"Dance of the Fertile Universe" with former Dierctor of the Vatican Observatory

Fellow's Public Forum, 7 pm: "Dance of the Fertile Universe"

Dr. George V. Coyne, S.J., of the Vatican Observatory

Co-sponsored with
The Jesuit School of Theology at Berkeley (JSTB)
Location: JSTB Chapel, 1735 Le Roy Avenue, Berkeley, CA 94709

The Fellow's Forum is free and open to the public.

Brief Biography: Dr. George V. Coyne, S.J., was born in Baltimore, Maryland, and became a member of the Society of Jesus the age of 18. He obtained his bachelor's degree in mathematics and his licentiate in philosophy at Fordham University, New York City in 1958 and completed the licentiate in sacred theology at Woodstock College, Woodstock, Maryland. He was ordained a Roman Catholic priest in 1965.

For his doctorate in astronomy at Georgetown University in 1962, Coyne carried out a spectrophotometric study of the lunar surface. He spent the summer of 1963 doing research at Harvard University, the summer of 1964 as a National Science Foundation lecturer at the University of Scranton, and the summer of 1965 as visiting research professor at the University of Arizona Lunar and Planetary Laboratory.
Coyne was visiting assistant professor at the University of Arizona (UA) Lunar and Planetary Laboratory (LPL) in 1966-67 and 1968-69, and visiting astronomer at the Vatican Observatory in 1967-68. He joined the Vatican Observatory as an astronomer in 1969 and became an assistant professor at the LPL in 1970. In 1976 he became a senior research fellow at the LPL and a lecturer in the UA Department of Astronomy. The following year he served as Director of the UA's Catalina Observatory and as Associate Director of the LPL.
Coyne was appointed Director of the Vatican Observatory by Pope John Paul I in 1978, and in that same year he also became Associate Director of the UA Steward Observatory. During 1979-80 he served as Acting Director and Head of the UA Steward Observatory and the Astronomy Department, and thereafter he continued as an adjunct professor in the UA Astronomy Department.

Dr. Coyne’s interests have ranged from the study of the lunar surface, to the birth of stars. He has pioneered a special technique, polarimetry for astronomical research. Currently he is studying cataclysmic variable stars, binary stars where one star is a superdense object which is capturing matter from its companion. He is also searching for protoplanetary disks about young stars. He has published more than 100 articles in reviewed scientific journals and has been the editor of several books.

Parallel to his scientific research he has developed an interest in the history and philosophy of science and in the relationship between science and religion. He founded the series of studies concerning controversies about Galileo, entitled: Studi Galileiani. In 1987 Dr. Coyne invited Robert Russell, the CTNS Director, to participate in a major international conference on science and religion convened by the Vatican Observatory. Its publication, Physics, Philosophy and Theology included a very influential statement on these issues by Pope John Paul II. Following this, Dr. Coyne asked CTNS to join with the Vatican Observatory in co-sponsoring a decade-long series of international research conferences on the theme, “Scientific Perspectives on Divine Action,” resulting in the publication of six volumes. Dr. Coyne served as the head of the section on epistemology and science of the Galileo Commission, constituted by John Paul II in 1981. He has lectured widely on the results of that Commission.

As Director of the Vatican Observatory he was a driving force in several new educational and research initiatives, including the Vatican Observatory Summer Schools and the Vatican Observatory Research Group in Tucson, Arizona. He retired as Director in August 2006. After spending a sabbatical year as an Associate Pastor at St. Raphael's Catholic Church in Raleigh, NC, he returned to the staff of the Vatican Observatory and continues as President of the Vatican Observatory Foundation.