The original list I intended is somewhat dead. Wikipedia articles never belong to just one person so it's natural things will evolve into something else. And maybe what I wanted was not doable. Regardless because this is going to be the sole "List of Christian thinkers in science" I may start actually working on it rather than having it as a preservation of 2010. It will differ from List of Christians in science and technology in terms of formatting and that I'm going to try to more strictly limit to scientists and mathematicians who did Christian philosophy, theology, apologetics, speaking, or science/religion writing.
Color code
| Key: | Catholic Church | Eastern Christianity (either Eastern Orthodoxy or Oriental Orthodoxy) | Anglicanism | Protestantism | Restorationist or other |
|---|
Earliest times to the the Crusades
The earliest Christians to play a role in the History of science go back before the First Council of Nicaea. Christianity would grow in importance over the centuries. The Crusades is a stopping point for this section due to the role they may have played in connecting the Christian world to science elsewhere.
| Name | Image | Reason for inclusion | Sources |
|---|---|---|---|
| Anatolius of Laodicea (early 3rd century – 283) |
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A bishop of Laodicea, one of the foremost scholars of his day in the physical sciences. He is an early writer, predating the Edict of Milan. He is considered a saint by the Eastern Orthodox and the Roman Catholic Churches, but is listed as Eastern Christian due to living in Syria. A map picturing Laodicea in Syria is shown. |
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| Nemesius (?-c. 390) |
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A bishop of Emesa whose De Natura Hominis blended theology with Galenic medicine and is notable for its ideas concerning the brain. It also may have anticipated the discovery of the circulatory system. A picture of frescos in the Church of Saint Elian, in what was Emesa, Syria, is shown. | The Lancet Origins of Neuroscience: A History of Explorations Into Brain Function by Stanley Finger, pg 18 Nemesius- Bishop Of Emesa in "The American Cyclopaedia THE LURE OF MEDICAL HISTORY: A NOTE ON THE MEDICAL BOOKS OF FAMOUS PRINTERS Pictorial history of ancient pharmacy |
| John Philoponus (c.490–c.570) |
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His criticism of Aristotelian physics was important to Medieval science. He also theorized about the nature of light and the stars. He was also called John of Alexandria, hence the picture. As a theologian he rejected the Council of Chalcedon and his major Christological work is Arbiter. He was a figure in the Monophysitism minority of Eastern Christianity. | Cornell University [1] and Stanford University [2] |
| Bede, the Venerable (c.672–735) |
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Catholic monk who wrote two works on "Time and its Reckoning." This primarily concerned how to date Easter, but contained a new recognition of the "progress wave-like" nature of tides. He was an influence on early medieval knowledge of the natural world. | David Edward Cartwright (1999). Tides: A Scientific History. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-5216-2145-3. |
| Hunayn ibn Ishaq (c. 809–873) |
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Assyrian Christian physician known for translations of Greek scientific works and "Ten Treatises on Ophthalmology." Hence drawings of the eye are shown. He also wrote "How to Grasp Religion", which involved the apologetics for his faith. | The church in the shadow of the mosque: Christians and Muslims in the world ... by Sidney Harrison Griffith |
| Pope Sylvester II (c.950–1003) |
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A scientist and book collector, he influenced the teaching of math and astronomy in church-run schools, and raised the cathedral school at Rheims to the height of prosperity. A liberal as Gerbert of Rheims, when made Pope he disowned his Gallican antecedents and supported the claims of the papacy. | Truman University and History of the Christian Church and an article by William Wallace [3] |
| Blessed Hermann the Cripple (1013–1054) |
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He wrote on geometry, mathematics, and the astrolabe. He was also a monk who composed Marian antiphons and was essentially beatified. | McTutor |
The Crusades to Copernicus
In this period Christians there was a revival of interest in Aristotle and efforts to respond to him and the knowledge of Eastern societies. The decline of the [[B
| Name | Image | Reason for inclusion | Sources |
|---|---|---|---|
| Robert Grosseteste (c.1175–1253) |
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Bishop of Lincoln, he was the central character of the English intellectual movement in the first half of the 13th century and is considered the founder of scientific thought in Oxford. He had a great interest in the natural world and wrote texts on the mathematical sciences of optics, astronomy, and geometry. He affirmed that experiments should be used in order to verify a theory, testing its consequences. | A. C. Crombie, Robert Grosseteste and the Origins of Experimental Science 1100–1700, (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1971) |
| Pope John XXI (1215–1277) |
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He wrote the widely used medical text Thesaurus pauperum before becoming Pope. When he took office as pope in 1277, he immediately cracked down on heterodoxy including Averroes works and teachings on Aristotle. | Lawrence & Nancy Goldstone (2005). The Friar and the Cipher. Doubleday. ISBN 0-7679-1472-4. & Richard Hofstadter (1996). Academic Freedom in the Age of the College. Transaction books. ISBN 1-5600-0860-1. |
| St. Albert Magnus (c.1193–1280) |
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Patron saint of scientists in Catholicism who may have been the first to isolate arsenic. He wrote that: "Natural science does not consist in ratifying what others have said, but in seeking the causes of phenomena." Yet he rejected elements of Aristotelianism that conflicted with Catholicism and drew on his faith as well as Neo-Platonic ideas to "balance" "troubling" Aristotelian elements. In 1252 he helped appoint Thomas Aquinas to a Dominican theological chair in Paris to lead the suppression of these dangerous ideas. | Helen S. Lang (1992). Aristotle's Physics and Its Medieval Varieties. State University of New York Press. ISBN 0-7914-1083-8. and Lawrence & Nancy Goldstone (2005). The Friar and the Cipher. Doubleday. ISBN 0-7679-1472-4. |
| Roger Bacon (c.1214–1294) |
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He was an English philosopher who emphasized empiricism and has been presented as one of the earliest advocates of the modern scientific method. He joined the Franciscan Order around 1240, where he was influenced by Grosseteste. Bacon was responsible for making the concept of " laws of nature" widespread, and contributed in such areas as mechanics, geography and, most of all, optics. It is said that he was imprisoned by the church for many years because of his scientific teachings, although this is disputed. | Lawrence & Nancy Goldstone (2005). The Friar and the Cipher. Doubleday. ISBN 0-7679-1472-4. and Lindberg, D.C. (1995). "Medieval Science and Its Religious Context". Osiris. 10 (10): 60–79. doi: 10.1086/368743. |
| Theodoric of Freiberg (c.1250–c.1310) |
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Dominican who is believed to have given the first correct explanation for the rainbow in De iride et radialibus impressionibus or On the Rainbow. In theology he disagreed with Thomas Aquinas on metaphysical positions and tended towards a more Neoplatonic outlook than Aquinas. | Stanford Encyclopedia of philosophy |
| Gregory Choniades (died 1320) |
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An astronomer and Orthodox Bishop in Tabriz, which is pictured in a 1673 sketch. |
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| Thomas Bradwardine (c.1290–1349) |
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He was an English archbishop, often called "the Profound Doctor". He developed studies as one of the Oxford Calculators of Merton College, Oxford University. These studies would lead to important developments in mechanics. | Catholic Encyclopedia |
| Jean Buridan (1300–1358) |
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He was a Catholic priest and one of the most influential philosophers of the later Middle Ages. He developed the theory of impetus, which was an important step toward the modern concept of inertia. The picture is of a page in a book he did. | Essay "Scientific Revolutions as Changes of Worldview" by Thomas Samuel Kuhn in Can Theories be Refuted?: Essays on the Duhem-Quine Thesis edited by Sandra G. Harding. (D. Reidel Publishing Company, 1976) [4] |
| Nicole Oresme (c.1323–1382) |
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Theologian and Bishop of Lisieux, he was one of the early founders and popularizers of modern sciences. One of his many scientific contributions is the discovery of the curvature of light through atmospheric refraction. | Medieval Science, Technology, and Medicine: An Encyclopedia. Routledge. 2005.
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| Nicholas of Cusa (1401–1464) |
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Catholic cardinal and theologian who made contributions to the field of mathematics by developing the concepts of the infinitesimal and of relative motion. His philosophical speculations also anticipated Copernicus’ heliocentric world-view. | McTutor |
Copernicus to the founding of the Royal Society
Copernicus is sometimes seen as starting a Scientific revolution and therefore a different aspect of science history. While the founding of the Royal Society, in a kingdom that had broken with the Catholic Church, began learned scientific societies.
| Name | Image | Reason for inclusion | Sources |
|---|---|---|---|
| Otto Brunfels (1488–1534) |
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A theologian and botanist from Mainz, Germany. His Catalogi virorum illustrium is considered to be the first book on the history of evangelical sects that had broken away from the Catholic Church. In botany his Herbarum vivae icones helped earn him acclaim as one of the "fathers of botany" | Meyers Konversationslexikon 1888–1889, Jahn, I. Geschichte der Biologie. Spektrum 2000, and
Mägdefrau, K. Geschichte der Botanik. Fischer 1992 |
| Nicolaus Copernicus (1473–1543) |
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Catholic canon who introduced a heliocentric world view. In 1620, his work was placed on the Index Librorum Prohibitorum by the Church "until corrected". The Church demanded, in "about a quarto page of fine print" that nine sentences, by which heliocentrism was represented as certain, had to be either omitted or changed. This done, the book was still specifically banned in each edition of the index of prohibited books, with an expanded entry in the 1819 index, and not removed from the list until the final edition, in 1828. | Catholic Encyclopedia [5], Joseph Mendham (1840). An Index of Prohibited Books: By Command of the Present Pope, Gregory XVI in 1835; ... Duncan and Malcolm. |
| Michael Servetus (1511–1553) |
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Nontrinitarian who was condemned and imprisoned by Catholics before being burned at the stake by Calvinists in Protestant-run Geneva. In science wrote on astronomy and his theological work "Christianismi Restitutio" contained the first European description of the function of pulmonary circulation. | Salon review of a biography of Servetus, History of Science article |
| Michael Stifel (c. 1486–1567) |
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Led to the development of logarithms. His Arithmetica Integra is pictured. He was also among Martin Luther's earlier followers and wrote on Biblical prophecies. | University of Florida, Galileo Project at Rice University, and McTutor |
| William Turner (c.1508–1568) |
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He is sometimes called the "father of English botany" and was also an ornithologist. Religiously he was arrested for preaching in favor of the Reformation. An illustration of "Herbal - Mandrake" by him is pictured. | Galileo Project |
| Ignazio Danti (1536–1586) |
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He was a Bishop of Alatri who convoked a diocesan synod to deal with abuses. He was also a mathematician who wrote on Euclid, an astronomer, and a designer of mechanical devices. | McTutor |
| Bartholomaeus Pitiscus (1561–1613) |
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He may have introduced the word trigonometry, a book he did on that is shown, into English and French. He was also a Calvinist theologian who acted as court preacher. | McTutor |
| John Napier (1550–1617) |
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Scottish mathematician known for inventing logarithms, Napier's bones, and being the popularizer of the use of decimals. He also was a staunch Protestant who wrote on the Book of Revelation. | McTutor |
| Francis Bacon (1561–1626) |
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Eminent English scientist and originator of the eponymous Baconian method or simply, the scientific method. | Dictionary of the History of Ideas |
| Johannes Kepler (1571–1630) |
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His model of the cosmos based on nesting Platonic solids was explicitly driven by religious ideas; his later and most famous scientific contribution, the Kepler's laws of planetary motion, was based on empirical data that he obtained from Tycho Brahe's meticulous astronomical observations, after Tycho died of mercury poisoning. He had wanted to be a theologian at one time and his Harmonice Mundi discusses Christ at points. |
Galileo Project and
Adherents.com and Joshua Gilder and Anne-Lee Gilder (2005). Heavenly Intrigue: Johannes Kepler, Tycho Brahe, and the Murder Behind One of History's Greatest Scientific Discoveries. Anchor.
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| Servant of God Xu Guangqi (1562 – 1633) |
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He is counted among the Three Pillars of Chinese Catholicism. Xu did work in mathematics, astronomy, and was also the author of the Nong Zheng Quan Shu, which is one of the first comprehensive treatises on the subject of agriculture. |
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| Laurentius Gothus (1565–1646) |
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A professor of astronomy and Archbishop of Uppsala. He wrote on astronomy and theology. | Uppsala University |
| Galileo Galilei (1564–1642) |
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Scientist who had many problems with the Inquisition for defending heliocentrism in the convoluted period brought about by the Reformation and Counter-Reformation. In regard to Scripture, he took Augustine's position: not to take every passage too literally, particularly when the scripture in question is a book of poetry and songs, not a book of instructions or history. | Catholic Encyclopedia [6] |
| Marin Mersenne (1588–1648) |
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For four years he devoted himself to theology writing Quaestiones celeberrimae in Genesim ( 1623) and L'Impieté des déistes ( 1624). These were theological essays against atheism and deism. He is more remembered for the work he did corresponding with mathematicians and concerning Mersenne primes. | MacTutor archive |
| René Descartes (1596–1650) |
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Descartes was one of the key thinkers of the Scientific Revolution in the Western World. He is also honoured by having the Cartesian coordinate system used in plane geometry and algebra named after him. He did important work on invariants and geometry. His Meditations on First Philosophy partially concerns theology and he was devoted to reconciling his ideas with the dogmas of Catholic Faith to which he was loyal. This attempt was, and is, considered unsuccessful by the Catholic Church so his philosophy is still considered erroneous in it. | McTutor |
| Pierre Gassendi (1592–1655) |
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A Catholic priest who tried to reconcile Atomism with Christianity. He also published the first work on the Transit of Mercury and corrected the geographical coordinates of the Mediterranean Sea. | The Galileo Project and Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy |
| Anton Maria Schyrleus of Rheita (1597–1660) |
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Capuchin astronomer. He dedicated one of his astronomy books to Jesus Christ, a "theo-astronomy" work was dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary, and he wondered if beings on other planets were "cursed by original sin like humans are." | Cosmovisions and The Galileo Project |
Royal Society to French Revolution
This section goes on to the French Revolution which led to the first major de-Christianization attempts in Europe to occur in many centuries. This culminated in the Cult of the Supreme Being. The period thus saw Christianity in transition and eventually conflict. Scientists themselves dealt with this in varied ways.
| Name | Image | Reason for inclusion | Sources |
|---|---|---|---|
| Blaise Pascal (1623–1662) |
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Jansenist thinker; well-known for Pascal's law (physics), Pascal's theorem (math), and Pascal's Wager (theology). | McTutor |
| Isaac Barrow (1630–1677) |
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English divine, scientist, and mathematician. He wrote Expositions of the Creed, The Lord's Prayer, Decalogue, and Sacraments and Lectiones Opticae et Geometricae. | A Short Biographical Dictionary of English Literature and MacTutor |
| Juan Caramuel y Lobkowitz (1606–1682) |
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Cistercian monk who did work on combinatorics and published astronomy tables at age 10. He also did works of theology and sermons. | McTutor |
| Blessed Nicolas Steno (1638–1686) |
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Lutheran convert to Catholicism, his Beatification in that faith occurred in 1987. As a scientist he is considered a pioneer in both anatomy and geology, but largely abandoned science after his religious conversion. | Australian E-Journal of Theology and |
| Seth Ward (1617–1689) |
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Anglican Bishop of Salisbury and Savilian Chair of Astronomy from 1649–1661. He wrote Ismaelis Bullialdi astro-nomiae philolaicae fundamenta inquisitio brevis and Astronomia geometrica. He also had a theological/philosophical dispute with Thomas Hobbes and as a bishop was severe toward nonconformists. | Galileo Project and University of Hanover's philosophy seminar |
| Robert Boyle (1627–1691) |
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Scientist and theologian who argued that the study of science could improve glorification of God. | ASA and Stanford University [7] |
| John Wallis (1616–1703) |
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As a mathematician he wrote Arithmetica Infinitorumis, introduced the term "continued fraction", worked on cryptography, helped develop calculus, and is further known for the Wallis product. He also devised a system for teaching the non-speaking deaf. He was also a Calvinist inclined chaplain who was active in theological debate. | Galileo Project and University of Hanover's philosophy seminar |
| John Ray (1627–1705) |
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An English botanist who wrote The Wisdom of God manifested in the Works of the Creation. (1691) The John Ray Initiative of Environment and Christianity is also named for him. | University of California, Berkeley [8] |
| Gottfried Leibniz (1646–1716) |
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A polymath who worked on determinants, a calculating machine, He was a Lutheran who worked with convert to Catholicism John Frederick, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg in hopes of a reunification between Catholicism and Lutheranism. He also wrote Vindication of the Justice of God. | McTutor |
| William Derham (1657 – 1735) |
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His works include Physico-Theology, Christo-Theology, Astro-Theology, and A Defence of the Church's Right in Leasehold Estates. In 1709 Derham published a more accurate measure of the speed of sound, at 1,072 Parisian feet per second. | Full Meridian of Glory: Perilous Adventures in the Competition to Measure the Earth by Paul Murdin and the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography |
| Johann Bachstrom (1688–1742) |
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Lutheran theologian who wrote about scurvy. He was born in Rawicz, hence the picture. | Stephen E. Bown, Scurvy: How a Surgeon, a Mariner, and a Gentlemen Solved the Greatest Medical Mystery of the Age of Sail, Thomas Dunne Books, 2004, ISBN 978-0-312-31391-3 |
| Colin Maclaurin (1698–1746) |
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Proposed to explain Newton's differential calculus using infinite series instead of Newton's method of fluxions. A Divinity student, he had a Christian institute named for him. | The Maclaurin Institute |
| Bishop George Berkeley (1685–1753) |
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Although primarily known as a philosopher, specifically in connection to Subjective idealism, his The Analyst relates to math and Christianity. | The Analyst |
| Stephen Hales (1677–1761) |
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A Copley Medal winning scientist significant to the study of plant physiology. As an inventor designed a type of ventilation system, a means to distill sea-water, ways to preserve meat, etc. In religion he was an Anglican curate who worked with the Society for the Promotion of Christian Knowledge and for a group working to convert black slaves in the West Indies. | The Galileo Project and 1902 Encyclopedia |
| Thomas Bayes (1701–1761) |
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Presbyterian minister who wrote Divine Benevolence, or an Attempt to Prove That the Principal End of the Divine Providence and Government is the Happiness of His Creatures. He is better known for Bayes' theorem and was made a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1742. | McTutor |
| Firmin Abauzit (1679–1767) |
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A physicist and theologian. He translated the New Testament into French and corrected an error in Newton's Principia. | Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition |
| Emanuel Swedenborg (1688–1772) |
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His writing is the basis of Swedenborgianism and several of his theological works contained some science hypotheses, most notably the nebular hypothesis for the origin of the Solar System. | Swedenborgian site |
| Carolus Linnaeus (1707–1778) |
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He is known as the "father of modern taxonomy" and also made contributions to ecology. Natural theology and the Bible were important to his Systema Naturae and Systema Vegetabilium. | Berkeley bio |
| Leonhard Euler (1707–1783) |
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A significant mathematician and physicist, see List of topics named after Leonhard Euler. He wrote Defense of the Divine Revelation against the Objections of the Freethinkers and is also commemorated by the Lutheran Church on their Calendar of Saints on May 24. | Mathematics and the Divine By T Koetsier, L Bergmans, Inc NetLibrary |
| Maria Gaetana Agnesi (1718–1799) |
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A mathematician appointed to a position by Pope Benedict XIV. After her father died she devoted her life to religious studies, charity, and ultimately became a nun. | Britannica.com |
| Isaac Milner (1750–1820) |
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He was a Lucasian Professor of Mathematics known for work on an important process to fabricate nitrous acid. He was also an evangelical Anglican who co-wrote Ecclesiastical History of the Church of Christ with his brother and played a role in the religious awakening of William Wilberforce. He also led to William Frend being expelled from Cambridge for a purported attack by Frend on religion. | Lucasian Chair |
| Samuel Vince (1749–1821) |
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Cambridge astronomer and clergyman. He wrote Observations on the Theory of the Motion and Resistance of Fluids and The credibility of Christianity vindicated, in answer to Mr. Hume’s objections. He won the Copley Medal in 1780, before the period dealt with here ended. | Royal Society and Thoemmes |
| Olinthus Gregory (1774–1841) |
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He wrote Lessons Astronomical and Philosophical in 1793 and became mathematical master at the Royal Military Academy in 1802. An abridgment of his 1815 Letters on the Evidences of Christianity was done by the Religious Tract Society. | Preface to "Evidences" and 1911 Encyclopedia |
Napoleonic Wars to the modern era
The Napoleonic Wars increased secularism in the rest of Europe. This also reached the US in time and a 1914 study indicated belief in a personal God was a minority position among members of the National Academy of Sciences. [9] As that implies, this period led Christians in science to face changes and increased challenges, the first major one being theories of evolution discussed early on by Lamarck in Philosophie Zoologique and culminating in On the Origin of Species. Then in the twentieth century new areas of physics, like Quantum mechanics arose. Christians in science in this period dealt with new discoveries in a variety of ways ranging from total rejection to full acceptance.
| Name | Image | Reason for inclusion | Sources |
|---|---|---|---|
| William Buckland (1784–1856) |
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Anglican priest/geologist who wrote Vindiciae Geologiae; or the Connexion of Geology with Religion explained. He was born in 1784, but his scientific life did not begin before the period discussed herein. | University of Oxford site. [10] |
| John Fleming (1785–1857) |
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A Scottish minister, naturalist, zoologist and geologist. He named and described a number of species of molluscs. During his life he tried to reconcile theology with science. | WKU timeline |
| Augustin Louis Cauchy (1789–1857) |
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A mathematician who defended the Society of Jesus, tried to convert other mathematicians to Catholicism, and was a member of the Society of Saint Vincent de Paul. | Catholic Encyclopedia and Istanbul Technical University |
| Lars Levi Læstadius (1800–1861) |
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A botanist who started a revival movement within Lutheranism called Laestadianism. This movement is among the strictest forms of Lutheranism. As a botanist he has the author citation Laest and discovered four species. | University of Texas article |
| Edward Hitchcock (1793–1864) |
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Geologist, paleontologist, and Congregationalist pastor. He worked on Natural theology and wrote on fossilized tracks. | 1911 encyclopedia and Amherst College [11] |
| William Whewell (1794–1866) |
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A professor of mineralogy and moral philosophy. He wrote An Elementary Treatise on Mechanics in 1819 and Astronomy and General Physics considered with reference to Natural Theology in 1833. | Stanford philosophy site and Middlesex University article |
| Michael Faraday (1791–1867) |
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A Glasite church elder for a time, he discussed the relationship of science to religion in a lecture opposing Spiritualism. | BBC [12] and Adherents.com |
| Charles Babbage (1791–1871) |
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The Difference Engine and the Ninth Bridgewater Treatise. | Victorian Web and |
| Adam Sedgwick (1785–1873) |
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Anglican priest and geologist whose, A Discourse on the Studies of the University discusses the relationship of God and man. In science he won both the Copley Medal and the Wollaston Medal. | Scientists of Faith and University of California, Santa Barbara |
| Temple Chevallier (1794–1873) |
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Priest and astronomer who did Of the proofs of the divine power and wisdom derived from the study of astronomy. He also founded the Durham University Observatory, hence the Durham Shield is pictured. | Royal Meteorological Society |
| John Bachman (1790–1874) |
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He wrote numerous scientific articles and named several species of animals. He also was a founder of the Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary and wrote works on Lutheranism. | The College of Charleston and Newberry College |
| Robert Main (1808–1878) |
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Anglican priest who won the Gold Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society in 1858. (The image is of Asaph Hall's 1879 Gold Medal of the RAS.) Robert Main also preached at the British Association of Bristol | Royal Society's obituaries, pages 227–235 |
| James Clerk Maxwell (1831–1879) |
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Although Clerk as a boy was taken to Presbyterian services by his father and to Anglican services by his aunt, while still a young student at Cambridge he underwent an Evangelical conversion. In the biography by Cambell (p. 170) Maxwell's conversion is described: "He referred to it long afterwards as having given him a new perception of the Love of God. One of his strongest convictions thenceforward was that 'Love abideth, though Knowledge vanish away.'" Maxwell's evangelicalism "committed him to an anti- positivist position." | James Clerk Maxwell and religion, American Journal of Physics, 54 (4), April 1986, p. 312–317 ; James Clerk Maxwell and the Christian Proposition by Ian Hutchinson |
| Arnold Henry Guyot (1807–1884) |
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Swiss-American geologist who did noteworthy work on glaciers, Guyot Glacier is named for him. He also wrote Creation, or the Biblical Cosmogony in the Light of Modern Science. | "Guyot's Geoscience and Geohistory", Princeton article Creation, or the Biblical Cosmogony in the Light of Modern Science |
| Gregor Mendel (1822–1884) |
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Augustinian Abbot who was the "father of modern genetics" for his study of the inheritance of traits in pea plants. | Catholic Encyclopedia. [14] |
| Frederick Settle Barff (1822–1886) |
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English chemist and stained glass manufacturer who was a convert to Catholicism. | Dictionary of Irish architects |
| Philip Henry Gosse (1810–1888) |
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Marine biologist who wrote Aquarium (1854), and A Manual of Marine Zoology (1855–56). He is more famous, or infamous, as a Christian Fundamentalist who coined the idea of Omphalos (theology). | University of Houston hosted article. [15] |
| Asa Gray (1810–1888) |
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His Gray's Manual remains a pivotal work in botany. His Darwiniana has sections titled "Natural selection not inconsistent with Natural theology", "Evolution and theology", and "Evolutionary teleology." The preface indicates his adherence to the Nicene Creed in concerning these religious issues. | Gutenberg text of Darwiniana and ASA |
| Francesco Faà di Bruno (1825—1888) |
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An Italian mathematician most linked to Turin. He is known for Faà di Bruno's formula and being a spiritual writer beatified in 1988. | McTutor |
| Julian Tenison Woods(1832–1889) |
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Co-founder of the Sisters of St Joseph of the Sacred Heart who won a Clarke Medal shortly before death. A picture from Waverley Cemetery, where he's buried, is shown | Dictionary of Australian biography |
| James Dwight Dana (1813–1895) |
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A geologist, mineralogist, and zoologist. He received the Copley Medal, Wollaston Medal, and the Clarke Medal. He also wrote a book titled Science and the Bible and his faith has been described as "both orthodox and intense." | "Science and the Bible" at Google Books and Engines of Our Ingenuity |
| Louis Pasteur (1822–1895) |
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Inventor of the pasteurization method, a French chemist and microbiologist. He also solved the mysteries of rabies, anthrax, chicken cholera, and silkworm diseases, and contributed to the development of the first vaccines. | Biography on Louis Pasteur |
| George Jackson Mivart (1827–1900) |
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A fellow of the Zoological Society of London who did notable work on Insectivora and became involved in controversies with Charles Darwin. He was also a convert to Catholicism who taught at the Catholic University of Leuven, their library is pictured, and received a Doctor of Philosophy from Pope Pius IX in 1876, However his later works were considered unorthodox and led to his excommunication by Cardinal Vaughan. | * Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). . Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company. Also the end of the Catholic Encyclopedia article on Hell mentions him. [16] |
| Armand David (1826–1900) |
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A Catholic missionary to China and member of the Lazarists who considered his religious duties to be his principal concern. He was also a botanist with the author abbreviation David and as a zoologist he described several species new to the West. | The Vicentians |
| George Gabriel Stokes (1819–1903) |
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A minister's son, he wrote a book on Natural Theology. He was also one of the Presidents of the Royal Society and made contributions to Fluid dynamics. | Gifford Lectures site. [17] [18] |
| George Salmon (1819–1904) |
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He won the Copley Medal for his mathematical works. In theology his book An Historical Introduction to the Study of the Books of the New Testament was widely read and he wrote rebuttals to John Henry Newman tracts. | George Salmon: from mathematics to theology |
| Henry Baker Tristram (1822–1906) | A founding member of the British Ornithologists' Union. His publications included The Natural History of the Bible (1867) and The Fauna and Flora of Palestine (1884). | University of Durham | |
| Lord Kelvin (1824–1907) |
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He gave a famous address to the Christian Evidence Society. In science he won the Copley Medal, the Royal Medal, and was important in Thermodynamics. | Institute of Physics [19] and his own article. |
| Pierre Duhem (1861–1916) |
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He worked on Thermodynamic potentials and wrote histories advocating that the Roman Catholic Church helped advance science. | McTutor and Scientist and Catholic: Pierre Duhem by Stanley Jaki [20] |
| Georg Cantor (1845–1918) |
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Lutheran who wrote on religious topics and had an interest in Medieval theology. Revolutionized the mathematical notion of infinity by drawing on St. Augustine's City of God. | IUPUI [21] |
| Dmitri Egorov (1869–1931) |
|
Russian mathematician who made significant contributions to the broader areas of differential geometry. He was an Imiaslavie who defended religion during the Soviet era. In 1930 the Soviets arrested and imprisoned him as a "religious sectarian." He died of a hunger strike in protest. | McTutor |
| Mihajlo Pupin (1858–1935) |
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Serbian-American physicist, chemist, and inventor. He won the Pulitzer Prize for Biography or Autobiography in 1924. His The New Reformation: From Physical to Spiritual Realities concerns religion and spirituality. He also wrote the forward to Science & Religion: A Symposium. | On pg 267 he refers to "we Christians." |
| Pavel Florensky (1882–1937) |
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Russian Orthodox priest who wrote a book on Dielectrics and wrote of imaginary numbers having a relationship to the Kingdom of God. | Second paragraph of Page 26 in a paper from Middlesex University Middlesex University article |
| Agnes Giberne (1845-1939) |
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She wrote for the Religious Tract Society and was a founding member of the British Astronomical Association. The picture comes from her book Sun, Moon and Stars, which references the Bible while discussing science. | The Guardian and The Cambridge guide to women's writing in English by Lorna Sage, Germaine Greer, Elaine Showalter; pg 271 |
| John Ambrose Fleming (1849–1945) |
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In science he is noted for the Right-hand rule and work on vacuum tubes. He also won the Hughes Medal. In religious activities he was President of the Victoria Institute, involved in the Creation Science Movement, and preached at St Martin-in-the-Fields. | IEEE biography University College London |
| Max Planck (1858–1947) |
|
He won the 1918 Nobel Prize in Physics and is considered the founder of Quantum mechanics. He had been raised an observant Lutheran and was an elder in his church from 1920 to his death. In 1937 he delivered the lecture, "Religion and Natural Science", stating that, "Both Religion and science require a belief in God. For believers, God is in the beginning, and for physicists He is at the end of all considerations… To the former He is the foundation, to the latter, the crown of the edifice of every generalized world view." | Adherents,com and Religion and Natural Science (Lecture Given 1937) Scientific Autobiography and Other Papers, trans. F. Gaynor (New York, 1949), pp. 184 |
| Edward Arthur Milne (1896–1950) |
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A British astrophysicist and mathematicians who proposed the Milne model and had a Moon crater named for him. In addition he won several awards one of which, the Gold Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society, is pictured. His last book was Modern Cosmology and the Christian Idea of God. | Civilized Life in the Universe By George Basalla, pg 128 and Incarnation and Resurrection By Paul D. Molnar, pg 95 |
| Robert Millikan (1868–1953) |
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The second son of Reverend Silas Franklin Millikan, he wrote about the reconciliation of science and religion in books like Evolution in Science and Religion. He won the 1923 Nobel Prize in Physics. | Nobel Biography |
| Charles Stine (1882–1954) |
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The son of a minister who was VP of DuPont. In religion he wrote A Chemist and His Bible and as a chemist he won the Perkin Medal. | American Institute of Chemical Engineers and Worldcat |
| E. T. Whittaker (1873–1956) |
|
Converted to Catholicism in 1930 and member of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences. His 1946 Donnellan Lecture was entitled on Space and Spirit. Theories of the Universe and the Arguments for the Existence of God. He also received the Copley Medal and had written on Mathematical physics before conversion. | McTutor |
| Arthur H. Compton (1892–1962) |
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He won a Nobel Prize in Physics. He also was a deacon in the Baptist Church and wrote an article in Christianity Takes a Stand that supported the controversial idea of the United States maintaining the peace through a nuclear-armed air force. | American Physical Society [22] and Time (magazine) [23] |
| Georges Lemaître (1894–1966) |
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Roman Catholic priest who first proposed the Big Bang theory. | Catholic Education Resource Center |
| David Lack (1910–1973) |
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Director of the Edward Grey Institute of Field Ornithology and convert who wrote Evolutionary Theory and Christian Belief in 1957. As he is in part known for his study of the genus Euplectes a Black-winged Red Bishop is pictured. | Western Kentucky University and ASA's book reviews section |
| Charles Coulson (1910–1974) |
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Methodist who wrote Science and Christian Belief in 1955. In 1970 he won the Davy Medal. | McTutor |
| Theodosius Dobzhansky (1900–1975) |
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Russian Orthodox geneticist who criticized young Earth creationism in an essay, " Nothing in Biology Makes Sense Except in the Light of Evolution," and argued that science and faith did not conflict. | [24] [25] |
| Henry Eyring (1901–1981) |
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American chemist known for developing the Eyring equation. Also a Latter-Day Saint whose interactions with LDS President Joseph Fielding Smith on science and faith are a part of LDS history. | National Academy of Sciences [26] and Mormon Scientist: The Life and Faith of Henry Eyring by Henry J. Eyring |
| William G. Pollard (1911–1989) |
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He was an Anglican priest who wrote Physicist and Christian. In addition he worked on the Manhattan Project and for years served as the executive director of Oak Ridge Institute of Nuclear Studies. | Tennessee Encyclopedia |
| Aldert van der Ziel (1910–1991) |
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He researched Flicker noise and has the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers named an award for him. The IEEE corporate office is pictured. He also was a conservative Lutheran who wrote The Natural Sciences and the Christian Message. | University of Maryland and ASA |
| Jérôme Lejeune (1926-1994) | Named a Servant of God in the Catholic Church, he was an award-winning scientist known for discovering the link of Chromosome abnormality to conditions and for his subsequent opposition to prenatal diagnosis and abortion. | Past ASHG Award, The Independent, French Pro-Life Geneticist Jerome Lejeune to be Considered for Catholic Beatification at "Cardinal Rating" Fondation Jérôme Lejeune | |
| Carlos Chagas Filho (1910–2000) |
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A neuroscientist from Rio de Janeiro who headed the Pontifical Academy of Sciences for 16 years. He studied the Shroud of Turin and his "the Origin of the Universe", "the Origin of Life", and "the Origin of Man" involved an understanding between Catholicism and Science. A picture of him as a boy, with his father, is shown. | Brazilian Academy of Sciences |
| Sir Robert Boyd (1922–2004) |
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A pioneer in British space science who was Vice President of the Royal Astronomical Society. He lectured on faith being a founder of the "Research Scientists' Christian Fellowship" and an important member of its predecessor Christians in Science. He was connected to the University College London which is shown here in an old drawing. | Obituary and CiS |
| Richard Smalley (1943–2005) |
A Nobel Laureate in Chemistry known for buckyballs. In his last years he renewed an interest in Christianity and supported Intelligent design. He taught at Rice University. | Obituary at Hope College and Tuskegee University | |
| Arthur Peacocke (1924–2006) |
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Anglican priest and biochemist, his ideas may have influenced Anglican and Lutheran views of evolution. Winner of the 2001 Templeton Prize. He was a Dean at Clare College, Cambridge, which is pictured. | Society of Ordained Scientists' website [27] |
| C. F. von Weizsäcker (1912–2007) |
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German nuclear physicist who is the co-discoverer of the Bethe-Weizsäcker formula. His The Relevance of Science: Creation and Cosmogony concerned Christian and moral impacts of science. He headed the Max Planck Society from 1970 to 1980. After that he retired to be a Christian pacifist. | ASA |
| Stanley Jaki (1924–2009) |
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Benedictine priest and Distinguished Professor of Physics at Seton Hall University, New Jersey, who won a Templeton Prize and advocates the idea modern science could only have arisen in a Christian society. | Seton Hall University site. [28] |
| Allan Sandage (1926-2010) |
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An astronomer who did not really study Christianity until after age forty. He wrote the article A Scientist Reflects on Religious Belief and made discoveries concerning the Cigar Galaxy which is pictured. | The religion essay, astronomy article, Bruce Medalist page, and Science and the spiritual quest: new essays by leading scientists by W. Mark Richardson, pg 52 |
| Ian Barbour (1923-2013) |
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A physicist who wrote Christianity and the Scientists in 1960, and When Science Meets Religion ISBN 0-06-060381-X in 2000. For years he taught at Carleton College, hence their chapel is pictured. | Templeton Prize site. [29] |
| Charles Hard Townes (1915-2015) |
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In 1964 he won the Nobel Prize in Physics and in 1966 he wrote The Convergence of Science and Religion. The picture is of Townes with Dr. Roderic Pettigrew, Townes is on the right. | University of California, Berkeley [30] and Templeton Prize's site. [31] |
| R. J. Berry (1934-2018) |
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He is a former president of both the Linnean Society of London and the Christians in Science group. He also wrote God and the Biologist: Personal Exploration of Science and Faith (Apollos 1996) ISBN 0-85111-446-6 As he taught at University College London for over 20 years its main building is pictured. | iv press and Christians in Science |
| Richard H. Bube (1927-2018) |
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A Baptist who for over twenty years he also conducted an undergraduate seminar at Stanford University on "Issues in Science and Christianity." Stanford Memorial Church is therefore pictured. |
|
Living as of last edit
As suggested this section concerns significant Christian thinkers in science who are alive today. Those who lead organizations of Christians in science or who write works concerning how Christians of today respond to science. Interest in this has increased in recent decades due to continued controversies and recognition from awards like the Templeton Prize.
| Name | Image | Reason for inclusion | Sources |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Freeman Dyson (born 1923) |
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He has won the Lorentz Medal, the Max Planck Medal, and the Lewis Thomas Prize. He also ranked 25th in The 2005 Global Intellectuals Poll. He has won the Templeton Prize and delivered one of the Gifford Lectures. | New York Review of Books |
|
Antonino Zichichi (born 1929) |
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Italian nuclear physicist and former President of the Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare. He has worked with the Vatican on relations between the Church and Science. | Official Biography of Zichichi at the Ettore Majorana Foundation International Seminar on Nuclear War and Planetary Emergencies: 25th session ... by Antonino Zichichi, Richard C. Ragaini, Ettore M, pg 4 |
|
John Polkinghorne (born 1930) |
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British particle physicist and Anglican priest who wrote Science and the Trinity (2004) ISBN 0-300-10445-6. Winner of the 2002 Templeton Prize. | His own website. [32] |
|
Owen Gingerich (born 1930) |
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Mennonite astronomer who went to Goshen College and Harvard. A picture from Goshen is shown. Mr. Gingerich has written about people of faith in science history. | Space.com [33] and Cambridge Christians in Science. [34] |
|
John T. Houghton (born 1931) |
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He is the co-chair of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and won a gold medal from the Royal Astronomical Society. He's also former Vice President of Christians in Science. | Christians in Science |
|
Ingrid Allen (born 1932) |
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Professor Emerita of Neuropathology at Queen’s University Belfast, a picture of which is shown. She served as the Director of Research and Development for Health and Personal Social Services Northern Ireland from 1997 to 2001. She is known for her research in infections of the nervous system and Multiple Sclerosis. In religionProfessor Allen is an elder in McCracken Memorial Presbyterian Church, a member of Christians in Science, the Society of Ordained Scientists and the Thomas Merton Society. | The Academy of Medical Sciences Faraday Institute bio and "Development & Alumni Relations Office" article at Queen’s University Belfast |
|
Paul H. Carr (born 1935) |
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Physicist and researcher who established the Paul and Auburn Carr Scholarship in Science and Religion at the Boston University School of Theology in commemoration of his father, Rev. Auburn J. Carr (d. 1985), who graduated in 1932. | Boston University School of Theology article and His site |
|
Michał Heller (born 1936) |
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He is a Catholic priest, a member of the Pontifical Academy of Theology, a founding member of the International Society for Science and Religion.' He also is a mathematical physicist who has written articles on relativistic physics and Noncommutative geometry. His cross-disciplinary book Creative Tension: Essays on Science and Religion came out in 2003. For this work he won a Templeton Prize. He teaches at Kraków, hence the picture of a Basilica from the city. | Templeton Foundation, Journal of Mathematical Physics, and ISSR |
|
Robert Griffiths (born 1937) |
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Physicist who won the Dannie Heineman Prize for Mathematical Physics and others. He is known for Griffiths inequality and Consistent histories. An old picture related to Carnegie Mellon University, where he is the Otto Stern University Professor of Physics, is shown. He is a member of the Christian oriented American Scientific Affiliation and has written on theology. | CMU page and Christian Scientific Society article |
|
Ghillean Prance (born 1937) |
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A noted botanist involved in the Eden Project, which is pictured. He is also the current President of Christians in Science. | CiS interview |
|
Donald Knuth (born 1938) |
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(Lutheran) The Art of Computer Programming and 3:16 Bible Texts Illuminated (1991), ISBN 0-89579-252-4 | His website. [35] |
| John Lennox |
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Mathematician and Pastoral adviser. His works include the mathematical The Theory of Infinite Soluble Groups and the religion-oriented God's Undertaker – Has Science buried God? He has also debated religion with Richard Dawkins. He teaches at Oxford, so an old map of it is pictured. | Mathematics Genealogy Project and The Wall Street Journal |
|
Eric Priest (born 1943) |
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An authority on Solar Magnetohydrodynamics who won the George Ellery Hale Prize among others. He has spoken on Christianity and Science at the University of St Andrews and is a member of the Faraday Institute. An image from St. Andrews is shown. He is also interested in prayer, meditation, and Christian psychology. | Faraday Institute and Eric Priest's website |
|
Christopher Isham (born 1944) |
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Theoretical physicist who developed HPO formalism. He teaches at Imperial College London, part of which is pictured to the side. In addition to being a physicist, he is a philosopher and theologian. | Stephen Hawking, the Big Bang, and God, by H. F. Schaefer and Foundational Questions Institute |
|
Henry F. Schaefer III (born 1944) |
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He wrote Science and Christianity: Conflict or Coherence? ISBN 0-9742975-0-X and is a signatory of A Scientific Dissent From Darwinism. He was awarded the American Chemical Society Award in Pure Chemistry in 1979. | University of Georgia Athens |
|
Denis Alexander (born 1945) |
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Director of the Faraday Institute and author of Rebuilding the Matrix – Science and Faith in the 21st Century. He also supervises a research group in cancer and immunology at the Babraham Institute, hence Babraham hall is pictured. | Faraday Institute Biography |
|
Robert T. Bakker (born 1945) |
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Paleontologist who was a figure in the "Dinosaur Renaissance" and known for the theory some dinosaurs were warm-blooded. He is also a Pentecostal preacher who advocates theistic evolution and has written on religion. | Interview with him at Prehistoric planet and a Spiritual site linked to him |
|
Kenneth R. Miller (born 1948) |
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A biology professor at Brown University who wrote Finding Darwin's God ISBN 0-06-093049-7. | St. Petersburg Times [36] |
|
Francis Collins (born 1950) |
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He is the current director of the National Institutes of Health and former director of the US National Human Genome Research Institute. He has also written on religious matters in articles and in Faith and the Human Genome he states the importance to him of "the literal and historical Resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, which is the cornerstone of what I believe." He wrote the book The Language of God: A Scientist Presents Evidence for Belief. | ASA and Genome.gov |
|
Ian H. Hutchinson (born 1951) |
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Professor of nuclear science and engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. His primary research interest is plasma physics and its practical applications. He and his MIT team designed, built and operate the Alcator C-Mod tokamak, an international experimental facility whose magnetically confined plasmas are prototypical of a future fusion reactor. He has spoken with the American Scientific Affiliation on the intersections of Christianity and science. He also works with the Faraday Institute for Science and Religion and The Veritas Forum as well. An image from MIT Plasma Science and Fusion Center is shown as it related to particle physics, but I'm not sure he's done anything there. | MIT Profile, Science: Christian and Natural for ASA, The Scientism Delusion? at Veritas, and Faraday Institute Biography |
|
Simon Conway Morris (born 1951) |
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A British paleontologist who made his reputation through study of the Burgess Shale fossils, one of which is pictured. He was the co-winner of a Charles Doolittle Walcott Medal and also won a Lyell Medal. He is active in the Faraday Institute for study of science and religion and is also noted on discussions concerning the idea of theistic evolution. | Gifford Lectures, Boyle Lecture, Boston University. |
|
John D. Barrow (born 1952) |
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An English cosmologist who did notable writing on the implications of the Anthropic principle. He is a United Reformed Church member and Christian deist. He won the Templeton Prize in 2006. He once held the position of Gresham Professor of Astronomy, so their crest is pictured. | The New York Times, March 16, 2006 and Templeton Prize bio |
|
Stephen Barr (born 1953) |
File:UDel4.jpg | He is a physicist who worked at Brookhaven National Laboratory and contributed papers to Physical Review as well as Physics Today. He also is a Catholic who writes for First Things and wrote Modern Physics and Ancient Faith. He teaches at the University of Delaware, whose Wolf Hall is pictured. | University of Delaware, University of Notre Dame Press, and Interview at Ignatius Insight |
|
Rosalind Picard (born 1962) |
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A researcher in Affective computing and a fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. She was raised as an atheist, but had converted by college. She has been a speaker for the Veritas Forum and also the MIT Graduate Christian Fellowship. | Veritas Forum, Rosalind Picard Interview, IEEE, and the MIT Graduate Christian Fellowship |
|
Martin Nowak (born 1965) |
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Evolutionary biologist and mathematician best known for evolutionary dynamics. He teaches at Harvard University, which is pictured in an old drawing. | [37] |
| Jennifer Wiseman |
|
Jennifer Wiseman is Chief of the Laboratory for Exoplanets and Stellar Astrophysics at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center. An aerial of the Center is shown. In addition she is a co-discoverer of 114P/Wiseman-Skiff. In religion is a Fellow of the American Scientific Affiliation and on June 16, 2010 became the new director for the American Association for the Advancement of Science's Dialogue on Science, Ethics, and Religion. | AAAS |
