Guest Speaker: Br. Guy Consolmagno, Vatican Observatory

Is there a particularly “Jesuit” form of science? From Acosta’s work in the New World to modern research at the Vatican Observatory, we’ll look at the work of a number of Jesuit scientists through history and see how what they did, and why they did it, was colored and influenced by Ignatian Spirituality as seen in the Spiritual Exercises.

Please join us at 7:00pm outside the Hewlett Center for light refreshments, hosted by the Bay Area Chapter of the Society of Catholic Scientists (SCS). The presentation will start promptly at 7:30pm and will be followed by a Q&A.

Brother Guy Consolmagno SJ is an astronomer, physicist, religious brother, director of the Vatican Observatory, and President of the Vatican Observatory Foundation. 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. After spending two years in Nairobi with the US Peace Corps, he joined the Society of Jesus 1989. He studied philosophy and theology at Loyola University Chicago, before being assigned to the Vatican Observatory, where has served since 1993.

Br. Consolmagno’s research explores the connections between meteorites and asteroids, and the origin and evolution of small bodies in the solar system. In 2000 he was honored by the International Astronomical Union for his contributions to the study of meteorites and asteroids with the naming of asteroid 4597 Consolmagno. In 2014, he was awarded the Carl Sagan Medal by the American Astronomical Society for outstanding communication of planetary science to the public.