Stanley Jaki Explained

Stanley Jaki
Birth Name:Stanley L. Jaki
Birth Date:17 August 1924
Death Place:Madrid, Spain
Nationality:Hungary, United States
Field:Physics, Philosophy of Science
Work Institutions:Seton Hall University
Pontifical Atheneum of St. Anselm
Stanford University, UC Berkeley, Princeton University and Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton
Alma Mater:Fordham University
Doctoral Advisor:Victor Hess
Prizes:Templeton Prize (1987)
Honorific Prefix:The Reverend Doctor
Honorific Suffix:OSB

Stanley L. Jaki (Jáki Szaniszló László) (17 August 1924 – 7 April 2009)[1] [2] was a Hungarian-born priest of the Benedictine order. From 1975 to his death, he was Distinguished University Professor at Seton Hall University, in South Orange, New Jersey.

He held doctorates in theology and in physics and was a leading contributor to the philosophy of science and the history of science, particularly to their relationship to Christianity. In 2018, Jaki was named one of five Catholic scientists "that shaped our understanding of the world" by Aleteia; the other four are: Copernicus, Gregor Mendel, Giuseppe Mercalli and Georges Lemaitre.[3]

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 in Rome (1950) and in physics from Fordham University (1958), where he studied under the Nobel laureate Victor Hess, the co-discoverer of cosmic rays. He also did post-doctoral research in Philosophy of Science at Stanford University, UC Berkeley, Princeton University and Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton.

Research

Jaki authored more than two dozen books on the relation between modern science and Christianity. He was Fremantle Lecturer at Balliol College, Oxford (1977), Hoyt Fellow at Yale University (1980) and Farmington Institute Lecturer at Oxford University (1988–1989). He was the Gifford Lecturer at Edinburgh University in 1974–1975 and 1975–1976. In 1987, he was awarded the Templeton Prize 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.[4] Gödel's theorem states that any theory that includes certain basic facts of number theory and is computably enumerable will be either incomplete or inconsistent. Since any 'theory of everything' must be consistent, it also must be incomplete.

Death

Jaki died in Madrid following a heart attack. He was in Spain visiting friends, on his way back to the United States after delivering lectures in Rome, for the Master in Faith and Science of the Pontifical Athenaeum Regina Apostolorum.[5]

Bibliography

See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. News: The Rev. Stanley L. Jaki, Physicist and Theologian, Dies at 84. Bruce. Weber. April 12, 2009. April 13, 2009. The New York Times.
  2. Web site: Death of Rev. Stanley Jaki - News & Events - Seton Hall University . 2009-05-03 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20090411091617/http://www.shu.edu/news/article/152011 . 2009-04-11 .
  3. Web site: Professor Named One of Five Catholic Scientists that 'Shaped our Understanding of the World' - Seton Hall University. www.shu.edu. June 2018 . 2019-03-11.
  4. Cf. Jaki's "A Late Awakening to Gödel in Physics"
  5. http://www.shu.edu/news/article/152011 Death of Rev. Stanley L. Jaki, O.S.B.
  6. Flatté, Stanley M.. Stanley M. Flatté. Review: Symmetries and Reflections by Eugene P. Wigner and The Relevance of Physics by Stanley Jacki. Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists. March 1968. 28–30.

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