Brother Guy Consolmagno is the director of the Vatican Observatory and president of the Vatican Observatory Foundation. Raised in Detroit, Michigan, he studied Earth and Planetary Sciences at MIT for his bachelor’s and master’s degrees and at the University of Arizona for his doctorate. During a break in his studies he spent two years teaching astronomy in Narobi for the Peace Corps. Having attended a Jesuit high school, Consolmagno contemplated joining the church at several points in his career before joining the order in 1989. Two years later, he was called to serve at the Vatican Observatory where he has been ever since. Consolmagno’s research has always focused on the smallest bodies in our solar system and his work at the Vatican has allowed him to make significant contributions to this field over the past several decades. In 2014, he was awarded the Carl Sagan Medal by the American Astronomical Society for outstanding communication of planetary science to the public.
Keep up with Consolmagno’s work at:
Website: www.vaticanobservatory.org,
Blog: https://brotherguy.livejournal.com/
Twitter: @VaticanObserv
TEDx talk: https://youtu.be/kmU2gDbP_Tk
George Lemaitre’s video-recorded interview:
– Video: https://youtu.be/KXxxpqkv0Bc
– Paper: https://arxiv.org/abs/2301.07198
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Time Stamp:
00:00 — Introductory sequence
00:28 — Post-interview remarks and introduction by Razo
02:05 — ChatGPT says Catholic Church most successful organization
02:55 — ChatGPT says Catholics have made many contributions to science
04:22 — Consolmagno talks about Catholic contributions to science
05:25 — Consolmagno on the unfair trial and Catholicism of Galileo
06:50 — Gregor Mendel, genetics, and many other Jesuit scientists
07:35 — To what does Consolmagno attribute anti-Catholic prejudices?
09:53 — Are there vestiges of anti-Catholicism that remain?
13:45 — Consolmagno’s vision of the Vatican’s work at the Observatory
16:32 — Consolmagno’s work on the physical properties of meteorites
18:30 — The history and significance of the Hubble-Lemaitre law
23:46 — The conservative aspeact of Lemaitre’s work (concordance)
25:38 — Lemaitre corrects the Pope on his understanding of science
27:23 — Stephen Hawking’s inability to differentiate creation and nature
29:20 — Can physics and astronomy be connected to management?
32:11 — What does salvation mean for Consolmagno?
33:14 — Where to learn more about Consolmagno and his work
