February 21, 2023

No doubt we can all remember individuals who, while they were not a big part of their lives, have had a profound influence on us nonetheless.  For me, one such person was a Jesuit priest and scientist, Prof. George Coyne, S.J. (Society of Jesus).  This essay commemorates him on the third anniversary of his death.

‘); googletag.cmd.push(function () { googletag.display(‘div-gpt-ad-1609268089992-0’); }); }

From the late 1970s until 1981, I was pursuing a Ph.D. in chemistry at Georgetown University and, like many grad students, I was close to my mentor, who was as much a father figure as a teacher. Occasionally, after teaching or a committee meeting, he would come back to the lab and invite me to lunch with him in the Jesuit dining room, a formal, wood-paneled hall where conversations were in whispered tones instead of the raucous give-and-take on the rest of campus.  Also, the food was a bit better than on the rest of campus (the Jesuits took good care of themselves, vows of poverty notwithstanding). He would say that the old Jesuits were real characters and that it would be fun.

In the dining room, my mentor would hang his jacket, hat, umbrella, etc., in the cloakroom (he was a real preppie and dressed the part). I, being a poor grad student, had nothing to leave, so I just sat down. Whenever we left the dining room, my mentor would find something missing. Hat, gloves, scarf, whatever. It wasn’t that the old priests were kleptomaniacs but, during lunch, the wine (and even more potent spirits) would flow freely. These old guys would stumble back to their offices feeling no pain, often wearing something they hadn’t come in with. It became a running joke: What would he lose this time?

Image: Rev. Dr. Coyne by the Vatican Observatory Foundation. CC BY-SA 3.0.

I got to meet some interesting people. Robert Drinan, S.J., was an elected member of Congress from Massachusetts, known mainly for opposing the Vietnam War and not being politically pro-life, along with numerous other all too left-of-center viewpoints. Yet, he was an interesting person and a gentleman. Another was Charles Currie, S.J., who was a chemistry prof at Georgetown before assuming the presidencies of Wheeling Jesuit and Xavier Universities. But the one I remember most was George Coyne, S.J., an occasional visitor to campus, who died on February 11, 2020, at 87 years old.

‘); googletag.cmd.push(function () { googletag.display(‘div-gpt-ad-1609270365559-0’); }); }

Prof. Coyne earned a Ph.D. in astronomy at Georgetown in 1962 with a spectral study of the lunar surface. I recall that there were white-domed observatories on the Georgetown campus, but I was not aware that they were actually used until I became acquainted with Coyne’s work. Early on, I really thought they were simply quaint artifacts of the past. In fact, they were put to some good use, and my fellow grad students and I would often visit them.

While I do not intend to write a biographical sketch of Prof. Coyne, some background is important. He received a B.S. in mathematics (and a licentiate in philosophy) from Fordham in 1958 before beginning his time at Georgetown. He then did postdoctoral studies at Harvard and the University of Scranton. Most of his career was spent on the faculty of the University of Arizona (Lunar and Planetary Observatory, UA-LPO) while also serving as director of the Vatican Astronomical Observatory (1978 – 2006).

The Vatican Observatory has long been affiliated with UA. You might be curious as to why a church would have an observatory. Well, the Catholic Church had been the historical keeper of the solar calendar for centuries (the Gregorian calendar). Of course, we now have modern means to sync to the solar calendar, but the observatory remains an important scientific endeavor. The Vatican observatory has usually been headed and staffed by Jesuits; indeed, ten have had asteroids named for them, including Coyne.

I was fortunate to have heard Prof. Coyne speak once in person at a seminar (the many other times I heard him were via video). I want to relate just two of the lessons he taught that have played an important part in my life as a scientist.

It’s Only a Theory:

During a discussion with the evolutionary biologist and noted atheist Richard Dawkins, the topic of evolution vs. creation arose. Many know Richard Dawkins as an often combative and sarcastic debater. While he can usually keep his composure, he will occasionally descend to a level of borderline personal invective that makes his arguments less persuasive.