Inaugural Gold Mass and Lecture for Science and Engineering – Wednesday, November 2017
Gold Mass
Basilica of the Sacred Heart
5:15 P.M.
Presider
Rev. Terrence P. Ehrman, C.S.C.
Assistant Director
Center for Theology, Science, and Human Flourishing
Reception
Jordan Hall of Science, Atrium
6:15 P.M.
Edison Lecture
Jordan Hall of Science, Room 101
7:15 P.M.
Lemaître, Modern Cosmology and the Question of the Compatibility of Science and Faith
Speaker:
Jonathan I. Lunine
David C. Duncan Professor in the Physical Sciences, Cornell University
Director of Cornell Center for Astrophysics and Planetary Sciences
A member of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, he is also a co-founder of the Society of Catholic Scientists and serves as its vice president. He lives in Ithaca, New York, where he is a member of St. Catherine of Siena parish.
LECTURE:
The confusion between science [a process of discovering facts about the world] and scientism [the belief that only what is accessible through scientific investigation exists] is at the root of one of the biggest stereotypes in modern science — that to be a reputable researcher one must abandon religion altogether. In this talk, Lunine will use the life of Georges Lemaître, Catholic priest, and father of the Big Bang model of the origin of the cosmos, to debunk this stereotype. In addition to profiling Lemaître’s life, he will also highlight other well-known Catholic scientists and address the question of whether or not, as Steven Barr phrased it, “the Believing Scientist” is a dying breed.
Sponsors:
College of Science; College of Engineering; Center for Theology, Science and Human Flourishing; Center for Ethics and Culture; Institute for Church Life; and the Environmental Change Initiative
All events are free and open to the public.