The Jesuit and the Skull, Amir D. Aczel
The Jesuit and the Skull, Amir D. Aczel
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The Jesuit and the Skull
Teilhard de Chardin, Evolution, and the Search for Peking Man

Author: Amir D. Aczel

Narrator: Barrett Whitener

Unabridged: 8 hr 2 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Tantor Media

Published: 10/15/2007


Synopsis

In December 1929, in a cave near Peking, a group of anthropologists and archaeologists that included a young French Jesuit priest named Pierre Teilhard de Chardin uncovered a prehuman skull. The find quickly became known around the world as Peking Man and was acclaimed as the missing link between erect hunting apes and our Cro-Magnon ancestors. It also became a provocative piece of evidence in the roiling debate over creationism versus evolution.

For Teilhard, both a scientist and a man of God, the discovery also exposed a deeply personal conflict between the new science and his faith. He was commanded by his superiors to deny all scientific evidence that went against biblical teachings, and his writing and lectures were censored by the Vatican. But his curiosity and desire to find connections between scientific and spiritual truth kept him investigating man's origins. His inner struggle and, in turn, his public rebuke by the Catholic Church personified one of the central debates of our time: How to reconcile an individual's commitment to science and his commitment to his faith.

In The Jesuit and the Skull, bestselling author Amir D. Aczel vividly recounts the discovery of Peking Man, its repercussions, and how Teilhard de Chardin's scientific work helped to open the eyes of the world to new theories of humanity's origins that alarmed the traditionalists within the Church. A deft mix of narrative history and a poignant personal story, The Jesuit and the Skull brings fresh insight to a debate that still rages today.

About Amir D. Aczel

Amir D. Aczel is the author of fourteen books, including the international bestseller Fermat's Last Theorem, The Riddle of the Compass, and The Mystery of the Aleph. An internationally known writer of mathematics and science, he is a visiting scholar in the Department of the History of Science at Harvard University, an affiliate professor at the University Of New Hampshire, a research fellow at Boston University, and a Guggenheim fellow.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Donna on January 07, 2008

When I was a child, the enlightened nuns in my elementary school taught evolution and maintained that there is no conflict between the truths of science and those of religion. I was out of high school before I realized that there are people who believe that the Bible should be taken literally. About......more

Goodreads review by Rebekah on December 20, 2020

Pierre Tielhard de Chardin fascinates me. I had seen his name come up throughout my time learning about the history of paleoanthropology, but I only vaguely knew that he was religious. The Jesuit and the Skull explains the relationship between religion and science in Tielhard’s life. Read more: https......more

Goodreads review by Ramon4 on September 24, 2019

Interesting little book about Tellhard de Chardin, a French Jesuit priest and his anthropological work on the Peking Man. Picked this up at the books store as it seemed interesting, a Jesuit priest working on the bones of an extinct early man. I have not heard of de Chardin before but he appears to......more

Goodreads review by Rick on February 17, 2021

This book seemed like two story threads looking for a single niche. The first part of the book is essentially a recounting of the theory of evolution, from early fossil discoveries all the way through the find of Peking Man - the "missing link". The second part part of the book tries to fold the con......more

Goodreads review by Erik on May 29, 2017

Picked this up at The Church Mouse resale shop in Sonoma, CA, figuring to read it on the flight home. Actually started it weeks later having been distracted by other texts. Tried reading Teilhard years ago but found his attempt to correlate evolutionary theory with theology to be unconvincing. This b......more