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Rare U.S. visit
for noted physicist- priest
Sir John Polkinghorne, winner of the prestigious Templeton
Prize and a prominent authority on the intersection of religion
and science , delivered two public talks at the College this
fall, during a rare speaking trip to the United States .
The lectures, “Science and the Soul” and “Ethical
Problems in Human Genetics,” were delivered on successive
nights in the Rehm Library at Smith Hall. In addition to
his lectures, Polkinghorne met informally with students and
faculty in classrooms.
A world-class physicist turned priest, Polkinghorne began
his scientific career as a student at Trinity College, Cambridge,
where he studied under Nobel Prize-winning physicist Paul
Dirac. After earning his Ph.D. in 1955, Polkinghorne taught
mathematical physics at Edinburgh and subsequently returned
to Cambridge, where he held the prestigious post of Professor
of Mathematical Physics. In 1979, he resigned his professorship
to train for the Anglican priesthood, a move that bewildered
many of his scientist colleagues.
A Canon Theologian of Liverpool Cathedral and fellow of
the Royal Society and of Queen’s College, Cambridge―where
he served as president from 1989-96―Polkinghorne was
knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in 1997 for distinguished
service to science, religion, learning and medical ethics.
In 2002, he was awarded the Templeton Prize for Progress
Toward Research or Discoveries about Spiritual Realities,
the world’s largest and best-known annual monetary
religion prize. Founded by philanthropist Sir John Templeton
in 1972, the award is worth about $1 million.
Polkinghorne has published a series of books exploring
the interconnectedness of religion and science. His best
known works include The Way the World Is (1983),
The Faith of a Physicist (1984), and Belief in God in an
Age of Science (1998).
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