Stanley L. Jaki (Jáki Szaniszló László) (17 August 1924 in
Győr,
Hungary
Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Cr ...
– 7 April 2009 in
Madrid
Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...
,
Spain
, image_flag = Bandera de España.svg
, image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg
, national_motto = '' Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond")
, national_anthem = (English: "Royal March")
, ...
)
was a
Hungarian-born priest of the
Benedictine
, image = Medalla San Benito.PNG
, caption = Design on the obverse side of the Saint Benedict Medal
, abbreviation = OSB
, formation =
, motto = (English: 'Pray and Work')
, foun ...
order. From 1975 to his death, he was Distinguished University Professor at
Seton Hall University
Seton Hall University (SHU) is a private Catholic research university in South Orange, New Jersey. Founded in 1856 by then-Bishop James Roosevelt Bayley and named after his aunt, Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton, Seton Hall is the oldest diocesa ...
, in
South Orange,
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delawa ...
.
He held doctorates in theology and in physics and was a leading contributor to the
philosophy of science
Philosophy of science is a branch of philosophy concerned with the foundations, methods, and implications of science. The central questions of this study concern what qualifies as science, the reliability of scientific theories, and the ultim ...
and the
history of science
The history of science covers the development of science from ancient times to the present. It encompasses all three major branches of science: natural, social, and formal.
Science's earliest roots can be traced to Ancient Egypt and Meso ...
, particularly to their relationship to
Christianity
Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global popula ...
. In 2018, Jaki was named one of five Catholic scientists "that shaped our understanding of the world" by
Aleteia; the other four are:
Copernicus
Nicolaus Copernicus (; pl, Mikołaj Kopernik; gml, Niklas Koppernigk, german: Nikolaus Kopernikus; 19 February 1473 – 24 May 1543) was a Renaissance polymath, active as a mathematician, astronomer, and Catholic canon, who formulat ...
,
Gregor Mendel,
Giuseppe Mercalli and
Georges Lemaitre Georges may refer to:
Places
*Georges River, New South Wales, Australia
*Georges Quay (Dublin)
*Georges Township, Fayette County, Pennsylvania
Other uses
*Georges (name)
* ''Georges'' (novel), a novel by Alexandre Dumas
* "Georges" (song), a 1977 ...
.
Studies
After completing undergraduate training in philosophy, theology and mathematics, Jaki did graduate work in theology and physics and gained doctorates in theology from the
Pontifical Atheneum of St. Anselm
The Anselmianum, also known as the Pontifical Athenaeum of Saint Anselm ( it, Pontificio Ateneo Sant'Anselmo; ) is a pontifical university in Rome associated with the Benedictines. It offers courses in philosophy, theology, liturgy, monastic studi ...
in
Rome
, established_title = Founded
, established_date = 753 BC
, founder = King Romulus ( legendary)
, image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg
, map_caption ...
(1950) and in physics from
Fordham University
Fordham University () is a private Jesuit research university in New York City. Established in 1841 and named after the Fordham neighborhood of the Bronx in which its original campus is located, Fordham is the oldest Catholic and Jesuit un ...
(1958), where he studied under the Nobel laureate
Victor Hess
Victor Franz Hess (; 24 June 188317 December 1964) was an Austrian-American physicist, and Nobel laureate in physics, who discovered cosmic rays.
Biography
He was born to Vinzenz Hess and Serafine Edle von Grossbauer-Waldstätt, in Waldstein ...
, the co-discoverer of cosmic rays. He also did post-doctoral research in
Philosophy of Science
Philosophy of science is a branch of philosophy concerned with the foundations, methods, and implications of science. The central questions of this study concern what qualifies as science, the reliability of scientific theories, and the ultim ...
at
Stanford University
Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is conside ...
,
UC Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant uni ...
,
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the ...
and
Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton
The Institute for Advanced Study (IAS), located in Princeton, New Jersey, in the United States, is an independent center for theoretical research and intellectual inquiry. It has served as the academic home of internationally preeminent scholar ...
.
Research
Jaki authored more than two dozen books on the relation between modern science and
Christianity
Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global popula ...
. He was Fremantle Lecturer at
Balliol College, Oxford
Balliol College () is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. One of Oxford's oldest colleges, it was founded around 1263 by John I de Balliol, a landowner from Barnard Castle in County Durham, who provided the ...
(1977), Hoyt Fellow at
Yale University
Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the w ...
(1980) and Farmington Institute Lecturer at
Oxford University
Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...
(1988–1989). He was the
Gifford Lecturer at
Edinburgh University in 1974–1975 and 1975–1976. In 1987, he was awarded the
Templeton Prize
The Templeton Prize is an annual award granted to a living person, in the estimation of the judges, "whose exemplary achievements advance Sir John Templeton's philanthropic vision: harnessing the power of the sciences to explore the deepest quest ...
for furthering understanding of science and religion.
He was among the first to claim that
Gödel's incompleteness theorem is relevant for
theories of everything (TOE) in theoretical physics. Gödel's theorem states that any
theory
A theory is a rational type of abstract thinking about a phenomenon, or the results of such thinking. The process of contemplative and rational thinking is often associated with such processes as observational study or research. Theories may ...
that includes certain basic facts of number theory and is
computably enumerable will be either incomplete or
inconsistent
In classical deductive logic, a consistent theory is one that does not lead to a logical contradiction. The lack of contradiction can be defined in either semantic or syntactic terms. The semantic definition states that a theory is consiste ...
. Since any 'theory of everything' must be consistent, it also must be incomplete.
Death
Jaki died in
Madrid
Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...
following a heart attack. He was in Spain visiting friends, on his way back to the United States after delivering lectures in
Rome
, established_title = Founded
, established_date = 753 BC
, founder = King Romulus ( legendary)
, image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg
, map_caption ...
, for the Master in Faith and Science of the
Pontifical Athenaeum Regina Apostolorum.
Bibliography
*1966. ''The Relevance of Physics''.
University of Chicago Press
The University of Chicago Press is the largest and one of the oldest university presses in the United States. It is operated by the University of Chicago and publishes a wide variety of academic titles, including '' The Chicago Manual of Style' ...
.
*1969. ''Brain, Mind and Computers''.
Herder & Herder.
*1969. ''The Paradox of Olbers' Paradox''. Herder & Herder.
*1973. ''The Milky Way: an Elusive Road for Science''. New York:
Science History Publications.
*1974. ''Science and Creation: From Eternal Cycles to an Oscillating Universe''. Edinburgh:
Scottish Academic Press
Scottish Academic Press is an old Scottish
Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including:
*Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland
*Scottish English
...
.
*1978. ''Planets and Planetarians. A History of Theories of the Origin of Planetary Systems''. John Wiley & Edinburgh: Scottish Academic Press.
*1978. ''The Road of Science and the Ways to God''. Univ. of Chicago Press, and Edinburgh: Scottish Academic Press.
*1978. ''The Origin of Science and the Science of its Origins''. Scottish Academic Press.
*1980. ''Cosmos and Creator''. Scottish Academic Press.
*1983. ''Angels, Apes and Men''. La Salle IL: Sherwood, Sugden & Co.
*1984. ''Uneasy Genius. The Life and Work of
Pierre Duhem
Pierre Maurice Marie Duhem (; 9 June 1861 – 14 September 1916) was a French theoretical physicist who worked on thermodynamics, hydrodynamics, and the theory of elasticity. Duhem was also a historian of science, noted for his work on the Eu ...
''. The Hague/Boston:
Martinus Nijhoff Publishers.
*1986. ''Chesterton, a Seer of Science''.
University of Illinois Press
The University of Illinois Press (UIP) is an American university press and is part of the University of Illinois system. Founded in 1918, the press publishes some 120 new books each year, plus 33 scholarly journals, and several electronic proje ...
.
*1986. ''Lord Gifford and His Lectures. A Centenary Retrospective''. Edinburgh: Scottish Academis Press, and Macon, GA.:
Mercer University Press.
*1986. ''Chance or Reality and Other Essays''. Lanham, MD: University Press of America &
Intercollegiate Studies Institute.
*1987. ''The Keys of the Kingdom: A Tool's Witness to Truth''. Chicago, IL: Franciscan Herald Press.
*1988. ''The Absolute Beneath the Relative and Other Essays''. Lanham, MD: University Press of America &
Intercollegiate Studies Institute.
*2000 (1988). ''The Savior of Science''. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company; Grand Rapids.
*1989. ''Miracles and Physics''. Front Royal. VA.:
Christendom Press.
*1989. ''God and the Cosmologists''. Regnery Gateway Inc.; Edinburgh: Scottish Academic Press.
**''The Purpose of it All''
*1990. ''The Only Chaos and Other Essays''. Lanham MD: University Press of America &
Intercollegiate Studies Institute.
*1991. ''Scientist and Catholic, An Essay on Pierre Duhem''. Front Royal VA: Christendom Press.
*1994. ''Patterns or Principals and Other Essays''. ISBN 978-1882926091.
*1998 (1992) '' Genesis 1 Through the Ages''. Edinburgh: Scottish Academic Press.
*1996. ''Bible And Science''. Front Royal, VA: Christendom Press.
*1999. ''God and the Sun at Fatima''. Royal Oak, MI: Real View Books.
*2000. ''The Limits of a Limitless Science and Other Essays''.
Intercollegiate Studies Institute.
*2000. ''Christ and science''. Real View Books.
*2001. ''Praying the Psalms, A Commentary'', Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company: Grand Rapids,
*2002. ''A Mind's Matter: An Intellectual Autobiography.'' Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company: Grand Rapids.
*2004. ''And On This Rock: Witness Of One Land & Two Covenants.'' Front Royal, VA: Christendom Press.
*2008. ''Hail Mary, full of grace: A Commentary''. New Hope, KY: Real View Books.
See also
*
List of Christian thinkers in science
This is a list of Christians in Science and Technology. People
in this list should have their Christianity as relevant to their notable activities or public life, and who have publicly identified themselves as Christians or as of a Christian deno ...
*
List of Roman Catholic scientist-clerics
A ''list'' is any set of items in a row. List or lists may also refer to:
People
* List (surname)
Organizations
* List College, an undergraduate division of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America
* SC Germania List, German rugby union ...
References
External links
*A selection re Jaki from Haffner, Paul, 1996 (Spring),
The Pope's Physicist" ''Sursum Corda'' 66–73.
Web page maintained by Father Jaki's publisher.!--
Websitedevoted to Jaki's work. -->
Archive of Stanley Jaki articles at Intercollegiate Studies Institute"
Stanely L. Jaki. ''JASA'' 24 (March 1972): 12–17. (Peer-review commentary from
Richard H. Bube).
"No Other Options" Stanely L. Jaki. ''JASA'' 24 (September 1972): 127. (Response to R.H.Bube's commentary.)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jaki, Stanley
1924 births
2009 deaths
People from Győr
American Benedictines
Fordham University alumni
Stanford University people
University of California, Berkeley people
Fellows of Balliol College, Oxford
Yale University fellows
Princeton University people
Pontifical Atheneum of St. Anselm alumni
Historians of science
Catholic clergy scientists
Members of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences
Templeton Prize laureates
Seton Hall University faculty
Hungarian emigrants to the United States
20th-century American Roman Catholic priests
Hungarian expatriates in Italy
Hungarian expatriates in the United Kingdom