At least half of these Christian scientists are NT:
Name Image Reason for inclusion
Bartholomaeus Pitiscus (1561–1613) He may have introduced the word trigonometry into English and French. He was also a Calvinist theologian who acted as court preacher at the town then called Breslau, hence the image of their town square.[40]
John Napier (1550–1617) Scottish mathematician known for inventing logarithms, Napier's bones, and being the popularizer of the use of decimals. He also was a staunch Protestant who wrote on the Book of Revelation.[41]
Johannes Kepler (1571–1630) His model of the cosmos based on nesting Platonic solids was explicitly driven by religious ideas; his later and most famous scientific contribution, the Kepler's laws of planetary motion, was based on empirical data that he obtained from Tycho Brahe's meticulous astronomical observations, after Tycho died of mercury poisoning. He had wanted to be a theologian at one time and his Harmonice Mundi discusses Christ at points.[42]
Galileo Galilei (1564–1642) Scientist who had many problems with the Inquisition for defending heliocentrism in the convoluted period brought about by the Reformation and Counter-Reformation. In regard to Scripture, he took Augustine's position: not to take every passage too literally, particularly when the scripture in question is a book of poetry and songs, not a book of instructions or history.[43]
Laurentius Gothus (1565–1646) A professor of astronomy and Archbishop of Uppsala. He wrote on astronomy and theology.[44]
Marin Mersenne (1588–1648) For four years he devoted himself to theology writing Quaestiones celeberrimae in Genesim (1623) and L'Impieté des déistes (1624). These were theological essays against atheism and deism. He is more remembered for the work he did corresponding with mathematicians and concerning Mersenne primes.[45]
René Descartes (1596–1650) He was a key thinker of the Scientific Revolution. He is also honoured by having the Cartesian coordinate system used in plane geometry and algebra named after him. He did important work on invariants and geometry. His Meditations on First Philosophy partially concerns theology and he was devoted to reconciling his ideas with the dogmas of Catholic Faith to which he was loyal.[note 4][46]
Pierre Gassendi (1592–1655) Catholic priest who tried to reconcile Atomism with Christianity. He also published the first work on the Transit of Mercury and corrected the geographical coordinates of the Mediterranean Sea.[47]
Anton Maria of Rheita (1597–1660) Capuchin astronomer. He dedicated one of his astronomy books to Jesus Christ, a "theo-astronomy" work was dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary, and he wondered if beings on other planets were "cursed by original sin like humans are."[48]
Blaise Pascal (1623–1662) Jansenist thinker;[note 5] well known for Pascal's law (physics), Pascal's theorem (math), and Pascal's Wager (theology).[49]
Isaac Barrow (1630–1677) English divine, scientist, and mathematician. He wrote Expositions of the Creed, The Lord's Prayer, Decalogue, and Sacraments and Lectiones Opticae et Geometricae.[50]
Juan Lobkowitz (1606–1682) Cistercian monk who did work on Combinatorics and published astronomy tables at age 10. He also did works of theology and sermons.[51]
Nicolas Steno (1638–1686) Lutheran convert to Catholicism, his beatification in that faith occurred in 1987. As a scientist he is considered a pioneer in both anatomy and geology, but largely abandoned science after his religious conversion.[52]
Seth Ward (1617–1689) Anglican Bishop of Salisbury and Savilian Chair of Astronomy from 1649–1661. He wrote Ismaelis Bullialdi astro-nomiae philolaicae fundamenta inquisitio brevis and Astronomia geometrica. He also had a theological/philosophical dispute with Thomas Hobbes and as a bishop was severe toward nonconformists.[53]
Robert Boyle (1627–1691) Scientist and theologian who argued that the study of science could improve glorification of God.[54]
[edit] 1701–1800 (18th century)The 18th century is considered the zenith of the Enlightenment. It was not a single movement or school of thought, it was less a set of ideas than it was a set of values. At its core was a critical questioning of traditional institutions, customs, and morals, and a strong belief in rationality and science. The end of the century saw the French Revolution which led to the first major de-Christianization attempts in Europe to occur in many centuries. This culminated in the Cult of the Supreme Being. The period thus saw Christianity in transition and eventually conflict.
Name Image Reason for inclusion
John Wallis (1616–1703) As a mathematician he wrote Arithmetica Infinitorumis, introduced the term Continued fraction, worked on cryptography, helped develop calculus, and is further known for the Wallis product. He also devised a system for teaching the non-speaking deaf. He was also a Calvinist inclined chaplain who was active in theological debate.[55]
John Ray (1627–1705) English botanist who wrote The Wisdom of God manifested in the Works of the Creation. (1691) The John Ray Initiative of Environment and Christianity is also named for him.[56]
Gottfried Leibniz (1646–1716) Polymath who worked on determinants, a calculating machine, He was a Lutheran who worked with convert to Catholicism John Frederick, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg in hopes of a reunification between Catholicism and Lutheranism. He also wrote Vindication of the Justice of God.[57]
Isaac Newton (1643–1727) He is regarded as one of the greatest scientists and mathematicians in history. Newton's study of the Bible and of the early Church Fathers were among his greatest passions, though he consistently refused to swear his allegiance to the church. He wrote Observations upon the Prophecies of Daniel and the Apocalypse of St. John (Nontrinitarianism).[58]
Colin Maclaurin (1698–1746) Proposed to explain Newton's differential calculus using infinite series instead of Newton's fluxions. A Divinity student, he had a Christian institute named for him.[59]
Stephen Hales (1677–1761) A Copley Medal winning scientist significant to the study of plant physiology. As an inventor designed a type of ventilation system, a means to distill sea-water, ways to preserve meat, etc. In religion he was an Anglican curate who worked with the Society for the Promotion of Christian Knowledge and for a group working to convert black slaves in the West Indies.[60]
Thomas Bayes (1701–1761) Presbyterian minister who wrote Divine Benevolence, or an Attempt to Prove That the Principal End of the Divine Providence and Government is the Happiness of His Creatures. He is better known for Bayes' theorem and was made a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1742. [61]
Firmin Abauzit (1679–1767) A physicist and theologian. He translated the New Testament into French and corrected an error in Newton's Principia.[62]
Emanuel Swedenborg (1688–1772) His writing is the basis of Swedenborgianism and several of his theological works contained some science hypotheses, most notably the Nebular hypothesis for the origin of the Solar System.[63]
Carolus Linnaeus (1707–1778) He is known as the "father of modern taxonomy" and also made contributions to ecology. Natural theology and the Bible were important to his Systema Naturae and Systema Vegetabilium.'[64]
Leonhard Euler (1707–1783) A significant mathematician and physicist, see List of topics named after Leonhard Euler. He wrote Defense of the Divine Revelation against the Objections of the Freethinkers and is also commemorated by the Lutheran Church on their Calendar of Saints on May 24.[65]
Maria Gaetana Agnesi (1718–1799) Mathematician appointed to a position by Pope Benedict XIV. After her father died she devoted her life to religious studies, charity, and ultimately became a nun.[66]
[edit] 1801–1900 (19th century)This period led Christians in science to face changes and increased challenges. It was the 19th century that brought the professionalization of the scientific enterprise. By then, religious thinkers who expressed themselves on scientific subjects were increasingly treated as "trespassers". This was also the first century that saw actual discussions of the "relationship between science and religion". In previous ages there was occasional concern about tension between faith and reason, but religion and science were not presented as two opposing forces. This ethos gave birth to the conflict thesis. At the end of the century it was common the view that science and religion "had been in a state of constant conflict". This notion is still very popular, although it is not endorsed by current research on the history of science.[67]
Name Image Reason for inclusion
Joseph Priestley (1733–1804) Nontrinitarianism clergyman who wrote the controversial work History of the Corruptions of Christianity. He is credited with discovering oxygen, although Carl Wilhelm Scheele did so a year earlier.[68]
Isaac Milner (1750–1820) Lucasian Professor of Mathematics known for work on an important process to fabricate Nitrous acid. He was also an evangelical Anglican who co-wrote Ecclesiastical History of the Church of Christ with his brother and played a role in the religious awakening of William Wilberforce. He also led to William Frend being expelled from Cambridge for a purported attack by Frend on religion.[69]
Samuel Vince (1749–1821) Cambridge astronomer and clergyman. He wrote Observations on the Theory of the Motion and Resistance of Fluids and The credibility of Christianity vindicated, in answer to Mr. Hume’s objections. He won the Copley Medal in 1780, before the period dealt with here ended.[70]
Olinthus Gregory (1774–1841) He wrote Lessons Astronomical and Philosophical in 1793 and became mathematical master at the Royal Military Academy in 1802. An abridgment of his 1815 Letters on the Evidences of Christianity was done by the Religious Tract Society.[71]
William Buckland (1784–1856) Anglican priest/geologist who wrote Vindiciae Geologiae; or the Connexion of Geology with Religion explained. He was born in 1784, but his scientific life did not begin before the period discussed herein.[72]
Augustin Louis Cauchy (1789–1857) Mathematician who defended the Society of Jesus, tried to convert other mathematicians to Catholicism, and was a member of the Society of Saint Vincent de Paul.[73]
Lars Levi Læstadius (1800–1861) Botanist who started a revival movement within Lutheranism called Laestadianism. This movement is among the strictest forms of Lutheranism. As a botanist he has the author citation Laest and discovered four species.[74]
Edward Hitchcock (1793–1864) Geologist, paleontologist, and Congregationalist pastor. He worked on Natural theology and wrote on fossilized tracks.[75]
William Whewell (1794–1866) A professor of mineralogy and moral philosophy. He wrote An Elementary Treatise on Mechanics in 1819 and Astronomy and General Physics considered with reference to Natural Theology in 1833.[76]
Michael Faraday (1791–1867) A Glasite church elder for a time, he discussed the relationship of science to religion in a lecture opposing Spiritualism.[77]
Charles Babbage (1791–1871) The Difference Engine and the Ninth Bridgewater Treatise.[78]
Adam Sedgwick (1785–1873) Anglican priest and geologist whose, A Discourse on the Studies of the University discusses the relationship of God and man. In science he won both the Copley Medal and the Wollaston Medal.[79]
Temple Chevallier (1794–1873) Priest and astronomer who did Of the proofs of the divine power and wisdom derived from the study of astronomy. He also founded the Durham University Observatory, hence the Durham Shield is pictured.[80]
John Bachman (1790–1874) Wrote numerous scientific articles and named several species of animals. He also was a founder of the Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary and wrote works on Lutheranism.[81]
Robert Main (1808–1878) Anglican priest who won the Gold Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society in 1858. (The image is of Asaph Hall's 1879 Gold Medal of the RAS.) Robert Main also preached at the British Association of Bristol.[82]
James Clerk Maxwell (1831–1879) Although Clerk as a boy was taken to Presbyterian services by his father and to Anglican services by his aunt, while still a young student at Cambridge he underwent an Evangelical conversion that he described as having given him a new perception of the Love of God.[note 6] Maxwell's evangelicalism "committed him to an anti-positivist position."[83][84]
Arnold Henry Guyot (1807–1884) Swiss-American geologist who did noteworthy work on glaciers, Guyot Glacier is named for him. He also wrote Creation, or the Biblical Cosmogony in the Light of Modern Science.[85]
Gregor Mendel (1822–1884) Augustinian Abbot who was the "father of modern genetics" for his study of the inheritance of traits in pea plants.[86]
Philip Henry Gosse (1810–1888) Marine biologist who wrote Aquarium (1854), and A Manual of Marine Zoology (1855–56). He is more famous, or infamous, as a Christian Fundamentalist who coined the idea of Omphalos (theology).[87]
Asa Gray (1810–1888) His Gray's Manual remains a pivotal work in botany. His Darwiniana has sections titled "Natural selection not inconsistent with Natural theology", "Evolution and theology", and "Evolutionary teleology." The preface indicates his adherence to the Nicene Creed in concerning these religious issues.[88]
Francesco Faà di Bruno (1825—1888) Italian mathematician most linked to Turin. He is known for Faà di Bruno's formula and being a spiritual writer beatified in 1988.[89]
Julian Tenison Woods (1832–1889) Co-founder of the Sisters of St Joseph of the Sacred Heart who won a Clarke Medal shortly before death. A picture from Waverley Cemetery, where he's buried, is shown.[90]
James Dwight Dana (1813–1895) A geologist, mineralogist, and zoologist. He received the Copley Medal, Wollaston Medal, and the Clarke Medal. He also wrote a book titled Science and the Bible and his faith has been described as "both orthodox and intense."[91]
Louis Pasteur (1822–1895) Inventor of the pasteurization method, a French chemist and microbiologist. He also solved the mysteries of rabies, anthrax, chicken cholera, and silkworm diseases, and contributed to the development of the first vaccines.[92]
George Jackson Mivart (1827–1900) Fellow of the Zoological Society of London who did notable work on Insectivora and became involved in controversies with Charles Darwin. He was also a convert to Catholicism who taught at the Catholic University of Leuven and received a Doctor of Philosophy from Pope Pius IX in 1876, However his later works were considered unorthodox and led to his excommunication by Cardinal Vaughan.[93]
Armand David (1826–1900)
