Roman Catholicism and Modern Science - by Don O'Leary (Paperback)

About the Book

This is the first general history of the reactions of the Roman Catholic Church to developments in the natural sciences from about 1800 to the dawn of the twenty-first century.

Book Synopsis

In the popular imagination, historical relations between the Roman Catholic Church and modern science are best epitomized in the case of Galileo Galilei. Condemned in 1633 for advancing the theory of a moving earth and a stationary sun, he was only exonerated in 1992. Yet apart from relatively few and specialized studies, there have been no extensive historical treatments of Catholic attitudes toward science after Galileo. Roman Catholicism and Modern Science is the first general history of the reactions of the Roman Catholic Church to developments in the natural sciences from about 1800 to the dawn of the twenty-first century.

While Galileo's heliocentric universe had challenged the ""inerrancy"" of the Bible, Darwin's theory challenged the direct and immediate creation of the first humans. Through O'Leary's cast of characters-popes from Pius IX to John Paul II, polemicists like Thomas Henry Huxley and Irish physicist John Tyndall, and Catholic apologists and scientists like St. George Jackson Mivart-we get a clear picture of the back and forth volleys between representatives of the scientific and ecclesiastical establishments as well as within each of those establishments. Besides evolution, a wide range of other issues receives attention, including agnosticism, biblical criticism, the philosophy and professionalization of science, the nature of Catholic dogma vis-à-vis science and of intellectual freedom vis-à-vis faith and ecclesiastical authority. Many of these issues achieved a certain resolution in the years before and after the Second Vatican Council. However, toward the end of the twentieth century, new issues facing the church and global society emerged with a new variety and urgency, with environmental concerns, on the one hand, and portentous developments in the biological sciences, on the other, including contraception, ""in vitro"" fertilization, gene therapy, experimentation on embryos, and organ transplantation. O'Leary explains the intricacies of all of these issues clearly and fairly, though their ultimate resolution may take decades to achieve.

""Roman Catholicism and Modern Science is a fascinating and reliable account... It makes an important contribution to modern church history as well as to the present dialogue of science and religion.""-America Magazine

""From Galileo and bioethics to the ""Syllabus of Errors"" and Pope John Paul's philosophy of science, O'Leary's synthesis of history and science is fascinating to read and intellectually enlightening... a sourcebook to understanding the complex dynamic between faith and reason."" -Library Journal

""Don O'Leary has written a bold and sweeping history of the interactions of the Roman Catholic Church with modern scientific thought. This book is deeply researched and thoughtfully argued. It will become the standard work on the subject and will because of its strengths generate both controversy and new research. It is a remarkable achievement."" -Frank M. Turner, John Hay Whitney Professor of History, Yale University

Review Quotes

"A bold and sweeping history of the interactions of the Roman Catholic Church with modern scientific thought. This book is deeply researched and thoughtfully argued. It will become the standard work on the subject and will, because of its strengths, generate both controversy and new research. It is a remarkable achievement." - Frank M Turner, John Hay Whitney Professor of History, Yale University

"It is a book which deserves the attention of all theologians and students of theology.." "All readers of church history will enjoy this refreshing trajectory" "It adopts an exemplary written style and overall presentation in which theology, church history and the sciences are discussed with equal authority. The text is detailed and meticulous" "The notes and bibliography are an outstanding resource for further study" Science and Christian Belief, Vol 21, No.1--Sanford Lakoff

"This book is a remarkable and unparalleled contribution to the understanding of religion and science. Thoroughly researched, meticulously written, and clearly argued, this monumental historical survey from O'Leary (scientific research, Biosciences Inst., University Coll.-Cork, Ireland; Vocationalism and Social Catholicism in Twentieth-Century Ireland) will certainly influence generations of thinkers. In 12 compact chapters, he insightfully traces the historical, cultural, and religious implications of scientific evolution. The scholarship is balanced but critical of Catholicism's ongoing confrontation with historical and contemporary scientific progress. From Galileo and bioethics to the "Syllabus of Errors" and Pope John Paul's philosophy of science, O'Leary's synthesis of history and science is fascinating to read and intellectually enlightening, The result is a sourcebook to understanding the complex dynamic between faith and reason. Recommended for academic libraries."- STARRED REVIEW, John-Leonard Berg, Library Journal, August 2006--Sanford Lakoff "Library Journal "

"With this book we now possess a map of Catholic responses to science from the time of Darwin's Origin of Species to the present .... Slowly, the dark, repressive clouds of the late nineteenth century have given way to a thoughtful, restrained attitude to science that seeks to meditate - sometimes more successfully than others - between tradition and scientific innovation. O'Leary has traced the many twists and turns in this story with clarity and insight." - Geoffrey Cantor, School of Philosophy, University of Leeds

"Without being overly hypercritical, this important book lays out a dispiriting tale of fearful churchmen recurrently either avoiding or heavily editing scientific information that calls for radical new ways of envisaging religious truth ...a fascinating and reliable account of this and earlier episodes in the larger struggle of scientific reason and Catholic faith. It makes an important contribution to modern church history as well as to the present dialogue of science with religion." - John F. Haught, America, December 11, 2006--Sanford Lakoff

'A good starting place for any historian interested in Catholicism and science in the twentieth century' Reviewed in The Journal of BJHS, June 2010 (UK)

"[O'Leary's] excellent and very readable book describes vividly the bleak aftermath of Galileo in which Catholic scientific scholarship suffered from self-censorship." - Quentin de la Bedoyere, Catholic Herald, 2008

"A great deal of the book is given to an excellent discussion of the nineteenth century Darwinian controversy. That controversy has fairly recently re-emerged. O'Leary's discussion is illuminating and should be widely read, especially by those who have any authoritative teaching position within the Church ... always rewarding reading." - Dr Garrett Barden, Doctrine & Life

"A lucid, thoughtful and thorough account of the relationship between modern science and the Roman Catholic Church ... indispensable for all those interested in the contemporary dialogue between science and theology. I found it enlightening and fascinating, both in its details and in the larger story it tells."- Denis Edwards, author of The God of Evolution: A Trinitarian Theology

"In this balanced and lucid treatment of the 'evolution' of modern Catholic attitudes towards science, O'Leary ranges across papal encyclicals, theological pronouncements and scientific essays. He has drawn on current scholarship on science and religion and its rejection of simple master narratives to present a nuanced study of the controversies within the Catholic world as well as between Catholics and unbelievers." - Bernard Lightman, Professor of Humanities, York University, Toronto and editor of Isis

mention- Faculty of Science University College Cork Annual Graduate Newsletter & Report

"A bold and sweeping history of the interactions of the Roman Catholic Church with modern scientific thought. This book is deeply researched and thoughtfully argued. It will become the standard work on the subject and will, because of its strengths, generate both controversy and new research. It is a remarkable achievement"

"A fascinating and reliable account... It makes an important contribution to modern church history as well as to the present dialogue of science with religion."

"A lucid, thoughtful and thorough account of the relationship between modern science and the Roman Catholic Church... indispensable for all those interested in the contemporary dialogue between science and theology."

"A remarkable and unparalleled contribution to the understanding of religion and science. Thoroughly researched, meticulously written, and clearly argued, this monumental historical survey...will certainly influence generations of thinkers... O'Leary's synthesis of history and science is fascinating to read and intellectually enlightening."

"The author...is not yet a name familiar to those working in the field, and so it is pleasing to find just how admirably comprehensive, detailed and balanced this is."

About the Author

Don O'Leary is professionally qualified in the disciplines of science and history and is currently employed in scientific research at the Biosciences Institute at University College Cork. He is coauthor of four neuroscience papers published in Acta Neuropathologica, The Journal of Anatomy, and Molecular and Cellular Neuroscience. He is also the author of Vocationalism and Social Catholicism in Twentieth-Century Ireland. He is a member of the British Society for the History of Science.