List of Jesuit scientists

List of Jesuit scientists

Members of the Society of Jesus have a historical and occasionally controversial role in the history of science. This is relational to the List of Christian thinkers in science, but different in that it is not required the person be of any significance in discussing the Relationship between religion and science. Also this deals with fictional characters as well as historical people.

Real Jesuits

*François d'Aguilon-Belgian mathematician and physicist who worked on optics.
*Giuseppe Asclepi-Italian astronomer.
*Joseph Bayma-He did work relating to stereochemistry.
*Giuseppe Biancani-Astronomer and selenographer who wrote "Sphaera mundi, seu cosmographia demonstrativa, ac facili methodo tradita"
*Bonaventure Berloty-first director of the Ksara Observatory in Lebanon.
*Michel Benoist-Missionary to China and scientist.
*Mario Bettinus-Mathematician and astronomer.
*Jacques de Billy-He wrote on number theory and astronomy.
*Michał Boym-Missionary to China known for botanical and zoological works.
*Roger Joseph Boscovich-Polymath famous for his atomic theory in part. Also for devising perhaps the first geometric procedure for determining the equator of a rotating planet from three observations of a surface feature and for computing the orbit of a planet from three observations of its position.
*Paolo Casati-Meteorology and speculation on Vacuums.
*Tommaso Ceva-Mathematician and poet who wrote a work on geometry.
*Christopher Clavius-Most noted in connection with the Gregorian calendar, but also his arithmetic books were used by many mathematicians including Leibniz and Descartes.
*Guy Consolmagno-An astronomer at the Vatican Observatory who has primarily devoted himself to planetary science.
*George V. Coyne-Astronomer whose research interests have been in polarimetric studies of various subjects including Seyfert galaxies.
*Albert Curtz-German astronomer.
*James Cullen (mathematician)-Known for the Cullen numbers.
*Johann Baptist Cysat-He did important research on comets and the Orion nebula.
*Jean-Charles de la Faille-Belgian mathematician.
*Gyula Fényi-Hungarian astronomer noted for his observations of the Sun.
*José Gabriel Funes-Argentine who currently heads the Vatican Observatory, succeeding George Coyne.
*Christoph Grienberger-Astronomer and mathematician.
*Francesco Maria Grimaldi-He coined the word 'diffraction' and used instruments to measure geological features on the Moon.
*Maximilian Hell-A director of the Vienna Observatory who wrote astronomy tables and observed the Transit of Venus.
*Pierre Marie Heude-French missionary and zoologist.
*Georg Joseph Kamel-Missionary and botanist, the genus Camellia is named for him.
*Athanasius Kircher-In his "Scrutinium Pestis" of 1658 he noted the presence of "little worms" or "animalcules" in the blood, and concluded that the disease was caused by microorganisms. This is antecedent to germ theory.
*Wenceslas Pantaleon Kirwitzer-Astronomer and missionary to China.
*Franz Xaver Kugler-Most known for his study of cuneiform tablets he was also a chemist.
*Antoine de Laloubère-Mathematician who studied the properties of the helix.
*Eugene Lafont- Founder of the Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science
*Manuel Magri (1851-1907) - Maltese folklorist and archaeologist.
*Charles Malapert-Known for observing the stars of the southern sky and being against Copernicus.
*Paul McNally-American astronomer who was a director of the Georgetown observatory.
*Christian Mayer-Czech astronomer known for pioneering study of binary stars.
*Juan Ignacio Molina-Chilean ornithologist and a botanist with a Author citation (botany).
*Alexius Sylvius Polonus-Polish astronomer.
*Franz Reinzer-He wrote about comets, meteors, lightning, winds, fossils, metals, etc.
*Matteo Ricci-Mathematician, math translator, and noted for importance to the Jesuit China missions.
*Giovanni Battista Riccioli-He wrote several works on astronomy and was the first to note that Mizar was a "double star."
*Giovanni Girolamo Saccheri-A mathematician who was perhaps the first European to write about Non-Euclidean geometry.
*Christoph Scheiner-Astronomer noted for a dispute with Galileo Galilei over the discovery of Sunspots.
*Gaspar Schott-He wrote on various mechanical and scientific topics, example gear, but little original research.
*Angelo Secchi-He discovered the existence of solar spicules and drew an early map of Mars
*Gerolamo Sersale-Selenographer, the crater Sirsalis (crater) is named for him.
*Ignacije Szentmartony-"obtained the title of royal mathematician and astronomer" and used his astronomical knowledge in mapping parts of Brazil
*André Tacquet-His work prepared ground for the eventual discovery of calculus.
*Pierre Teilhard de Chardin-French Palaeontologist and philosopher involved in the discovery of the so-called Peking Man.
*Franz de Paula Triesnecker-Austrian astronomer.
*Theodor Wulf-Among the first experimenters to detect excess atmospheric radiation.
*Niccolo Zucchi-Italian astronomer known for his study of Jupiter and work on telescope design.
*Giovanni Battista Zupi-Italian astronomer who discovered that Mercury had orbital phases.

Fictional Jesuits

The Jesuit scientist has been used as a character of faith in several works of science fiction, [ [http://www.strangewords.com/archive/catholic.html Strangewords] ] here are some examples of that.

*Father Ramon Ruiz-Sanchez - A character in James Blish's "A Case of Conscience".
*"The Sparrow" by Mary Doria Russell features several Jesuit scientists with the main one being the linguist Emilio Sandoz.
*"The Star" by Arthur C. Clarke features a Jesuit scientist in a prominent role.
*Father Paul Duré, a Jesuit theologian, archaeologist, ethnologist, and follower of Teilhard de Chardin - A character in Dan Simmons's novel "Hyperion"

External links

* [http://www.faculty.fairfield.edu/jmac/sj/scientists/lunacrat.htm Fairfield University on Jesuits in science]

Web sources


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем написать курсовую

Look at other dictionaries:

  • List of Christian thinkers in science — This list concerns the issue of the relationship between religion and science, but is specific to Christian history. This is only supplementary to the issue as lists are by themselves not equipped to answer questions on this topic. The list in… …   Wikipedia

  • Jesuit High School (Tampa) — Infobox high school image caption = imagesize = name= Jesuit High School of Tampa native name= latin name= motto = established = 1899 type = Private endowment = staff = faculty = Head teacher = schoolmaster = principal = Joseph Sabin director =… …   Wikipedia

  • List of people from Ljubljana — List of notable individuals who were born or lived in Ljubljana: Authors *Anton Aškerc (1856 1912), Poet *Vladimir Bartol (1903 1967), Author *Adam Bohorič (1520 1598), Protestant preacher, author and philologist *Ivan Cankar (1876 1918), Writer …   Wikipedia

  • List of Canadians — This is a list of Canadians, people born in Canada, or who became citizens of Canada, grouped by their area of notability. This is an incomplete list, which may never be able to satisfy particular standards for completeness. You can help by… …   Wikipedia

  • List of Belen Jesuit Preparatory School people — The following is a list of notable past pupils and faculty of the Belen Jesuit Preparatory School. Contents 1 Academics 2 Bankers 3 Business leaders 4 Entertainers and athletes …   Wikipedia

  • List of Chinese inventions — A bronze Chinese crossbow mechanism with a buttplate (the wooden components have …   Wikipedia

  • List of Belgians — This is a list of notable Belgian people who either: *are or were Belgian citizens during at least one period of their life, *were born in Belgium or in the provinces of present day Belgium, but who were not or are not Belgian citizens (either… …   Wikipedia

  • List of people who converted to Catholicism — This page lists historic individuals who at some point in their lives, sometimes on their deathbeds, formally adopted the Catholic faith without having been born into it. Individuals who were baptized Catholics, but who as an adult practiced a… …   Wikipedia

  • List of asteroids named after people — This is a list of asteroids named after people, both real and fictional.cience Mathematicians *1001 Gaussia (Carl Friedrich Gauss) *1005 Arago (François Arago) *1006 Lagrangea (Joseph Louis Lagrange) *1858 Lobachevskij (Nikolai Lobachevsky) *1859 …   Wikipedia

  • List of passengers on board RMS Titanic — A list of passengers aboard the RMS Titanic , which struck an iceberg in the Atlantic Ocean while en route to New York City on its maiden voyage, and sank. [cite web|url=http://www.encyclopedia titanica.org/sitemap.php?show=1|title=Titanic… …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”