11 Amazing Catholic Scientists You Should Know – EpicPew

11 Amazing Catholic Scientists You Should Know

When it comes the Catholic Church and science all we tend to hear about is the Galileo affair. St. John Paul II apologized for various aspects the Church’s handling of Galileo, but it is a lot more complicated than post-modern scientists like to let on. Galileo is a way for Rationalists to assault faith. It is to paint the Church as anti-science and superstitious. To be sure, there are some Christians who are anti-science, who have accepted a false concordism. That is not the Catholic Church’s position. In fact, the Church has its own scientific wing, namely the Pontifical Academy of Sciences, which not only welcomes the work of Catholics, but people of many faiths, including atheists. For now let’s abandon this tired narrative and look at 11 groundbreaking Catholic scientists, many of whom were priests.*

 

1. Copernicus (1473–1543)

Nicolaus Copernicus wiki image

Remember Copernicus?! The Catholic priest who practiced medicine and then went into astronomy developing heliocentrism. He discovered that the earth is not the center of the universe, not even of this solar system. He is believed to have entered the priesthood later in life. His contributions to astronomy revolutionized the field and the world.

 

2. Albertus Magnus, O.P. (before 1200 – 1280)

Albertus Magnus, O.P. wiki image

What’s a list of major intellectual achievements without a Dominican or two on the list?! Fr. Albertus Magnus is the patron saint of the natural sciences and a Doctor of the Church because of his great work in in physics, logic, metaphysics, biology, and psychology.

3. Georges Lemaître (1894–1966)

Fr. Lemaitre with his colleague, Albert Einstein.
Fr. Lemaitre with his colleague, Albert Einstein.

Belgian priest and father of the Big Bang Theory. Fr. Lemaitre was a contemporary of, and based his work on Einstein’s Theory of General Relativity. Lemaitre also spent time serving as the Director of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences.

 

4. Gregor Mendel (1822-1884)

Gregor Mendel wiki image
 

Gregor Mendel was an Augustinian Friar who was the founder of the modern science of genetics. Yep! The study of genetics was started by a Catholic priest. If you have taken a science class and had to learn the terms “recessive” and “dominant” it is thanks to Fr. Mendel.

 

5. Giuseppe Mercalli (1850–1914) 

Giuseppe Mercalli wiki image

Priest, volcanologist, and director of the Vesuvius Observatory who is best remembered today for his Mercalli scale for measuring earthquakes which is still in use. Yes, the scientific inquiry of Catholics knows no bounds, even volcanoes and earthquakes have been studied.

 

6. William of Ockham (c. 1288 – c. 1348)

William of Ockham wiki image
 

Have you heard of Ockham’s Razor? He is the Franciscan Scholastic who wrote significant works on logic, physics, and theology; known for Ockham’s Razor. Yet, another Catholic priest’s whose work had a huge impact on the natural sciences.

 

7. Giovanni Battista Riccioli (1598–1671) 

Giovanni Battista wiki image

Jesuit astronomer who authored Almagestum novum, an influential encyclopedia of astronomy. He was the first person to measure the rate of acceleration of a freely falling body; created a selenograph with Father Grimaldi who now adorns the entrance at the National Air and Space Museum in Washington D.C. Catholic priests remembered at the Smithsonian!

 

8. Francesco Maria Grimaldi (1618 – 1663)

Francesco Grimaldi wiki image

There are a lot of Jesuit priest-scientists! Fr. Grimaldi was an Italian Jesuit priest, mathematician and physicist who taught at the Jesuit college in Bologna. A crater on the moon is named Grimaldi after him.

 

9. Nicolas Steno (1638-1686)

Nicholas Steno wiki image

Nicholas Steno made great strides in anatomy and geology. He eventually became a Catholic Bishop. Various parts of the body are named after him: Stensen’s duct, Stensen’s gland, Stensen’s vein, and Stensen’s foramina. He is also the founder of the study of fossils.

 

10. George V. Coyne, S.J. (born January 19, 1933)

George Coyne, S.J. wiki image
George Coyne, S.J.
wiki image
Mount Graham International Observatory (MGIO) is one of the observatory's used for the Vatican's scientific inquiries.
Mount Graham International Observatory (MGIO) is one of the observatories used for the Vatican’s scientific inquiries.

How about somebody current? Fr. Coyne is a Jesuit priest, astronomer, and former director of the Vatican Observatory and head of the observatory’s research group which is based at the University of Arizona in Tucson, Arizona. Since January 2012, he has served as McDevitt Chair of Religious Philosophy at Le Moyne College in Syracuse, NY.

 

11. Fr. Stanley Jaki (1914-2009)

Stanley Jaki, O.S.B wiki images
Stanley Jaki, O.S.B
wiki images

Fr. Jaki was a Hungarian Benedictine priest and Distinguished Professor of Physics at Seton Hall University, New Jersey. He most notably taught that science developed out of Christianity and he bridged the divide in the manufactured division between science and faith. You can read about his teaching in the book Science Was Born of Christianity by Stacy Trasancos.

 

One of the best ways to become more acquainted with the Catholic Church’s position on science and faith, is to read the encyclical Humani Generis as well as Fides et Ratio.

The next time someone accuses the Church of being anti-science, be sure to share the great scientific advances that have occurred throughout history thanks to Catholic scientists, including a great many who were priests. SCIENCE!!!!

 

14 thoughts on “11 Amazing Catholic Scientists You Should Know”

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  3. Fr Christopher P. Kelley, DD

    Robert Spencer has a great chapter on What Really Happened with Galileo. It WASN’T how modernists often make it out to be! The Pope was a personal friend of his; it was NOT Galileo’s SCIENCE which was at issue, but other matters entirely.

    1. I liked the book Galileo’s Mistake, to help clarify this episode. He was on the Catholic Church’s payroll and perhaps should be included here.

    1. I liked the book Galileo’s Mistake, to help clarify this episode. He was on the Catholic Church’s payroll and perhaps should be included here. You should be forewarned that the criticisms you find online are peppered with anachronistic fallacy.

  4. How about Louis Pasteur, Antoine Lavoisier, Andre Ampere, Father Lazzaro Spallanzani, Father James Macelwane, Evangelista Torricelli, Michel Chevreul, Father Angelo Secchi all of whom made huge contributions?

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  7. “Pick a number between 1 and 25,000” “What?” “I said, ‘Pick a number between 1 and 25,000.'” “Uh, OK.” “So pick a number…?” “OK, 11.” “11, fine. We’ll make it ’11 Amazing Catholic Scientists You Should Know.’ Now, I want you to choose eleven distinct numbers between 1 and 25,000.” “What?” “You didn’t expect me to choose them all by myself, did you?”

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