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 ...

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 ...

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

. 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

following a heart attack. He was in Spain visiting friends, on his way back to the United States after delivering lectures in

, 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.

References

External links