A Weblog Dedicated to the Discussion of the Christian Faith and 21st Century Life

A Weblog Dedicated to the Discussion of the Christian Faith and 21st Century Life
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I do not seek to understand that I may believe, but I believe in order to understand. For this also I believe, –that unless I believed, I should not understand.-- St. Anselm of Canterbury (1033-1109)

Sunday, April 13, 2014

Groundbreaking Christian Scientists

Relevant Magazine lists nine. I would have liked for them to add two more: Copernicus and John Polkinghorne.
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1. Francis Collins: One of the preeminent geneticists in the world, Francis Collins helped complete a groundbreaking research into human DNA and gene sequences as a leader of the Human Genome Project.

2. Johannes Kepler: For Johannes Kepler, belief in a brilliant creator—who ultimately wanted his creation to be further discovered—was a motivating factor in his work developing ideas about the laws of planetary motion.

3. Galileo: The life and work of Galileo Galilei were marked by an ironic conflict: Despite being a devout Christian believer, he was persecuted by the Church for his revolutionary work as a scientist.


4. Lise Meitner: Part of the team that discovered nuclear fission (for which her partner, Otto Hahn, won a Nobel Prize), Meitner was born into a Jewish family in Vienna, but later converted to Christianity.

5. Sir Francis Bacon: Known for establishing and popularizing the scientific method, he was the first scientists to be knighted. 

6. Isaac Newton: Though some of his views were a bit unorthodox, Newton saw God as essential to the existence of space. "Gravity explains the motions of the planets, but it cannot explain who set the planets in motion.

7. Andrew Pinsent: A triple threat if ever there was one, Father Pinsent is a Catholic priest, a Research Fellow at Harris Manchester College and the Research Director of Oxford's Ian Ramsey Centre for Science and Religion. Some of his earlier work (about 31 volumes which he co-authored) contributed to the creation of the Large Electron-Positron Collider at CERN...

8. Stanley Jaki: He's famous for putting forth the theory that modern scientific inquiry can not only exist alongside religion, but that modern science only could have arisen within a Christian society.

9. Mike Hulme: Mike Hulme is the author of the excellent Why We Disagree About Climate Change, which was one of the Economist's four science and technology books of the year in 2009.
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