Over 1000 years of Catholic Science

Welcome to The Catholic Laboratory - a web site and podcast about the

Catholic Faith & Science.

Is there a conflict between the Catholic faith and science?

Has the Catholic Church been hostile toward science?

If you answered ‘yes’ to either of the above questions then you probably don’t know that the Catholic Church can boast over 1000 years of contributions to the sciences.

Over 200 religious and lay Catholics have made significant and notable contributions to our understanding of the natural world and our universe through research into astronomy, chemistry, physics, atomic theory, geology, meteorology, seismology, cosmology … the list goes on.

In fact, there are several Catholic scientists who are called ‘Fathers’ of their area of expertise: Mineralogy, Modern Chemistry, Modern Algebra, Modern Atomic Theory, Modern Pathology, Astronomy, and more.

There are 35 craters on the Moon named after Jesuit priests, and seismology is referred to as the ‘Jesuit Science’.

Many of the names we hear in scientific circles related to instruments, processes, mathematical functions, units of measurement and constants take their name from the Catholic who developed, discovered or determined them.

If the Church was down on science how come Catholics have contributed so much? Why are so many of them priests? Surely a Church hostile to science would not allow its priests to undertake scientific research.

The truth is amazing!

The Catholic Laboratory website and podcast is dedicated to the numerous Catholic scientists who have opened our minds to new scientific discoveries revealing the beauty and power of God in His creation, and to today’s scientists who continue to put their Catholic faith into practice sometimes at great cost to their careers.

It is our aim to help the world rediscover the rich scientific heritage of the Catholic Church, to understand the Church’s stance towards modern science, and to inspire and give comfort to today’s Catholic scientists who may be struggling to practice their faith whilst pursuing their God-given talent for science.

Enjoy!

St Albertus Magnus - pray for us

St Dominic de Guzman - pray for us