Annual Report 2003 - Vatican Observatory

VATICAN OBSERVATORYThe Clavius Group of Mathematicians, a communityof Jesuits as well as other religious and laypersons co-founded by Andrew Whitman, S.J., in1963, met 15 July-14 August for its 41st meetingat the Institut des Hautes Études Scientifiques inBures-sur-Yvette, outside Paris.Andrew Whitman, S.J., lectures on Engel’s Theorem tomembers of the Clavius Group of Mathematiciansmeeting outside Paris. (Photo by Pedro Suarez, S.J.,Barry University, Miami Shores, Florida)From 7 to 13 September at Castel Gandolfo the Observatory hosted the Capstone Conferenceof the series “Scientific Perspectives on Divine Action.” The series and the CapstoneConference have been jointly sponsored by the Observatory and the Center forTheology and the Natural Sciences at Berkeley, California. The series of seven conferences,held over a period of fifteen years, has resulted in seven books covering a widerange of topics from quantum cosmology to evolutionary and molecular biology and theneurosciences. The purpose of the 2003 Capstone Conference was to evaluate the seriesand to plan for the future.The Observatory helped to host the meeting of the European Jesuits in Science held inRome 11-14 September. Giuseppe Koch, S.J., organized the local arrangements. CardinalCarlo Maria Martini, S.J., spoke to the group and entertained a discussion on the intellectualapostolate of the Jesuits. The participants visited the Observatory at CastelGandolfo on the evening of 13 September.Presentations and Academic ActivitiesCARUANA • Presented the annual undergraduate course “Philosophy of Science andNature” at the Gregorian University, and also the more advanced course “Science, Natureand God” for second cycle students. • In June, concluded the direction of a doctoralthesis on philosophical issues in the realm of psychosomatic medicine with special referenceto anorexia nervosa. • Gave a paper on “Science and Priestly Formation” at theVIII Conference of European Jesuits in Science, held in Rome 10-14 September.CASANOVAS • On 13 January gave a lecture on “Early and Modern Meridians in Italy.”• On 29 March served on the examining board of a doctoral thesis on solar physics.• On 30 April lectured in the Museo de las Ciencias in Tenerife, Spain. • 5-7 Juneparticipated in a meeting on the history of astronomy at the University of Bari, Italy.30