12 Catholic-Influencers who shaped Modern Science

Even scientific intelligence is a gift of the Holy Spirit…

We ought to ask God for this gift when, in our studies, we place before ourselves the end, that every Christian should set his sights on.

--It is not the vanity of surpassing those preceding us.
--Nor arrogance or pride after having surpassed them.

But rather, in our asking for intellectual light, to seek only to understand the works of the Lord.

To know His greatness, and our duty to Him.

—Fr Angelo Secchi SJ, the Father of Astrophysics in America Magazine

Once, a homilist sermonized the word "holy." The definition of holy, he said, is "different." As Catholics, how does God call us to be "different?" Some hints lie below. These 12 discerners, quantified and qualified, the glory of God. As you journey with them, look for the finger of God in their lives. Other than a scientist, what were their vocations? Finally, how did faith play into supernatural-inspired knowledge, given to bear lasting fruit? (John 15: 1-8).

1200's Timeline

1. St Albert the Great (1200-1280) combined the works of Aristotle, Greek/Arabian science and the Bible for for academia's spiritual theology. Volumes of his work can still be found. His remains are found in St. Andrew's Church in Cologne, Germany.

German Dominican friar and mentor of St. Thomas Aquinas.
Master of anatomy, astronomy, botany, logic, math, metaphysics, physics and scriptural theology
Championed universal access to education, the rule of law and caring for marginalized
Emphasized experimental approaches
Detailed plant classifications in, On Vegetables and Plants

2. Friar Roger Bacon (1214-1292). While Sir Francis Bacon (16th century) is alleged Founder of the modern scientific method, both Friar Roger Bacon and Galileo's writings predate the knight's. His remains rest in the Greyfriars' Church in Oxfordshire, England.

Medieval English philosopher and Franciscan
Earliest European advocate for a modern scientific method
In his Opus Magis, he proposes experiment-modeling for science
Detailed the importance of empirical testing
Advocated for methods of testing new medicines to promote health.

1400's Timeline

3. Nicholas Copernicus (1473-1543) was a Polish canon lawyer and church cleric, skilled in math, astronomy and economics. His humble remains were retrieved, honored with a 2nd funeral and buried in Frombork, Poland's Arch-cathedral and Basilica honoring the Assumption of the Blessed Mother Mary and St Andrew.

Wrote "De revolutionibus orbium coelestium." Using mathematical justifications, he defined our heliocentric universe.
His theory resulted In the Copernican revolution and house arrest. Later, logistics were supported by Galileo.
Developed a formula to predict orbital planetary movement
Argued for the earth's rotational axis.
Deployed the economic theory behind Gresham's law: bad money drives out good money.
The current price of gold is proof of concept. Regarding bitcoin, the jury is still out.

1500's Timeline

4. Galileo Galilei (1564-1642) was a religious Italian astronomer, physicist, engineer and Father of observational astronomy. He rests in the Basilica of Santa Croce in Florence, Italy.

He did not invent the telescope but vastly improved its design, fashioning it into a scientific instrument.
Defined the phases of Venus
Discovered the 4 largest moons of Jupiter, the "Galilean" moons
Supported heliocentrism. The Church tried him for heresy and exogenesis in the "Galileo Affair." The prosecution's argument was Acts 1:11: "Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven?" Sentenced to lifetime of house arrest.
He and Copernicus altered the church's relationship between religion and science.
Persecution did not affect either's faith.

5. Fr. Giovanni Battista Riccioli (1598-1671) Italian astronomer, physicist, Jesuit priest, and contemporary of Galileo.

First to create a map of moon’s surface which
Established the modern system of lunar nomenclature
Discovered Mizar, the 1st-double star known to man
Wrote about arc measurements, falling and moving bodies and pendulums for measuring time (grandfather clocks)
His experiments are regarded as the 1st precise measurements of g or acceleration due to gravity
Died age 73 near his astronomical observatory at the college of St. Lucia, Bologna Italy.

1600's Timeline

6. Blaise Paschal (1623-1662) was a French mathematician, philosopher, theologian, inventor, and founder of the theory of probabilities leading to Statistics. Wrote Pensées to protect the faith from Jansenism. Died in Paris, after receiving last sacraments.

Best known for “Pascal’s Wager.” Either God exists or He doesn't. What are the risks of not believing?
Invented a “numerical wheel calculator "that some consider the first “computer.”
In mathematics, he is known for Pascal’s triangle and Pascal’s theorem
A unit of atmospheric pressure, the Pascal (Pa), is named after him as is a computer language, Pascal.

7. Blessed Nikolas Steno nee Stensen (1638-1686) was a Catholic Bishop who produced lasting fruits in anatomy, and as the Father of Modern Geology. His remains were reposed in the San Lorenzo Basilica in Florence Italy.

Danish scientist, a pioneer in anatomy, paleontology, crystals and geology
Various parts of the body are named after him, including Stensen’s duct, Stensen’s gland, Stensen’s vein, and Stensen’s foramina.
Steno’s Law states that all crystals of the same mineral, will display the same angles.
His inquiry and conclusions of the natural world, especially with fossils and rocks led to geology foundations.

1800's Timeline

8. Fr. Angelo Secchi (1818-1878) joined the Italian Jesuits and became the Father of Astrophysics.

He was the first to classify stars by spectra
Contributed to solar physics, terrestrial magnetism, meteorology, and oceanography
Set up the first in a network of weather stations
Invented the Secchi’s disk, used today to measure water clarity
At 59, he was buried in the Sacello dei Gesuiti in Lazio, Rome.

9. Friar Gregor Mendel (1822-1884) Father of Genetics; Austrian-Augustinian monk and prelate born in Silesia.

Performed crossbreeding experiments in the monastery garden using insects and plants.
Heredity rules were described from his pea plant experiments.
Established the laws of Mendelian inheritance
His research is used in modern agriculture, biology, genetics and medicine.
At 61, he died of chronic kidney disease
Buried in the St Thomas Abbey monastery plot in Brno, Czech Republic

10. Louis Pasteur (1822-1895) French Catholic-married chemist, Sorbonne professor and Father of Bacteriology.

A founder of medical Microbiology
Pioneered the study of molecular Asymmetry
Developed the vaccinations against anthrax and rabies
Originated the process of pasteurization and
Defined microbial fermentation verses putrefaction
He died, rosary in hand, after listening to the reading of the life of St. Vincent de Paul. Like Vincent, he wanted to save suffering children.

11. Fr. George Lemaitre (1894-1966) Belgian priest and Father of the Big Bang theory

Mathematician, astronomer, cosmology and professor of physics
First to propose the theory of the expansion of the universe
First to estimate the now-named Hubble constant
At age 72, he died in Flemish Brabant of natural causes

1900's Timeline

12. Dr. Jerome Lejeune (1926-1994) married French-Catholic pediatrician and geneticist

Best known for discovering trisomy 21 as the cause of Down Syndrome.
Valiantly, he was the father of the Pro-Life defense for dignity and value for all human life
Committing career-suicide, he fought against contraception and abortion leading to the rejection of his Nobel nomination
His work opened investigations into genetic sources for disease.
Pope John Paul II named him president of the "Pontifical Academy of Sciences" to set morality standards in science.
At 72, he died of lung cancer in Paris. In 2021, was declared Venerable by Pope Francis.

Sadly, our scientists are the most powerful people in the world today. They control every angle of our birth, our health and our death. For some, fear is their sales pitch as they leverage our time-alloted, life-units for greed. Compare that to the tearful joy of vintage-souls sneaking quantifiable-peeks behind the veil of the great I-AM. God's plan for these chaste priests was: as fathers tasked to birth, rear and nurture brilliant new fields of study. Perhaps nothing so dramatizes the unbreakable bond of science and faith (since the natural ends, where supernatural begins); as where Secchi did much of his groundbreaking research. He built a telescope for the roof of the Sant’ Ignazio, one of the most beautiful and elevated churches in Rome. His discoveries were made directly above his founder-touched tabernacle, in which, rested the Sacred Heart of the Author of Secchi's own life. Fr. Secchi wrote,

“The contemplation of God’s works is one of the noblest works of the spirit;

He is the principal aim of the study of nature.”

Sources:

Angelo Secchi | The Society of Catholic Scientists

Blaise Pascal | Catholic Answers Magazine

Blessed Nicolas Steno | The Society of Catholic Scientists

The Empirical Philosophy of Roger and Francis Bacon | JSTOR.org

Galileo Galilei | Wikipedia

Giovanni Battista Riccioli - Wikipedia

Gresham's law | Wikipedia

Magis Center 13 Influential Catholic Scientists

Nicolaus Copernicus biography | Wikipedia