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STEM-Talk

Episode 2: Br. Guy Consolmagno: The Vatican Astronomer

STEM-Talk

Dawn Kernagis and Ken Ford

Natural Sciences, Alternative Health, Science, Health & Fitness, Nutrition

4.7706 Ratings

🗓️ 8 March 2016

⏱️ 58 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Guy Consolmagno is not your typical scientist. The director of Vatican Observatory is also a Jesuit Brother, astronomer extraordinaire, MIT graduate, former Peace Corp volunteer and self-described science fiction geek. The second-generation Italian-American, born in Detroit, now divides his time between the Vatican Observatory in Italy and the Mount Graham International Observatory in Tucson, Arizona. In 2014, Brother Guy received the Carl Sagan Medal from the American Astronomical Society for his unique position as a scientist and man of faith, and he believes firmly that the scientific and spiritual inquiry are more complementary than conflictual. Consolmagno is the author of several books about astronomy, and science and faith, including most recently, "Would You Baptize an Extra-terrestrial?" He also authored "God's Mechanics: How Scientists and Engineers Make Sense of Religion," and gave a lecture at IHMC on that topic. That lecture can be found on YouTube at https://youtu.be/MJGsdY2bcsk In another IHMC lecture, Brother Guy discusses "Discarded Worlds: Astronomical Ideas that Were Almost Correct": https://youtu.be/Gr0R5oiIoak Brother Guy writes for a blog called the Catholic Astronomer, which can be found at www.vofoundation.org/blog STEM-Talk co-host Tom Jones, a former NASA astronaut who shares Brother Guy's love of astronomy—as well as the same MIT thesis advisor, John Lewis—interviews Brother Guy about his life-long journey to understand the universe and the role of faith in that pursuit.

Transcript

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0:00.0

I don't always listen to podcasts, but when I do, I listen to STEM talk, interviewing the most interesting people in the world of science and technology.

0:14.2

Stay curious, my friends.

0:23.6

Welcome to STEM Talk. Stem Talk.

0:24.6

Stem Talk.

0:25.6

Stem talk.

0:26.6

Welcome to STEM Talk, where we introduce you to fascinating people who passionately

0:31.6

inhabit the scientific and technical frontiers of our society.

0:35.6

Today our colleague Tom Jones will interview Brother Guy Consul Magno.

0:39.8

Brother Guy, as he likes to be called, was a slam dunk, no-brainer, unanimous choice of the

0:45.8

double secret selection committee. This august group votes to determine which guests are privileged

0:51.8

to appear on STEM Talk. So, Ken, tell me how many votes were cast in this election?

0:57.2

Just one, but it was unanimous.

0:59.5

It's a rather small and focused group.

1:02.0

So Brother Guy is in no particular order, a Jesuit brother, a scientist, an MIT graduate,

1:07.8

a Peace Corps volunteer, a professor, a science fiction geek, and last but not

1:12.6

least, the director of the Vatican Observatory.

1:14.6

The Vatican Observatory, originally in Rome, is now headquartered at Castel Gandalfa,

1:20.6

right outside of Rome. It's actually the Pope's summer residence.

1:24.6

A few years back, Nancy and I visited Brother Guy at Castel

1:29.4

Gandalfo. He was generous with his time, and I can assure you, Castel Gandalfo is not

1:35.4

a hardship duty station.

1:36.9

So it's obvious that religion is a central part of Brother Guy's life, but so is technology,

...

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