9 Priests Who Were Great Scientists

[rug]

Pierre Gassendi



Pierre Gassendi (1592 - 1655) was the first to observe the transit of a planet across the sun. He also named the beautiful, radiant phenomenon sparked by the collision of energetic charged particles with atoms in the high altitude atmosphere, the Aurora Borealis.

As both a Catholic priest with a doctorate in theology and a respected skeptical thinker, Gassendi wrote extensively on ways to navigate the often tumultuous waters of skepticism and dogmatism. According to historian Richard Popkin, he also may have been the first to formulate the modern "scientific outlook."

http://www.realclearscience.com/lists/priests_who_were_scientists/

Eight more in the slideshow at the link,

[Fortinbras Armstrong]

1. I can think of some others.

Last edited Tue Jul 8, 2014, 03:22 PM - Edit history (1)

For example, Marin Mersenne (1588-1648) made significant contributions to number theory (he described a set of prime numbers known as Mersenne Primes); acoustics (Mersenne's Laws describe the frequency of oscillation of a stretched string); he described a kind of reflecting telescope, although did not actually build one (another priest, Laurent Cassegrain, did).

Bernard Bolzano, of the Bolzano-Weirstrass Theorem, was a priest.

Gabriele Falloppio, of tube fame, was a canon of Modena Cathedral.

There are others undoubtedly.

[rug]

2. Thanks for the additions.

These priests should be way better known than the likes of Dolan and Chaput.

[rustbeltvoice]

3. Abbe Georges LeMaitre, Father Big Bang

I don't know how to add a picture, but take a look at:

Georges Lemaître, (1894-1966), Belgian cosmologist, Catholic priest, and father of the Big Bang theory.
http://www.corbisimages.com/stock-photo/rights-managed/U211064ACME/albert-einstein-with-robert-millikan-and-georges
http://www.amnh.org/education/resources/rfl/web/essaybooks/cosmic/p_lemaitre.html
http://www.rugusavay.com/georges-lemaitre-quotes/
http://9gag.com/gag/aoEbGyX/badass-george-lemaitre


Part of the reason that some of this is not known, is that, it is the habit in the English world not to identify accomplished priests. On a side note: the English world does use the title "Sir" to identify. You will have many books on history and literature write "Sir Thomas More", but not "Saint Thomas More"; because marks of English aristocracy are valued more than Catholicism in a waspish, and secular milieu.

[rug]

4. He's my favorite underappreciated priest-scientist.

There's a thread about him in the Religion Group.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/1218125406

My next favorite is Mendel.

BTW, the simplest way to post a picture is to right click on it, click "Properties" and put that url in your post. To avoid hotlinking, post that url to a photo hosting site like photobucket or imgur (you'll need to open a free account), then download that picture link to your post.