Great Catholic Scientists (first 43)

It is often said that science and (especially the catholic) faith would not go together. This collection shows the opposite: 151 people who are (world) famous for their science, and catholics.

Of each of them is briefly described where and when they lived, what they accomplished and, if known, how they lived their faith. This thus makes for an instructive reference of scientific developments by catholics and a nice starting point for further investigation; it contains men as well as women, from the fourth century until today, it even contains some popes, saints and Dutch! In short, let yourself be surprised, enjoy and perhaps let other interested ones know as well {:-) 

Introduction 

In making a collection of great catholic scientists many questions need to be answered regarding the approach, implementation and presentation. 

First, which resources to use? I was not aware of earlier work in this direction, an important reason to start it myself. Besides, I'm not a history professor or anything; yet I do have quite a bit of experience with literature search. That is why I searched the internet for as much information as possible about famous scientists who are or were catholic; so all publicly accessible information. I have tried as much as possible to use different sources (both secular and catholic) [NB I did notice though that catholic sources often seemed the most reliable] and compare them to maximize the reliability of this list. However, no hard guarantees can be given as to the correctness of every detail. Yet, I myself am convinced of what is written (obviously).

Furthermore: who to include and who not to include in the collection? Because I am a natural scientist and there lie both my main expertise and my greatest interest, I mainly focus on those areas. This is not too subjective because discussions about faith & science are also mainly about natural science. Yet there is no escaping a personal choice of where exactly to draw the line, both in terms of discipline and of performance (the privilege of the author:-).

In addition, the catholicity of the scientist must also be assessed. In my eyes, a good catholic is someone who is known to be catholic and of who there is no substantiated indication that the person has distanced himself from it; after all, someone's faith is very personal. Endless discussions about this are possible, especially given the limited resources; in case of possible doubt I have given what I know about their faith.

A collection of 150 great catholic scientists should be more than enough to make the point that science and the catholic faith get along really well. A not too large amount also keeps it attractive for everyone [NB the ones that especially impressed me (the 20 'greatest') are indicated by *; in chronological order those are: Philoponus, Grosseteste, Bacon, Buridan, Copernicus, Cardano, Galilei, Pascal, Stensen, Lavoisier, Cauchy, Becquerel, Mendel, Pasteur, Lemaître, Von Neumann, Kuen Kao, Cabbibo, Lejeune & Kobilka]. I'm sure that the most important ones are included; if you have any remarks, please respond! 

The next question concerns the format; this post is only meant as an introduction and overview; for more in-depth study you are refered to possible other literature. This limitation has partly to do  with the limited source material, partly with the intended accessibility of the collection and partly with my writing talents.

For each person, in addition to the relevant achievements and  received honors, the year of birth and death is indicated and the country (or territory) of origin. Since some places have swapped countries at some point, this is not unequivocally possible and I also had to make choices there. Moravia is a good example, formerly part of Austria(-Hungary), nowadays in the Czech Republic.

The same goes for the exact name of the person: often several variants exist e.g. Descartes or Cartesius. I found it also interesting to, where possible, mention (in brackets) the meaning of a name.

As far as the order is concerned, it was chosen to display the persons chronologically, for convenience divided into eight periods (for which the data only serve as an indication because of the inevitable overlap of lives and periods): the first 12 centuries AD (7 persons), the 13th & 14th century (11 persons), the 15th & 16th century (12 persons), the 17th century (17 persons), the 18th century (19 persons), the 19th century (36 persons), 1900 to 1960 (26 people) and afterwards (23 people). 

As regards their geographic distribution, at least 8 out of 10 come from Western Europe, perhaps not too surprising yet still a lot. France has provided the most (48), followed by Italy (32), Germany (16) and England (8). Interesting as well is that about half of them since 1960 come from the 'new world'. 

And looking at the distribution over the disciplines, I consider the great majority (over 100) of the included scientists to belong to the natural sciences, about a sixth to mathematics and about 12 to medicine (by quite some also regarded as a natural science). Then a handful remain, mainly philosophers (as natural science came from natural philosophy), but there is also one printer (guess who?!); that's because the printing press has been of great importance to science.

It is striking that 53 are members of the clergy (monk, nun!, priest, bishop, cardinal or even pope) and 8 declared saint or blessed; there are only 6 women, but among those the first in the list, a doctor of the Church, the first female American Nobel laureate ánd the inventor of Kevlar! Also quite impressive is that no less than 19 are called the 'fathers' of their respective field (and one the founder of the scientific method)!

0–1200 AD

St Macrina (growing) 330–379 Turkey: discussed the immortality of the soul (the so-called mind–brain problem) with her brother to reassure him on her deathbed; used natural examples for this such as the ordered universe, the size of the sun, the phases of the moon as light reflection, reflecting the sun in a piece of glass, the evaporation of water & rain, the bubbling of air in water and a doctor making her diagnosis; the "christian Socrates who perfected the best of pagan thought”

*John Philoponus (diligent) 490–570 Egypt: said that stars were of the same material as the earth and that the sunlight comes from combustion; criticized Aristotelian dynamics and developed an impetus theory; got quoted a lot by Galileo

St Bede the Venerable 672–735 England: doctor of the church, monk, father of English history and very careful with references; also wrote on music theory, nature & time

P Sylvester II (woody) 950–1003 France: wrote on arithmetic, geometry, astronomy & music; (re)introduced the abacus, the Armillary sphere and arabic numbers in Europe; constructed a hydraulic organ and calculated the tropic of cancer

Hermann Contractus (contracted) 1013–1054 Germany: crippled monk, key figure in the passing on of arabic mathematics, astronomy and scientific instruments; calculated the lunar calendar and wrote important historical and musical theory treatises

St Hildegard von Bingen 1098–1179 Germany: natural scientist, musician, abbess & mystic; careful observer, experimentor and recorder; part of the 12th century 'mini Renaissance,' the basis for modern science; had extensive knowledge of medicines and their uses; wrote two treatises on medicine and one on natural sciences, including an extensive taxonomy of plants and animals; also wrote musical compositions such as the Symphonia armonie celestial revelationum; experienced many visions; no less than 400 written works remaining; founded two monasteries and died “in an odor of sanctity;” formally canonized in 2012 while declared a Doctor of the Church (4th woman after Catherine of Siena, Teresa of Avila and Therese of Lisieux); P Benedict then held her up as an example for women, not least as a scientist; an asteroid and lunar crater named for her

Thierry of Chartres 1100–1150 France: promoted arabic science, worked on uniting Scripture and (meta-)physics; insisted that cosmic and terrestrial objects are the same

1200–1400 AD

Leonardo Bonacci (Fibonacci) c.1170–1245 Italy: mathematician, wrote about Arabic numbers (including 0), Fibonacci numbers and Diophantine equations; many mathematical concepts and an asteroid named after him

*Robert Grosseteste (big head!) 1173–1253 England: bishop who opposed the papal abuse of power and was head of Oxford University; founder of the scientific method, wrote about astronomy, cosmology and made significant contributions to optics

St Albertus Magnus (the great) c.1206–1280 Germany: bishop, doctor of the church, Dominican, homo universalis, experimenter, patron of the scientists; ”natural science must investigate the causes of nature”

*Roger Bacon c.1214–1294 England: Franciscan, pupil of Grosseteste, 'Doctor Mirabilis' (prodigious doctor) described making gunpowder, studied astronomy & optics using lenses & a camera obscura and invented glasses; a precursor to calendar reform; emphasized that mathematics is important and experiment is indispensable for science; worked on a encyclopedia of all knowledge; anticipated steam engines, microscopes, cars and flying

P John XXI 1215–1277 Portugal: taught medicine at the university & did medical research while he was pope; created the square of opposition & wrote the standard work on logic for the next 300 years

Pierre Pelerin (pilgrim) de Maricourt (husband-farm) 13th century France: physician, experimented with magnetism and wrote the first extant treatise on it (Epistola de magnete on August 8th 1269), which also discusses compass needles; wrote a treatise on the construction and use of a universal astrolabe; was quoted by Roger Bacon as the only one of his time who had an exact knowledge of perspective

Theodor von Freiburg (free castle) c.1250–1310 Germany: Dominican provincial who correctly explained the rainbow

William of Ockam 1287–1347 England: Franciscan, wrote works on logic, physics & theology; known for Ockam's razor

Thomas Bradwardine c.1290–1349 England: archbishop, mathematician & physicist who developed Boethius Theory and principles of mechanics

*Jean Buridan (mule) 1295–1358 France: priest; wrote on logic and natural philosophy; anticipated Newton by developing the concepts of momentum (also rotating), resistance, speed & mass

Nicole Oresme 1323–1382 Normandy: bishop, mathematician & physicist; proved the divergence of the harmonic sequence; provided the foundation for analytic geometry and the laws of motion; argued that only the relative motion of the earth and the stars is relevant(!)

1400–1600 AD

Johannes Gutenberg (good-mountain) 1398–1468 Germany: blacksmith and publisher; initiated the printing revolution that played a key role in the scientific revolution

Nikolaus of Cusa 1401–1464 Germany: cardinal, mathematician, astronomer, theologian, canonist; introduced recording of the pulse in medicine, developed the concept of infinitesimals & anticipated Copernicus; founder of the St Nikolaus hospital although not an official saint

Leonardo da Vinci (of the conquest) 1452–1519 Italy: homo universalis; although he had difficulty with certain religious practices, there is no indication that he was not a believing catholic

*Nicolaus Copernicus (copper miner) 1473–1543 Poland: priest, mathematician, astronomer, physician and economist; founder of the heliocentric theory, deduced the quantitative theory of money & helped with the Gregorian calendar

Georg Agricola (farmer) 1494–1555 Germany: physician, founder of geology as a discipline & father of mineralogy; defended the faith

*Girolamo Cardano 1501–1576 Italy: eccentric physicist, mathematician, gambler and astrologer; illegitimate child who survived attempted abortion; a founder of probability theory; wrote 200+ works on hydrodynamics, and developed and expanded the solution of the quadratic equation he got from Tartaglia; studied hypocycloids, invented the combination lock, the gimbal, the cardan shaft and the cardan switching mechanism; introduced the cardan grille (a cryptographic tool) and the cardano circles that were used for the construction of the first high-speed printing presses; was accused of heresy, but not condemned (his works on astrology actually helped to disprove it); intercessor for the education of the deaf and received a pension from the Vatican until his death

Ambroise Paré (adorned) 1510–1590 France: anatomist, a father of modern surgery & forensic pathology; developed prosthetics & surgical instruments

Gabrielle Fallopio 1523–1562 Italy: anatomist and physician; made significant contributions to the anatomy of the head, ear & synapses; wrote articles on ulcers, bath use, drug formulation and head wounds; the Fallopian tube is named after him

Ignazio Danti 1536–1586 Italy: bishop, astronomer, architect, papal mathematician; helped the calendar reform & mapping the papal states; showed great compassion for the poor

Andreas Vesalius (of Wesele) 1514–1564 Belgium: surgeon, pioneer anatomist and physician; wrote the first complete book on the human anatomy (1543), assisted P Paul IV & Ignatius of Loyola; many hospitals and medical institutions are named after him

Hieronimus Fabricius (craftsman) 1537–1619 Italy: pioneer in anatomy & surgery, father of embryology; discovered vein valves and made very good anatomical drawings; the bursa of Fabricius is named after him

Christoph Clavius ​​(key) 1538–1612 Germany: Jesuit, mathematician & astronomer; chief designer of the Gregorian calendar, his astronomy textbooks were universally used; Clavius' law in logic and a crater on the moon are named after him

1600–1700 AD

*Galileo Galilei 1564–1642 Italy: father of modern science; made important contributions to hydrology, dynamics & mechanics; founded what later became the Papal Academy of Sciences; his conviction by the Inquisition was chiefly caused by his personality and insisting on the tides as evidence for the movement of the earth; under house arrest he wrote his most fertile work (about kinematics and the strength of materials)

Christoph Scheiner (shiner) 1575–1650 Germany: Jesuit, astronomer & mathematics professor; invented the pantograph copier, discovered sunspots & studied the sun for 16 year; proposed the eye retina as the seat of sight; a lunar crater is named after him

Marin Mersenne (sea-gathering) 1588–1648 France: friar minor, father of acoustics, contributed to mechanics; established a scientific correspondence network and his work on prime numbers was their turning point; opposed alchemy and astrology; the Mersenne numbers and Mersenne's law are named after him 

Pierre Gassendi 1592–1655 France: priest, philosopher, astronomer & mathematician; explained parhelia, observed the transition of Mercury, demonstrated the conservation of horizontal momentum, measured the speed of sound & formulated the modern scientific worldview; reconciled atomism with christianity; a lunar crater is named after him

René Descartes (of the cards) 1596–1650 France: philosopher & mathematician; coined the ”cogito ergo sum” (I think, therefore I am) & a.o. Cartesian coordinates; in his own words a deeply religious catholic despite doubts about the catholicity of some of his ideas

Bonaventura Cavalieri (knights) 1598–1647 Italy: Jesuate(!) priest & mathematician; invented the method of indivisibles for computing volumes and areas important for the invention of calculus; praised by Leibniz and Galileo 

Giovanni Battista Riccioli (little curly) 1598–1671 Italy: Jesuit, astronomer & contributed to geography and physics; experimented with the pendulum & falling bodies; wrote the standard work of astronomy in the 17th century that contained 126 arguments for and against the movement of the earth; coined the naming on the moon; a moon crater is named after him

Pierre de Fermat c.1601–1665 France: lawyer, multilingual & amateur mathematician; contributed to the infinitesimal calculus, number theory & optics; best known for Fermat's Last Theorem

Gilles Personne de Roberval 1602–1675 France: mathematician, philosophy professor; helped to found integral calculus and kinematic geometry; inventor of the balance of Roberval, one of the first members of the Academie Royale des Sciences and buried in a church choir

Athanasius Kircher (minister) 1602–1680 Germany: Jesuit, homo universalis, 'last renaissance man;' received a miraculous healing after his dedication to the virgin Mary

Evangelista Torricelli (little saviour) 1608–1647 Italy: mathematician & physicist; inventor of the barometer, the vacuum & Torricelli's law

Francesco Maria Grimaldi (helmet-rule) 1618–1663 Italy: Jesuit, mathematician & physicist; experimented on the free fall, determined the length of a meredian arc & made an accurate selenograph; discovered diffraction and possibly interference; a moon crater is named after him

Jean-Felix Picard (picker) 1620–1682 France: Jesuit & astronomer; determined the radius of the earth accurately, founder of modern astronomy in France & was important for Newton's work; a lunar crater & Star-Trek captain(!) are named after him