and of the positions of the heavenly bodies (Wisdom VII.19). Click here for the original Latin text, published in 1894 (from Google Books). Click here for English translation from the Vatican Observatory web site. [Click here to download PDF] … Continue reading →
Searching the Heavens and the Earth: The History of Jesuit Observatories [with book reviews]
Book 369 pages Level: university Searching the Heavens and the Earth: The History of Jesuit Observatories, is a 2003 book by Agustín Udías, S. J. of the Department of Geophysics and Meteorology, Universidad Complutenese (Madrid, Spain). From the publisher: Jesuits established a large number of astronomical, geophysical and meteorological observatories during the 17th and 18th centuries and again during the 19th and 20th centuries throughout the world. The history of these observatories has never been published in a complete form. Many early European astronomical observatories were established in Jesuit colleges. During the 17th and 18th centuries Jesuits were the first western scientists to enter into contact with China and India. It was through them that western astronomy was first introduced in these countries. They made early astronomical observations in India and China and they directed for 150 years the Imperial Observatory of Beijing. In the 19th and 20th centuries a new set of observatories were established. Besides astronomy these now … Continue reading →
Serving God and science
Article 2 pages Level: all audiences A 2001 article by Agustín Udías, published in the journal Astronomy & Geophysics. Udías reflects on the Jesuit scientific tradition in astronomy and geophysics, by considering those who were also Fellows of the Royal Astronomical Society (Udías counts 31 Jesuit Fellows): Abstract: The Society of Jesus has a venerable tradition of scientific observation and enquiry, as has the Royal Astronomical Society. Their paths have frequently crossed over the years and this tradition of shared enquiry continues to this day. Click here to access this article via NASA ADS. Click here to access it via Astronomy & Geophysics. … Continue reading →
Stars And The Milky Way
Book chapter (PDF) 8 pages Level: high school and above A chapter by Fr. Christopher Corbally, S.J., an astronomer with the Vatican Observatory, for the book The Heavens Proclaim: Astronomy and the Vatican. Fr. Corbally writes “the really interesting details contained within a [spectrum] are revealed when light from a star is focused onto a narrow slit, which from there passes through a prism, and then gets focused again onto your eye or a camera.” Topics include ‘A History of Stellar Spectra’; ‘Spectra and Brightness’; ‘Classifying Stars’; ‘Getting to Know Our Neighbors’; and ‘The Simple Picture Gives Way to Surprises’. [Click here to download PDF] … Continue reading →
Statement regarding faith, by Alessandro Volta to Giacomo Ciceri
Article (letter) 350 words (Italian and English) Level: all audiences Alessandro Volta made a number of contributions to science, but he is perhaps best known as the inventor of the Voltaic pile, that is, the electrical battery. Batteries, which produce electrical energy from chemical energy, are a key part of electrical technology. The electrical unit of the Volt (as in a 12 Volt battery) is named for him. Click here for the text of Volta’s statement and a discussion of it, from Christianity and the Leaders of Modern Science, courtesy of Google Books. [Click here to download PDF] … Continue reading →
Stephen Perry (1833-1889): Forgotten Jesuit Scientist and Educator
Article 12 pages Level: high school and above A 1979 article by George Bishop, published in the Journal of the British Astronomical Association: Abstract: A short biography of the activities and achievements of Stephen Perry — a little-known Jesuit priest, astronomer and educator. Apart from his work as a teacher at Stonyhurst College and as Director of its Observatory, Father Perry’s main contributions were in the fields of magnetism and of solar physics. He took a leading part in two Transit of Venus expeditions and four solar eclipse expeditions, and was to sacrifice his life in the 1889 solar eclipse expedition to the Salut Isles. Click here to access this article via NASA ADS. Click here to download a PDF of this article from NASA ADS. … Continue reading →
The Cambridge Concise History of Astronomy
Book 380 pages Level: high school 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 … Continue reading →
The Jesuit Contribution to Seismology
Article 4000 words Level: university This 1996 article by Agustin Udías of Universidad Complutense (Madrid, Spain) and William Stauder, Saint Louis University was published in Seismological Research Letters. Udías and Staude write: The contribution to seismology of the Society of Jesus as an institution through its colleges and universities, and its members as individual scientists, forms an important chapter in the history of this science. This is especially so in the early years of its development…. No recent or comprehensive work, however, exists on the topic. Recently, moreover, many Jesuit seismographic stations have been closed and the number of Jesuits actually working in seismology has been greatly reduced. To a certain extent, apart from a very few academic departments and research institutes associated with Jesuit universities, it can be said that this is a chapter which is coming to a close. The interest of Jesuits has moved in other directions and it is not likely that seismology will become again an important aspect … Continue reading →
The Man Who Changed Everything: The Life of James Clerk Maxwell
Book 226 pages Level: high school and above This is a biography of James Clerk Maxwell, written by Basil Mahon and published in 2003 by Wiley. Maxwell was one of the more prominent figures in science history, a key figure in the development of the physics of electricity and magnetism and light who also was the first to work out the structure of the rings of Saturn. Maxwell was also a man of Faith: Mahon writes that “his faith was the guiding principle of his life”. A contemporary wrote of Maxwell that he was “one of the best men I have ever met, and a greater merit than his scientific attainments is his being, so far as human judgment can discern, a most perfect example of a Christian gentleman”. Click here for a preview, courtesy of Google Books. From the dust jacket of The Man Who Changed Everything: James Clerk Maxwell (1831- 1879) changed our perception of reality and laid the foundations for … Continue reading →
The Total Solar Eclipse of July 29th, 1878
Article 13 pages Level: high school and above This article by J. M. Degni, S. J. from the 1878 American Catholic Quarterly Review provides an interesting look at a scientific article in a nineteenth-century Catholic periodical. “The Total Solar Eclipse” follows articles on the position of the Blessed Virgin in Catholic theology, Sir Thomas More, Catholic poetry, and Pope Sixtus V, among others. It features significant discussion of topics in astronomy such as spectroscopy and the work of Fr. Angelo Secchi. It also features a table of numerical data on temperature and humidity during the eclipse, and a full-page sketch of the eclipse made by Fr. Benedict Sestini. This sketch is also on the cover of the magazine. Degni concludes, “Many minor details, revealed by the spectroscope, the polariscope, and other instruments of observation, we must omit for brevity’s sake…. we must patiently await the full examination and comparison of the various observations taken on the 29th before the truth can be reached … Continue reading →
The Triumph of the Cross
Article 21 pages Level: university This 2018 article, published in the journal Ohio Valley History, revolves around the Cincinnati Observatory, the oldest professional observatory in the United States and the first public observatory in the Western Hemisphere. The full title of the article is “The Triumph of the Cross: President John Quincy Adams, Archbishop John Baptist Purcell, and the Reclamation of Cincinnati’s Mount Adams as a Sacred Site”. The author of the article, C. Walker Gollar, is Professor of Church History at Xavier University in Cincinnati. Mount Adams was the original site of the observatory, and the article traces conflict related to the observatory that stemmed in part from remarks that Adams gave in a speech for the founding of the observatory, in which Adams claimed that St. Ignatius Loyola founded the Inquisition. The article also traces the parallel history of the observatory and of a Catholic church on Mount Adams, as well as changing views about science both in the … Continue reading →
The Vatican Observatory (Catholic Encyclopedia, 1901)
Article (encyclopedia entry) 2 pages Level: all audiences The entry for the Vatican Observatory in the 1912 Catholic Encyclopedia. The entry was written by J. G. Hagen, S. J., director of the Observatory at that time. From the article: The Vatican Observatory now bears the official title, “Specola Astronomica Vaticana”. To understand its history it is necessary to remark that the designations osservatorio or specola are not restricted to astronomy, but may mean any elevated locality from which aerial phenomena are observed. From this point of view the history of the Specola Vaticana has passed through four successive stages…. Click here to access this article via Google Books. … Continue reading →
The Vatican Observatory (Popular Astronomy, 1903)
Article 5 pages Level: all audiences This 1903 article in the magazine Popular Astronomy describes the Vatican Observatory after it had been re-established by Pope Leo XIII. Some photos are included in the article. The author, W. Alfred Parr, writes: When towards the middle of the ninth century Pope Leo IV sought to stem the further ravages of the Saracen hordes by strengthening the defences of Rome and enclosing the Vatican hill with massive turreted walls, he could little imagine that these same walls, designed so well to bear the engines of war that were to dominate the country round, would, more than a thousand years later, be required by a successor and namesake to harbor a weapon of science of a potency little dreamt of in those days—a weapon whose range of power should penetrate to the confines of the unknown itself. For, after the conclusion of the International Photographic Conference on the charting of the heavens, held in Paris … Continue reading →
Tradition and Today: Religion and Science
Article (PDF) 12 pages Level: university 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. [Click here to download PDF] … Continue reading →
Twelve Lectures on the Connection Between Science and Revealed Religion – Nicholas Wiseman
Book (and book excerpt) 448 pages (excerpt is 3200 words) Level: high school and above Nicolás Patricio Esteban Wiseman was Cardinal and first Archbishop of Westminster upon the re-establishment of the Catholic hierarchy in England and Wales in 1850. His discussions of religion and science in the early nineteenth century became well-known. The complete text of Wiseman’s lectures is available from Google Books (click here). Click here for an excerpt 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. In this excerpt Wiseman defends Rome as a center of learning and writes of various early figures in the church who promoted the study of mathematics or the natural world, including Clement of Alexandria: Clement of Alexandria … devoted several chapters of his learned Stromata to the vindication of his favorite studies. He observes very justly, that “varied and … Continue reading →
William F. Rigge, S. J. (Obituary)
Article 4 pages Level: all audiences Obituary in Popular Astronomy (1927) for astronomer William F. Rigge, S. J., notable for its discussion of how Rigge was able to use his knowledge of astronomy to provide evidence that exonerated a man who had been accused of planting a bomb. The author if the obituary was James McCabe, S. J. Click here for the first part of the article from NASA ADS. Click here for PDF format. Click here for the second part of the article from NASA ADS. Click here for PDF format. Click here for additional information on William F. Rigge, S. J., from Creighton University. … Continue reading →
A brief portion of an Easter sermon by Gregor Mendel
Article (PDF) 1 page Level: all audiences Gregor Mendel, who served as the Abbot of the Augustinian monastery in Brno in what is now the Czech Republic, is recognized today as the founder of the modern science of genetics, on account of of his experiments with the breeding of plants. This is a brief portion of an Easter sermon by Mendel (from notes written in his own hand) that makes reference to gardening and plants. [Click here to download PDF] … Continue reading →
Accuracy of Solar Eclipse Observations Made by Jesuit Astronomers in China
Article 10 pages Level: university 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. … Continue reading →
Agnes Mary Clerke
Articles (several) Various page lengths Level: all audiences Agnes Mary Clerke was an influential nineteenth-century writer whose primary subject of interest was astronomy. Below is the Catholic Encyclopedia entry for her (1913), followed by links to other articles about her. Agnes Mary Clerke Astronomer, born at Skibbereen, County Cork, Ireland, 10 February, 1842; died in London, 20 January 1907. At the very beginning of her study she showed a marked interest in astronomy, and before she was fifteen years old she had begun to write a history of that science. In 1861 the family moved to Dublin, and in 1863 to Queenstown. Several years later she went to Italy where she stayed until 1877, chiefly at Florence, studying at the public library and preparing for literary work. In 1877 she settled in London. Her first important article, “Copernicus in Italy”, was published in the “Edinburgh Review” (October, 1877). She achieved a world-wide reputation in 1885, on the appearance of her … Continue reading →
André-Marie Ampère on evidence from Science for the Existence of God
Article (excerpt) 150 words (French and English) Level: all audiences André-Marie Ampère was a French physicist and mathematician who did much work in the field of electricity. The unit of electrical current, the Amp is named for him. Click here for the text of Ampère’s statement and a discussion of Ampère, from Christianity and the Leaders of Modern Science, courtesy of Google Books. Click here for the original text, from Ampere’s Essai sur la Philosophie des Sciences of 1843. [Click here to download PDF] … Continue reading →
Angelo Secchi, the Jesuit father of astrophysics
Article 2000 words Level: all audiences An article about the 19th-century Jesuit astrophysicist Angelo Secchi, published in August 2018 in the magazine America: The Jesuit Review. The author of the article is Adam Hincks, who is also an astrophysicist and a Jesuit. Secchi was a pioneer in the use of spectroscopy to study the stars and planets. Hincks writes: It is a mark of genius to come up with questions that are obvious in retrospect but that nobody had ever thought of asking before. The Jesuit astronomer Angelo Secchi (pronounced “sekki”), whose 200th anniversary of birth is being celebrated this year, had that talent. Before Secchi, astronomers were mainly interested in figuring out exactly where stars and planets were. This was important for navigation, and therefore commerce, and intricate mathematical systems were developed to track the motions of the heavens above in order to guide the motions of ships below. But Secchi asked a new question: What are stars and … Continue reading →
Astronomy on the Frontier
Article (blog post) 1200 words Level: all audiences Christopher Graney writes on The Catholic Astronomer blog about the first bishop of Vincennes, Indiana, Simon Guillaume Gabriel Bruté de Rémur (1779-1839), and his library. The library contained a significant collection of works on science, which Bishop Bruté hauled all the way to the American frontier from France. Graney writes: It turns out Bruté had been a top-notch student of science—one of the best students in his class at the medical school in Paris. So of course his library would include quite a bit of material on a variety of sciences, including astronomy. Still, Indiana was being settled at the time, and was pretty rough country: the land of Abraham Lincoln’s youth…; a land that had only become a state twenty years earlier; a land from which the Potowatami Indians were being forcibly evicted while Bruté was bishop, passing only a hundred miles to the north on a “Trail of Death.” Was it really worth … Continue reading →
Decree of Approval for the work “Elements of Astronomy” by Giuseppe Settele, in support of the heliocentric system (1820)
Article 300 words Level: all 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 … Continue reading →
Father Secchi and the first Italian magnetic observatory
Article 13 pages Level: university A well-illustrated article about the work of Angelo Secchi, S. J. in 19th-century Rome, published in History of Geo- and Space Sciences in 2012. The authors are N. Ptitsyna (Institute of Terrestrial Magnetism, Ionosphere and Radiowave Propagation, Russian Academy of Science, St. Petersburg Filial, Russia) and A. Altamore (Physical Department “E. Amaldi”, University “Roma Tre”, Rome, Italy). Ptitsyna and Altamore write: The permanent observatories monitoring geomagnetic phenomena in the early decades of the 19th century have contributed greatly to our understanding of the dynamics of the Earth’s magnetic field. According to a guide on the organization of a geomagnetic observatory (Wienert, 1970): “The creation of a geomagnetic observatory is an ambitious enterprise which entails considerable financial commitments. Even more of a burden is the maintenance of the installation and the processing of data.” Seen in these terms, Father Secchi’s ambitious project was wholly successful. Secchi’s contributions to geomagnetism from the observational, theoretical, organizational and educational points … Continue reading →
Fr. Angelo Secchi S.J. (1818-1878), Pioneer of Astrophysics
Article (blog post) and video 1000 words (article)/17 minutes (video) Level: all audiences This short article, written by Br. Bob Macke, S. J. (an astronomer at the Vatican Observatory) and posted on the V.O.’s Sacred Space Astronomy/The Catholic Astronomer blog, provides an overview of the life and work of Fr. Angelo Secchi. The video, produced by the V.O., features Macke, Br. Guy Consolmagno (Director of the V.O.), Dr. Ileana Chinnici of Palermo Observatory, and others—and some great footage of the areas in Rome where Secchi worked. Click here to access this article and video from Sacred Space Astronomy. … Continue reading →
Fr. Angelo Secchi, S.J. and the Voyage of the Immacolata Concezione
Article 1300 words Level: all audiences This article from Br. Bob Macke, S. J. (an astronomer at the Vatican Observatory) is from the web page of the International Society of Limnology (SIL), the oldest and only international society devoted to the study of inland waters. The SIL maintains a listing of Notable Limnologists, and Fr. Secchi is one of these, as well as being an astronomer. This article focuses on his work studying water while aboard the papal naval vessel Immacolata Concezione. Click here to access this article from SIL. … Continue reading →
Fr. Giuseppe Lais, Astronomer
Article 800 words Level: all audiences (Italian) Fr. Sabino Maffeo, a physicist with the Vatican Observatory since 1985, writes about Fr. Giuseppe Lais, who worked with Angelo Secchi and the early Vatican Observatory. Click here for the full text of this article, which was published in the Dizionario biografico degli italiani, Vol. 63 (2004), p. 93-94. … Continue reading →
Fr. Giuseppe Piazzi C.R. (1746-1826), Discoverer of the First Asteroid
Article 700 words Level: all audiences In this article from the Vatican Observatory’s Sacred Space Astronomy/The Catholic Astronomer blog, Br. Bob Macke, S. J. (an astronomer at the Vatican Observatory) writes that Today, just under 800,000 asteroids and Trans Neptunian Objects are known and catalogued by the Minor Planet Center of the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, with more being discovered every day. However, before 1800 the existence of this entire class of objects was entirely unknown. The first asteroid, which today we know as (1) Ceres, was discovered by an astronomer who was also a priest: Fr. Giuseppe Piazzi C.R. Click here to access this article from Sacred Space Astronomy. … Continue reading →
From Cosmologics: On Darwin and Place
Articles (two) 4500 words (total) Level: high school and above These are two articles related to work by David Livingstone of Queen’s University, Belfast, who gave the 2015 Dudleian Lecture at Harvard Divinity School. They were published in Cosmologics Magazine, which is a project of the Science, Religion, and Culture program at Harvard Divinity School. Click here to access “David Livingstone: Putting Darwinism in Its Place” from Cosmologics Magazine. This is an excerpt from Livingstone’s book Dealing with Darwin: Place, Politics and Rhetoric in Religious Engagements with Evolution. Livingstone argues that how Darwin’s ideas were received varied widely. In some places Darwin’s ideas were rejected. He notes how some sought to cast “Darwinism and Catholicism as twin allies against the inductive truths of science and the revealed truths of scripture. It thus became possible to conflate as a single object of reproach an old enemy—popery—and a new one—evolution…. these were indeed the enemies of God.” Others welcomed Darwinism as endorsing … Continue reading →
Giuseppe Piazzi and the Discovery of Ceres
Article (book chapter) 8 pages Level: university The first asteroid was discovered by Fr. Giuseppe Piazza, who gave it the name Ceres. Fr. Piazzi believed that in fact he had discovered a planet, but was hesitant to say so directly, and often referred to Ceres as a “comet”. Today Ceres is classified as a “dwarf planet”. This article on Piazzi is from the book Asteroids III, published in 2002 by the University of Arizona Press and the Lunar and Planetary Institute of the Universities Space Research Association (USRA). From the chapter abstract: In this chapter we focus on the circumstances that led Giuseppe Piazzi (1746–1826) to discover the first asteroid, Ceres, on January 1, 1801. Through the examination of published and archival documentation, we shed light on the reaction of the astronomical community at the announcement of the discovery and on Piazzi’s puzzling behavior. In the end, we briefly discuss the discoveries of Pallas, Juno, and Vesta and the theories put forward … Continue reading →
Giuseppe Piazzi and the Discovery of the Proper Motion of 61-Cygni
Article 8 pages Level: university Fr. Giuseppe Piazza discovered the proper motion of the star 61 Cygni at the end of the eighteenth century. A star’s proper motion is its motion across the sky compared to other stars. The position of 61 Cygni, a star that is faint but visible to the naked eye, changes measurably over the course of a year. A star whose position changes like this must be a relatively nearby star. In this 1990 article in the Journal for the History of Astronomy, Georgia Fodera Serio of the Palermo Observatory discusses the story of Fr. Piazzi and his “flying star”, and writes on the importance of Piazzi’s discovery. Serio notes that Piazzi “abandoned the old paradigm that ‘brightness implies nearness’”. This was an important step for astronomers, who previously had supposed that those stars that appear brighter in our night sky are nearer to us. In the 1830s the German astronomer Friedrich Wilhelm Bessel would measure … Continue reading →
Giuseppe Settele and the final annulment of the decree of 1616 against Copernicanism
Article (PDF) 3500 words Level: university 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”. Click here to access this article, published in Memorie della Società Astronomia Italiana, Vol. 60, p.791 (1989) via NASA ADS. [Click here to download PDF] … Continue reading →
James Clerk Maxwell – Science and Faith
Article (two letter excerpts) 350 words Level: all audiences James Clerk Maxwell is one of the most important figures in the history of science. Students in physics courses everywhere study “Maxwell’s Equations” that mathematically describe electromagnetic waves. These waves include light, radio, x-rays, etc. They are how astronomers learn about the universe and they are the basis of all wireless communication technology, including smart phones. Maxwell was a devout Christian who spoke of his faith in many of his letters. Below are two excerpts from letters which contain direct references to both his scientific work and his faith. The first is from a draft of a letter in 1875 regarding membership in “The Victoria Institute”: I think men of science as well as other men need to learn from Christ, and I think Christians whose minds are scientific are bound to study science that their view of the glory of God may be as extensive as their being is capable … Continue reading →
Jesuit Astronomy (1904) – William F. Rigge, S.J.
Article (in three parts) 30 pages (total) Level: all audiences “Jesuit Astronomy”, written John Schreiber, S. J., and by the Creighton University astronomer William F. Rigge, S. J., was published in the magazine Popular Astronomy in 1904. It a broad overview of Jesuit activities in the field of astronomy, from founding of the order in 1540 through the end of the nineteenth century. Click here for the article, Part I, 1st section, courtesy of Google Books. Click here to access this section via NASA ADS. Click here for the article, Part I, 2nd section, courtesy of Google Books. Click here to access this section via NASA ADS. Click here for the article, Part II, 1st section, courtesy of Google Books. Click here to access this section via NASA ADS. Click here for the article, Part II, 2nd section, courtesy of Google Books. Click here to access this section via NASA ADS. Click here for the article, Part II, 3rd section, courtesy of Google Books. … Continue reading →
Jesuit Science
Article and Video 750 words (article), 1 hour (video) Level: all 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 … Continue reading →
Johann von Lamont (1805-1879): A pioneer in geomagnetism
Article 5 pages Level: all audiences In 2005 the Institute for Rock Magnetism Quarterly published this article in commemoration of the birthday of Johann Von Lamont, who was also a prominent astronomer. The article provides an interesting look at the life and work of a Catholic scientist who today is not so well-known among the general public, but who is well-regarded in his field. The article does not focus on Lamont’s Catholic faith specifically, but the church-science connection is apparent. There is also an entry on Lamont in the 1910 Catholic Encyclopedia and an obituary published in an 1879 issue of the Ave Maria Journal of the University of Notre Dame. [Click here to download PDF] … Continue reading →
John Henry Newman – on Darwin’s Theory of Evolution
Article (letter) 500 words Level: high school and above John Henry Newman writes about Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution, and asks what people find atheistic about it. Newman writes: It does not seem to me to follow that creation is denied because the Creator, millions of years ago, gave laws to matter. He first created matter and then he created laws for it — laws which should construct it into its present wonderful beauty, and accurate adjustment and harmony of parts gradually. We do not deny or circumscribe the Creator, because we hold he has created the self acting originating human mind, which has almost a creative gift; much less then do we deny or circumscribe His power, if we hold that He gave matter such laws as by their blind instrumentality moulded and constructed through innumerable ages the world as we see it. Click here for an excerpt selected by the Interdisciplinary Encyclopedia of Religion and Science (Inters.org), which is edited by the … Continue reading →
Monsignor Bouchet’s Telescope
Article (blog post) 850 words Level: all audiences In this post on The Catholic Astronomer blog, Christopher Graney writes about a telescope that belonged to Monsignor Michael Bouchet (1827 to 1903), former vicar-general of the Diocese of Louisville, Kentucky, and that is now housed in the Archdiocesan History Center of Louisville’s Cathedral of the Assumption. Bouchet was, among other things, an inventor (he constructed and patented a mechanical adding machine, which is on display in the History Center) and a science fiction writer (he wrote a story about a trip to the Moon). Graney writes that “Bouchet’s combination of interests—technology, astronomy, science fiction—is a combination found in many astronomers today, be they amateurs or professionals.” Click here to read the full article on The Catholic Astronomer – the blog of the Vatican Observatory Foundation. … Continue reading →
Pierre Duhem, Entropy, and Christian Faith
Article 18 pages Level: university In this 2008 article published in the journal Physics in Perspective, historian of science Helge Kragh discusses Pierre Duhem and the status of science and religion in the second half of the nineteenth century, when developments in the science of thermodynamics challenged the idea of an eternal, unchanging or cyclic universe. Kragh writes: The French physicist and polymath Pierre Duhem was strongly devoted to Catholicism but insisted that science and religion were wholly independent. In an article of 1905 he reflected at length on the relationship between physics and Christian faith, using as an example the cosmological significance of the laws of thermodynamics. He held that it was unjustified to draw cosmological consequences from thermodynamics or any other science, and even more unjustified to draw consequences of a religious nature. I place Duhem’s thoughts on “the physics of a believer” in their proper contexts by relating them to the late-nineteenth-century discussion concerning the meaning and … Continue reading →
Pope Leo XIII – De Vaticana Specula Astronomica Restituenda Et Amplificanda
Papal document 1600 words Level: university De Vaticana Specula Astronomica Restituenda Et Amplificanda, issued by Pope Leo XIII (1810-1903; elected Pope, 1878) in 1891, is the founding document of the Vatican Observatory. Pope Leo writes: Among all of these [natural] studies astronomy holds a preeminent position. It proposes to investigate those inanimate creatures which more than all others proclaim the glory of God and which gave marvelous delight to the wisest of beings, the one who exulted in his divinely inspired knowledge, especially of the yearly cycles and of the positions of the heavenly bodies (Wisdom VII.19). Click here for the original Latin text, published in 1894 (from Google Books). Click here for English translation from the Vatican Observatory web site. [Click here to download PDF] … Continue reading →
Searching the Heavens and the Earth: The History of Jesuit Observatories [with book reviews]
Book 369 pages Level: university Searching the Heavens and the Earth: The History of Jesuit Observatories, is a 2003 book by Agustín Udías, S. J. of the Department of Geophysics and Meteorology, Universidad Complutenese (Madrid, Spain). From the publisher: Jesuits established a large number of astronomical, geophysical and meteorological observatories during the 17th and 18th centuries and again during the 19th and 20th centuries throughout the world. The history of these observatories has never been published in a complete form. Many early European astronomical observatories were established in Jesuit colleges. During the 17th and 18th centuries Jesuits were the first western scientists to enter into contact with China and India. It was through them that western astronomy was first introduced in these countries. They made early astronomical observations in India and China and they directed for 150 years the Imperial Observatory of Beijing. In the 19th and 20th centuries a new set of observatories were established. Besides astronomy these now … Continue reading →
Serving God and science
Article 2 pages Level: all audiences A 2001 article by Agustín Udías, published in the journal Astronomy & Geophysics. Udías reflects on the Jesuit scientific tradition in astronomy and geophysics, by considering those who were also Fellows of the Royal Astronomical Society (Udías counts 31 Jesuit Fellows): Abstract: The Society of Jesus has a venerable tradition of scientific observation and enquiry, as has the Royal Astronomical Society. Their paths have frequently crossed over the years and this tradition of shared enquiry continues to this day. Click here to access this article via NASA ADS. Click here to access it via Astronomy & Geophysics. … Continue reading →
Statement regarding faith, by Alessandro Volta to Giacomo Ciceri
Article (letter) 350 words (Italian and English) Level: all audiences Alessandro Volta made a number of contributions to science, but he is perhaps best known as the inventor of the Voltaic pile, that is, the electrical battery. Batteries, which produce electrical energy from chemical energy, are a key part of electrical technology. The electrical unit of the Volt (as in a 12 Volt battery) is named for him. Click here for the text of Volta’s statement and a discussion of it, from Christianity and the Leaders of Modern Science, courtesy of Google Books. [Click here to download PDF] … Continue reading →
Stephen Perry (1833-1889): Forgotten Jesuit Scientist and Educator
Article 12 pages Level: high school and above A 1979 article by George Bishop, published in the Journal of the British Astronomical Association: Abstract: A short biography of the activities and achievements of Stephen Perry — a little-known Jesuit priest, astronomer and educator. Apart from his work as a teacher at Stonyhurst College and as Director of its Observatory, Father Perry’s main contributions were in the fields of magnetism and of solar physics. He took a leading part in two Transit of Venus expeditions and four solar eclipse expeditions, and was to sacrifice his life in the 1889 solar eclipse expedition to the Salut Isles. Click here to access this article via NASA ADS. Click here to download a PDF of this article from NASA ADS. … Continue reading →
The Jesuit Contribution to Seismology
Article 4000 words Level: university This 1996 article by Agustin Udías of Universidad Complutense (Madrid, Spain) and William Stauder, Saint Louis University was published in Seismological Research Letters. Udías and Staude write: The contribution to seismology of the Society of Jesus as an institution through its colleges and universities, and its members as individual scientists, forms an important chapter in the history of this science. This is especially so in the early years of its development…. No recent or comprehensive work, however, exists on the topic. Recently, moreover, many Jesuit seismographic stations have been closed and the number of Jesuits actually working in seismology has been greatly reduced. To a certain extent, apart from a very few academic departments and research institutes associated with Jesuit universities, it can be said that this is a chapter which is coming to a close. The interest of Jesuits has moved in other directions and it is not likely that seismology will become again an important aspect … Continue reading →
The Total Solar Eclipse of July 29th, 1878
Article 13 pages Level: high school and above This article by J. M. Degni, S. J. from the 1878 American Catholic Quarterly Review provides an interesting look at a scientific article in a nineteenth-century Catholic periodical. “The Total Solar Eclipse” follows articles on the position of the Blessed Virgin in Catholic theology, Sir Thomas More, Catholic poetry, and Pope Sixtus V, among others. It features significant discussion of topics in astronomy such as spectroscopy and the work of Fr. Angelo Secchi. It also features a table of numerical data on temperature and humidity during the eclipse, and a full-page sketch of the eclipse made by Fr. Benedict Sestini. This sketch is also on the cover of the magazine. Degni concludes, “Many minor details, revealed by the spectroscope, the polariscope, and other instruments of observation, we must omit for brevity’s sake…. we must patiently await the full examination and comparison of the various observations taken on the 29th before the truth can be reached … Continue reading →
The Triumph of the Cross
Article 21 pages Level: university This 2018 article, published in the journal Ohio Valley History, revolves around the Cincinnati Observatory, the oldest professional observatory in the United States and the first public observatory in the Western Hemisphere. The full title of the article is “The Triumph of the Cross: President John Quincy Adams, Archbishop John Baptist Purcell, and the Reclamation of Cincinnati’s Mount Adams as a Sacred Site”. The author of the article, C. Walker Gollar, is Professor of Church History at Xavier University in Cincinnati. Mount Adams was the original site of the observatory, and the article traces conflict related to the observatory that stemmed in part from remarks that Adams gave in a speech for the founding of the observatory, in which Adams claimed that St. Ignatius Loyola founded the Inquisition. The article also traces the parallel history of the observatory and of a Catholic church on Mount Adams, as well as changing views about science both in the … Continue reading →
The Vatican Observatory (Catholic Encyclopedia, 1901)
Article (encyclopedia entry) 2 pages Level: all audiences The entry for the Vatican Observatory in the 1912 Catholic Encyclopedia. The entry was written by J. G. Hagen, S. J., director of the Observatory at that time. From the article: The Vatican Observatory now bears the official title, “Specola Astronomica Vaticana”. To understand its history it is necessary to remark that the designations osservatorio or specola are not restricted to astronomy, but may mean any elevated locality from which aerial phenomena are observed. From this point of view the history of the Specola Vaticana has passed through four successive stages…. Click here to access this article via Google Books. … Continue reading →
The Vatican Observatory (Popular Astronomy, 1903)
Article 5 pages Level: all audiences This 1903 article in the magazine Popular Astronomy describes the Vatican Observatory after it had been re-established by Pope Leo XIII. Some photos are included in the article. The author, W. Alfred Parr, writes: When towards the middle of the ninth century Pope Leo IV sought to stem the further ravages of the Saracen hordes by strengthening the defences of Rome and enclosing the Vatican hill with massive turreted walls, he could little imagine that these same walls, designed so well to bear the engines of war that were to dominate the country round, would, more than a thousand years later, be required by a successor and namesake to harbor a weapon of science of a potency little dreamt of in those days—a weapon whose range of power should penetrate to the confines of the unknown itself. For, after the conclusion of the International Photographic Conference on the charting of the heavens, held in Paris … Continue reading →
Twelve Lectures on the Connection Between Science and Revealed Religion – Nicholas Wiseman
Book (and book excerpt) 448 pages (excerpt is 3200 words) Level: high school and above Nicolás Patricio Esteban Wiseman was Cardinal and first Archbishop of Westminster upon the re-establishment of the Catholic hierarchy in England and Wales in 1850. His discussions of religion and science in the early nineteenth century became well-known. The complete text of Wiseman’s lectures is available from Google Books (click here). Click here for an excerpt 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. In this excerpt Wiseman defends Rome as a center of learning and writes of various early figures in the church who promoted the study of mathematics or the natural world, including Clement of Alexandria: Clement of Alexandria … devoted several chapters of his learned Stromata to the vindication of his favorite studies. He observes very justly, that “varied and … Continue reading →
William F. Rigge, S. J. (Obituary)
Article 4 pages Level: all audiences Obituary in Popular Astronomy (1927) for astronomer William F. Rigge, S. J., notable for its discussion of how Rigge was able to use his knowledge of astronomy to provide evidence that exonerated a man who had been accused of planting a bomb. The author if the obituary was James McCabe, S. J. Click here for the first part of the article from NASA ADS. Click here for PDF format. Click here for the second part of the article from NASA ADS. Click here for PDF format. Click here for additional information on William F. Rigge, S. J., from Creighton University. … Continue reading →
Fr. Angelo Secchi S.J. (1818-1878), Pioneer of Astrophysics
Article (blog post) and video 1000 words (article)/17 minutes (video) Level: all audiences This short article, written by Br. Bob Macke, S. J. (an astronomer at the Vatican Observatory) and posted on the V.O.’s Sacred Space Astronomy/The Catholic Astronomer blog, provides an overview of the life and work of Fr. Angelo Secchi. The video, produced by the V.O., features Macke, Br. Guy Consolmagno (Director of the V.O.), Dr. Ileana Chinnici of Palermo Observatory, and others—and some great footage of the areas in Rome where Secchi worked. Click here to access this article and video from Sacred Space Astronomy. … Continue reading →
Fr. Angelo Secchi S.J., Jesuit Astrophysicist
Video 17 minutes Level: all audiences Fr. Angelo Secchi, S.J., father of astrophysics, is one of the greatest astronomers you have never heard of. Discover why, and find out about his contributions to stellar spectroscopy, solar physics, terrestrial magnetism, meteorology, and oceanography. This video features contributions from Ileana Chinnici, Aldo Altamore, Fr. Matteo Galaverni, and Vatican Observatory Director Br. Guy Consolmagno. It was produced by Br. Bob Macke, S.J. of the Vatican Observatory. … Continue reading →
Gregor Mendel: Planting the Seeds of Genetics
Book, web site, video 176 pages (book), 3 minutes (video) Level: high school and above Gregor Mendel was an Augustinian friar who founded the science of genetics. This book by Simon Mawer discusses Mendel’s life, life at his abbey, and the science and history of genetics. It was produced in association with the Field Museum in Chicago, which had an exhibit by the same name in 2006-2007. The web site associated with the book and exhibit is still available, as is a video from the Field Museum. (A Faith and Science entry for a related book on Mendel written for younger people is also available—click here). Click here for a Google Books entry for Gregor Mendel: Planting the Seeds of Genetics. From the Google entry: Considered one of the greatest scientists in history, Gregor Mendel was the first person to map the characteristics of a living things successive generations, thus forming the foundation of modern genetic science. In Gregor Mendel, distinguished novelist … Continue reading →
Jesuit Science
Article and Video 750 words (article), 1 hour (video) Level: all 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 … Continue reading →
A brief portion of an Easter sermon by Gregor Mendel
Article (PDF) 1 page Level: all audiences Gregor Mendel, who served as the Abbot of the Augustinian monastery in Brno in what is now the Czech Republic, is recognized today as the founder of the modern science of genetics, on account of of his experiments with the breeding of plants. This is a brief portion of an Easter sermon by Mendel (from notes written in his own hand) that makes reference to gardening and plants. [Click here to download PDF] … Continue reading →
André-Marie Ampère on evidence from Science for the Existence of God
Article (excerpt) 150 words (French and English) Level: all audiences André-Marie Ampère was a French physicist and mathematician who did much work in the field of electricity. The unit of electrical current, the Amp is named for him. Click here for the text of Ampère’s statement and a discussion of Ampère, from Christianity and the Leaders of Modern Science, courtesy of Google Books. Click here for the original text, from Ampere’s Essai sur la Philosophie des Sciences of 1843. [Click here to download PDF] … Continue reading →
Giuseppe Piazzi and the Discovery of Ceres
Article (book chapter) 8 pages Level: university The first asteroid was discovered by Fr. Giuseppe Piazza, who gave it the name Ceres. Fr. Piazzi believed that in fact he had discovered a planet, but was hesitant to say so directly, and often referred to Ceres as a “comet”. Today Ceres is classified as a “dwarf planet”. This article on Piazzi is from the book Asteroids III, published in 2002 by the University of Arizona Press and the Lunar and Planetary Institute of the Universities Space Research Association (USRA). From the chapter abstract: In this chapter we focus on the circumstances that led Giuseppe Piazzi (1746–1826) to discover the first asteroid, Ceres, on January 1, 1801. Through the examination of published and archival documentation, we shed light on the reaction of the astronomical community at the announcement of the discovery and on Piazzi’s puzzling behavior. In the end, we briefly discuss the discoveries of Pallas, Juno, and Vesta and the theories put forward … Continue reading →
Giuseppe Settele and the final annulment of the decree of 1616 against Copernicanism
Article (PDF) 3500 words Level: university 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”. Click here to access this article, published in Memorie della Società Astronomia Italiana, Vol. 60, p.791 (1989) via NASA ADS. [Click here to download PDF] … Continue reading →
James Clerk Maxwell – A Student’s Evening Hymn
Article (poem, PDF) 460 words Level: all audiences James Clerk Maxwell is one of the most important figures in the history of science. Students in physics courses everywhere study “Maxwell’s Equations” that mathematically describe electromagnetic waves. These waves include light, radio, x-rays, etc. They are how astronomers learn about the universe and they are the basis of all wireless communication technology, including smart phones. Maxwell was a devout Christian, and a poet. Here we see both his interest in science and his faith reflected in one of his poems. Click here for Maxwell’s poem from The Life of James Clerk Maxwell: With a Selection from His Correspondence (1882). [Click here to download PDF] … Continue reading →
Johann von Lamont (1805-1879): A pioneer in geomagnetism
Article 5 pages Level: all audiences In 2005 the Institute for Rock Magnetism Quarterly published this article in commemoration of the birthday of Johann Von Lamont, who was also a prominent astronomer. The article provides an interesting look at the life and work of a Catholic scientist who today is not so well-known among the general public, but who is well-regarded in his field. The article does not focus on Lamont’s Catholic faith specifically, but the church-science connection is apparent. There is also an entry on Lamont in the 1910 Catholic Encyclopedia and an obituary published in an 1879 issue of the Ave Maria Journal of the University of Notre Dame. [Click here to download PDF] … Continue reading →
Stars And The Milky Way
Book chapter (PDF) 8 pages Level: high school and above A chapter by Fr. Christopher Corbally, S.J., an astronomer with the Vatican Observatory, for the book The Heavens Proclaim: Astronomy and the Vatican. Fr. Corbally writes “the really interesting details contained within a [spectrum] are revealed when light from a star is focused onto a narrow slit, which from there passes through a prism, and then gets focused again onto your eye or a camera.” Topics include ‘A History of Stellar Spectra’; ‘Spectra and Brightness’; ‘Classifying Stars’; ‘Getting to Know Our Neighbors’; and ‘The Simple Picture Gives Way to Surprises’. [Click here to download PDF] … Continue reading →
Statement regarding faith, by Alessandro Volta to Giacomo Ciceri
Article (letter) 350 words (Italian and English) Level: all audiences Alessandro Volta made a number of contributions to science, but he is perhaps best known as the inventor of the Voltaic pile, that is, the electrical battery. Batteries, which produce electrical energy from chemical energy, are a key part of electrical technology. The electrical unit of the Volt (as in a 12 Volt battery) is named for him. Click here for the text of Volta’s statement and a discussion of it, from Christianity and the Leaders of Modern Science, courtesy of Google Books. [Click here to download PDF] … Continue reading →
Tradition and Today: Religion and Science
Article (PDF) 12 pages Level: university 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. [Click here to download PDF] … Continue reading →
André-Marie Ampère: Enlightenment and Electrodynamics
Book 406 pages Level: university This 1995 biography of André-Marie Ampère is written by James R. Hofmann and published by Cambridge University Press. Ampère conducted pioneering studies of electricity, among other things (the unit of electrical current, the “Ampere” or “Amp” is named in his honor). This biography treats his scientific work in considerable detail. Ampère was Catholic, and he both valued his faith and also struggled with it at times. From a journal entry by Ampère after his final conversion (or reversion) to Catholicism: God has revealed to me what my eternal salvation depends upon. Could I ever forget it? Great Saint Joseph, to whose intercession above all I owe this grace, Saint Mary, mother of God, whose name I received at my baptism and to whom I also have this inexpressible gift, always intercede before God that he may conserve it for me and that I might make myself worthy of it! From the publisher: In this authoritative biography, James Hofmann … Continue reading →
Angelo Secchi: L’avventura scientifica del Collegio Romano
In Italian. A source book concerning Fr. Angelo Secchi and the history of science pursued at the Roman College
Continue reading →Astronomical Essays of Fr. G. V. Leahy: Cassini, Piazzi, Sechi, Denza, and Clerke
Book (sections) 20 pages Level: all audiences This volume of astronomical essays has been compiled from a series of articles originally published in the Boston Pilot over the pen-name of Catholicus. The series is here presented connectedly at the request of the Most Reverend Archbishop of Boston, who has graciously written the author, “I highly commend your articles on astronomy for publication in book form.” So begins the Astronomical Essays, published in 1910, of Rev. George V. Leahy, S.T.L., who was professor of astronomy at St. John’s seminary in Brighton. The Boston Pilot is a Catholic newspaper in Boston, Massachusetts. Parts of Essays are as dated as one might expect for a science book from 1910, but Leahy’s discussions of various Catholic scientists are generally easy to read, interesting, and still relevant. All of these sections are available courtesy of Google Books: Mr. D. Cassini and Saturn—click here to read Fr. Piazzi and the discovery of the first asteroid—click here to read Fr. … Continue reading →
Christianity and the Leaders of Modern Science
Book 403 pages Level: high school and above This book was written by Karl Alois Kneller, S. J., with an introduction by T. A. Findlay, S. J., and published in 1911 with approval from the bishop of Freiburg. The aim of the book is to illustrate the religious belief of various scientists. Kneller writes: Scientific discoveries, we are assured, have undermined the very foundations of religion — belief in the existence of God, and in the presence of a spiritual soul in man — and in short we must either renounce religion altogether or cast about for a new form of it, more in harmony with the results of the modern interpretation of nature. Assertions of this kind are to be met with everywhere. Newspapers and brochures are full of them; popular works on science treat them as self-evident, and seize every opportunity of insinuating that no one of any scientific standing any longer troubles about religion. Nor does it need … Continue reading →
Elizabeth Blackwell: First Woman Physician
Book 112 pages Level: all audiences This book on Elizabeth Blackwell was written by Tristan Boyer Binns and published by Scholastic in 2005. From the jacket cover: At a time when only men were supposed to become doctors, Elizabeth Blackwell earned a medical degree in 1849 from Geneva Medical College in New York. She was the first woman in the United States to ever earn such a degree. After graduating, she struggled to find ways to expand her medical knowledge. She traveled to France to study at La Maternite hospital in Paris. A serious eye infection forced Blackwell to lose her left eye and ended her dreams of becoming a surgeon. In 1853, she founded a free dispensary in New York City, the first of her many efforts to help provide women and children with better health care. Throughout her career, she fought tirelessly to help other women gain opportunities in medicine. Click here for a preview. This book is … Continue reading →
Galileo Goes to Jail and Other Myths about Science and Religion
Book 320 pages Level: high school 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 … Continue reading →
Gregor Mendel and the Roots of Genetics
Book 109 pages Level: all audiences This book by Edward Edelson 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 Gregor Mendel, who is recognized today as being the founder of the modern science of genetics. Mendel was a monk and later abbot of the Augustinian monastery at Brno in the Czech Republic. Edelson writes: [In] an Easter sermon. Mendel took special note of the way that Christ appeared to Mary Magdalen when he rose after his crucifixion: as a gardener. He wrote that “the gardener plants seed or seedlings in prepared soil. The soil must exert a physical and chemical influence so that the seed of the plant can grow. Yet this is not sufficient. The warmth and light of the sun must … Continue reading →
Gregor Mendel: Planting the Seeds of Genetics
Book, web site, video 176 pages (book), 3 minutes (video) Level: high school and above Gregor Mendel was an Augustinian friar who founded the science of genetics. This book by Simon Mawer discusses Mendel’s life, life at his abbey, and the science and history of genetics. It was produced in association with the Field Museum in Chicago, which had an exhibit by the same name in 2006-2007. The web site associated with the book and exhibit is still available, as is a video from the Field Museum. (A Faith and Science entry for a related book on Mendel written for younger people is also available—click here). Click here for a Google Books entry for Gregor Mendel: Planting the Seeds of Genetics. From the Google entry: Considered one of the greatest scientists in history, Gregor Mendel was the first person to map the characteristics of a living things successive generations, thus forming the foundation of modern genetic science. In Gregor Mendel, distinguished novelist … Continue reading →
Gregor Mendel: The Friar Who Grew Peas
Book 32 pages Level: all audiences This colorful book by Cheryl Bardoe was produced in partnership with the Field Museum in Chicago. It tells about the life of Gregor Mendel and about his work. The book provides a fairly detailed discussion of both his life as a monk and of his experiments, even though it is only 32 pages long and is a “picture book” written to be accessible to grade school students. (A Faith and Science entry for a related book on Mendel written for a more advanced audience is also available—click here). Click here to download a brief excerpt. From the publisher, Abrams Books: The only picture book available about the father of genetics and his pea plants! How do mothers and fathers—whether they are apple trees, sheep, or humans—pass down traits to their children? This question fascinated Gregor Mendel throughout his life. Regarded as the world’s first geneticist, Mendel overcame poverty and obscurity to discover one of the fundamental … Continue reading →
Life of Mendel
Book 336 pages Level: high school and above This biography of Fr. Gregor Mendel was written by Hugo Iltis in the early twentieth century (the introductory letter is dated January 1924). Iltis laments that the records Mendel left behind “were almost exclusively concerned with concrete facts… he never kept a diary, and his letters throw little light on the inner man”, so the biography is very factual in nature. And, given the time that has passed since Iltis wrote this biography, parts of the book are dated. Nevertheless, the book still provides a good in-depth look at Mendel’s life and his scientific work. Mendel, an Augustinian monk, is of course known for his pioneering work in essentially founding the science of genetics, but Iltis’s work reveals other scientific interests as well—Mendel observed the sun telescopically, for example, and kept a record of sunspots. The academic publisher Routledge issued a reprint of Iltis’s biography in 2018. Regarding Life of Mendel, Routledge … Continue reading →
Maria Mitchell: The Soul of an Astronomer
Book 123 pages Level: all audiences This book about America’s first professional woman astronomer is written for younger readers, but readers of all ages are likely to enjoy it. Written by Beatrice Gormley and published in 1995 by Eerdmans, Soul of an Astronomer descibes Mitchell’s life and scientific work, as would be expected from a biography, but it also gives much attention to her religious ideas. Mitchell was very concerned with religious matters—“Every formula which expresses a law of nature,” she once wrote, “is a hymn of praise to God”. However, she sometimes came into conflict with people over those matters, and the book covers that aspect of her life, too. From the publisher: In the mid-1800s, a turbulent time when women were often thought to be unworthy of higher education, Maria Mitchell rose above the prejudices of the day to become America’s first professional woman astronomer. This exciting biography tells the story of Maria Mitchell’s life, her amazing achievements, … Continue reading →
Michael Faraday – Physics and Faith
Book 128 pages Level: all audiences This book by Colin Russel 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. It discusses the life and work of Michael Faraday, one of the more prominent physicists in the history of science. As the book’s title suggests, Faraday was a religious man. Click here for a preview from Google Books. From the publisher, Oxford University Press: Michael Faraday (1791-1867), the son of a blacksmith, described his education as “little more than the rudiments of reading, writing, and arithmetic at a common day-school.” Yet from such basics, he became one of the most prolific and wide-ranging experimental scientists who ever lived. As a bookbinder’s apprentice with a voracious appetite for learning, he read every book he got his hands on. In 1812 he attended a series … Continue reading →
Newton’s Apple and Other Myths about Science
Book 304 pages Level: high school and above This 2015 book, published by Harvard University Press (HUP) and edited in part by Ronald Numbers, is a follow-up to the 2009 book Galileo Goes to Jail and Other Myths about Science and Religion which was also published by HUP and edited by Numbers. From HUP: A falling apple inspired Isaac Newton’s insight into the law of gravity—or so the story goes. Is it true? Perhaps not. But the more intriguing question is why such stories endure as explanations of how science happens. Newton’s Apple and Other Myths about Science brushes away popular misconceptions to provide a clearer picture of great scientific breakthroughs from ancient times to the present. Among the myths refuted in this volume is the idea that no science was done in the Dark Ages, that alchemy and astrology were purely superstitious pursuits, that fear of public reaction alone led Darwin to delay publishing his theory of evolution, and that … Continue reading →
Pioneer Work in Opening the Medical Profession to Women – Autobiographical Sketches by Dr. Elizabeth Blackwell
Book 264 pages Level: high school and above This 1895 autobiography of Elizabeth Blackwell, the first woman to receive a medical degree in the United States. Blackwell concludes her autobiography with the following: It has become clear to me that our medical profession has not yet fully realised the special and weighty responsibility which rests upon it to watch over the cradle of the race; to see that human beings are well born, well nourished, and well educated. The onward impulse to this great work would seem to be especially incumbent upon women physicians, who for the first time are beginning to realise the all-important character of parentage in its influence upon the adult as well as on the child — i.e. on the race. To every woman, as well as to every man, the responsible function of parentage is delegated. Our nature is dwarfed or degraded if the growth which should be attained by the exercise of parentage, directly … Continue reading →
The Cambridge Concise History of Astronomy
Book 380 pages Level: high school 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 … Continue reading →
Twelve Lectures on the Connection Between Science and Revealed Religion – Nicholas Wiseman
Book (and book excerpt) 448 pages (excerpt is 3200 words) Level: high school and above Nicolás Patricio Esteban Wiseman was Cardinal and first Archbishop of Westminster upon the re-establishment of the Catholic hierarchy in England and Wales in 1850. His discussions of religion and science in the early nineteenth century became well-known. The complete text of Wiseman’s lectures is available from Google Books (click here). Click here for an excerpt 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. In this excerpt Wiseman defends Rome as a center of learning and writes of various early figures in the church who promoted the study of mathematics or the natural world, including Clement of Alexandria: Clement of Alexandria … devoted several chapters of his learned Stromata to the vindication of his favorite studies. He observes very justly, that “varied and … Continue reading →