Guy Consolmagno



Guy Consolmagno (born September 19, 1952), is an American astronomer, physicist, Jesuit, director of the Vatican Observatory, and co-author of several books on astronomy for a general audience.

Quotes

 * Church officials in the past may have looked with great suspicion on the writings of, say, Teilhard de Chardin; but this same Church did, after all, produce a Teilhard. Even earlier, John Henry Newman was made a cardinal notwithstanding his liberal views. Prominent theologians in every era, going back to the most ancient Church fathers, argued cogently and consistently against a literalist interpretation of scripture. On the other hand, I'm sure you could find closet creationists in the Catholic Church today.


 * Once an idea gets turned into a story, people pay attention long enough to listen. And they'll remember it. The images from Dante are far more vivid than the arguments of Aquinas.


 * Even an atheist has to believe that the concept, at least, of "God" does exist, whether or not that concept is true or useful or the best way to approach things.


 * Something like 10000 meteorites hit Earth a year. Three-quarters land in the ocean. Given how long they last, and how fast they come down, you might expect to see a meteorite roughly every two square kilometers. But in fact, you don't. They're completely lost.


 * Science doesn't stop when it comes up with a nice answer. It looks for more data. It comes up with new ideas. It's willing to admit it's wrong.
 * (quote at 6:38 of 17:52)


 * Science books go out of date. We throw the old one away when a newer one comes out, when we have new theories. But we don't throw away our old data; we merely interpret them differently. New theories try to account for old data (and new data) in new ways.