{{Short description|Hungarian-American priest-theologian and theoretical physicist (1924–2009)}} {{Infobox scientist | name = Stanley Jaki | image = Father Jaki June 2007.jpg | image_size = 180px | birth_name = Stanley L. Jaki | birth_date = {{birth date|1924|8|17|df=y}} | birth_place = {{nowrap|[[Győr]], [[Kingdom of Hungary (1920–1946)|Hungary]]}} | death_date = {{death date and age|2009|4|7|1924|8|17|df=y}} | death_place = [[Madrid]], [[Spain]] | field = [[Physics]], [[Philosophy of Science]] | work_institutions = [[Seton Hall University]]<br>[[Pontifical Atheneum of St. Anselm]]<br>[[Stanford University]], [[UC Berkeley]], [[Princeton University]] and [[Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton]] | alma_mater = {{unbulleted list |[[Pontifical Athenaeum of Saint Anselm]] (STD, 1950) | [[Fordham University]] (PhD, 1957)}} | doctoral_advisor = [[Victor Hess]] | known_for = | prizes = [[Templeton Prize]] (1987) | honorific_prefix = The Reverend Doctor | honorific_suffix = [[Benedictine Order|OSB]] }}
'''Stanley L. Jaki''' {{post-nominals|post-noms=[[Order of Saint Benedict|OSB]]}} (Jáki Szaniszló László; 17 August 1924 – 7 April 2009)<ref name=NYTObit>{{cite news|title=The Rev. Stanley L. Jaki, Physicist and Theologian, Dies at 84|first=Bruce|last=Weber|date=April 12, 2009|access-date=April 13, 2009|work=[[The New York Times]]|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/13/nyregion/13jaki.html}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.shu.edu/news/article/152011 |title=Death of Rev. Stanley Jaki - News & Events - Seton Hall University |access-date=2009-05-03 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090411091617/http://www.shu.edu/news/article/152011 |archive-date=2009-04-11 }}</ref> was a [[Hungary|Hungarian]]-born priest of the [[Benedictines|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 Lemaître]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.shu.edu/arts-sciences/news/father-stanley-jaki-a-great-mind-that-shaped-the-world.cfm|title=Professor Named One of Five Catholic Scientists that 'Shaped our Understanding of the World' - Seton Hall University|website=www.shu.edu|date=June 2018 |access-date=2019-03-11}}</ref>
==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.<ref>{{cite web|archive-date=April 4, 2025 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20250404191516/https://www.shu.edu/physics/jaki.html |title=Father Stanley L. Jaki, O.S.B |url=https://www.shu.edu/physics/jaki.html |url-status=live |website=Seaton Hall University}}<!-- auto-translated from unknown (Italian or Spanish) by Module:CS1 translator --></ref><ref>{{cite web|archive-date=April 4, 2025 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20250404191807/https://now.fordham.edu/for-the-press/rams-in-the-news-shohei-ohtani-what-it-means-that-the-new-face-of-mlb-is-asian/ |title=Oppenheimer lived in the confines of mystery |url=https://www.exaudi.org/it/oppenheimer-viveva-nei-confini-del-mistero/ |url-status=live |website=[[Fordham University]]|date=8 December 2023 }}<!-- auto-translated from unknown (Italian or Spanish) by Module:CS1 translator --></ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://disf.org/editoriali/2024-10|title=Stanley Yaki|language=it|author=don Giuseppe Tanzella Nitti|work=Dizionario Italiano di Scienza e Fede}}</ref> He also did post-doctoral research in [[Philosophy of Science]] at [[Stanford University]], [[University of California, Berkeley|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 Lectures|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 [[theory of everything|theories of everything (TOE)]] in theoretical physics.<ref>Cf. Jaki's "[http://www.u.arizona.edu/~aversa/misc/A%20Late%20Awakening%20to%20G%c3%b6del%20in%20Physics.pdf A Late Awakening to Gödel in Physics]"</ref> Gödel's theorem states that any [[theory (mathematical logic)|theory]] that includes certain basic facts of number theory and is [[recursively enumerable set|computably enumerable]] will be either incomplete or [[inconsistent]]. Since any 'theory of everything' must be consistent, it also must be incomplete.
{{quote|text=It is on the ultimate success of such a quest [for a TOE] that Gödel's theorem casts the shadow of judicious doubt. It seems on the strength of Gödel's theorem that the ultimate foundations of the bold symbolic constructions of mathematical physics will remain embedded forever in that deeper level of thinking characterized both by the wisdom and by the haziness of analogies and intuitions. For the speculative physicist this implies that there are limits to the precision of certainty, that even in the pure thinking of theoretical physics there is a boundary present, as in all other fields of speculations.|author=Jaki, S.L.|source=''The Relevance of Physics'', 1966. Chicago Press. p. 129.}}
==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]].<ref>[http://www.shu.edu/news/article/152011 Death of Rev. Stanley L. Jaki, O.S.B.] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090411091617/http://www.shu.edu/news/article/152011 |date=2009-04-11 }}</ref>
==Bibliography== *{{Cite book| publisher = Herder| last = Jaki| first = Stanley L., O.S.B.| title = Les tendances nouvelles de l'ecclesiologie| location = Roma| series = Bibliotheca academiæ catholicæ hungaricæ: Sectio philosophico-theologica| date = 1957| url = https://isidore.co/calibre/#book_id=7081&panel=book_details}} *1966. ''The Relevance of Physics''. [[University of Chicago Press]].<ref>{{cite journal|author=Flatté, Stanley M.|authorlink=Stanley M. Flatté|title=Review: ''Symmetries and Reflections'' by Eugene P. Wigner and ''The Relevance of Physics'' by Stanley Jacki|journal=Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists|date=March 1968|pages= 28–30|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KwcAAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA28}}</ref> *1969. ''Brain, Mind and Computers''. [[Herder publishers|Herder & Herder]]. *1969. ''The Paradox of Olbers' Paradox''. Herder & Herder. *1973. ''The Milky Way: an Elusive Road for Science''. New York: [[Science History Publications]]. *1974. ''Science and Creation: From Eternal Cycles to an Oscillating Universe''. Edinburgh: [[Scottish Academic Press]]. *1978. ''Planets and Planetarians. A History of Theories of the Origin of Planetary Systems''. John Wiley & Edinburgh: Scottish Academic Press. *1978. ''The Road of Science and the Ways to God''. Univ. of Chicago Press, and Edinburgh: Scottish Academic Press. {{ISBN|0-226-39145-0}} *1978. ''The Origin of Science and the Science of its Origins''. Scottish Academic Press. *1980. ''Cosmos and Creator''. Scottish Academic Press. {{ISBN|0-7073-0285-4}} *1983. ''Angels, Apes and Men''. La Salle IL: Sherwood, Sugden & Co. {{ISBN|0-89385-017-9}} *1984. ''Uneasy Genius. The Life and Work of [[Pierre Duhem]]''. The Hague/Boston: [[Martinus Nijhoff Publishers]]. *1986. ''Chesterton, a Seer of Science''. [[University of Illinois Press]]. *1986. ''Lord Gifford and His Lectures. A Centenary Retrospective''. Edinburgh: Scottish Academis Press, and Macon, GA.: [[Mercer University Press]]. *1986. ''Chance or Reality and Other Essays''. Lanham, MD: University Press of America & [[Intercollegiate Studies Institute]]. *1987. ''The Keys of the Kingdom: A Tool's Witness to Truth''. Chicago, IL: Franciscan Herald Press. {{ISBN|978-0819908988}} *1988. ''The Absolute Beneath the Relative and Other Essays''. Lanham, MD: University Press of America & [[Intercollegiate Studies Institute]]. *2000 (1988). ''The Savior of Science''. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company; Grand Rapids. {{ISBN|0-8028-4772-2}} *1989. ''Miracles and Physics''. Front Royal. VA.: [[Christendom Press]]. {{ISBN|0-931888-70-0}} *1989. ''God and the Cosmologists''. Regnery Gateway Inc.; Edinburgh: Scottish Academic Press. **''The Purpose of it All'' *1990. ''The Only Chaos and Other Essays''. Lanham MD: University Press of America & [[Intercollegiate Studies Institute]]. *1991. ''Scientist and Catholic, An Essay on Pierre Duhem''. Front Royal VA: Christendom Press. *1994. ''Patterns or Principals and Other Essays''. ISBN 978-1882926091. *1998 (1992) '' Genesis 1 Through the Ages''. Edinburgh: Scottish Academic Press. *1996. ''Bible And Science''. Front Royal, VA: Christendom Press. {{ISBN|0-931888-63-8}} *1999. ''God and the Sun at Fatima''. Royal Oak, MI: Real View Books. {{oclc|42267032}} *2000. ''The Limits of a Limitless Science and Other Essays''. [[Intercollegiate Studies Institute]]. {{ISBN|1-882926-46-3}} *2000. ''Christ and science''. Real View Books. *2001. ''Praying the Psalms, A Commentary'', Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company: Grand Rapids, {{ISBN|978-0802847713}} *2002. ''A Mind's Matter: An Intellectual Autobiography.'' Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company: Grand Rapids. {{ISBN|0-8028-3960-6}} *2004. ''And On This Rock: Witness Of One Land & Two Covenants.'' Front Royal, VA: Christendom Press. {{ISBN|0-931888-68-9}} *2008. ''Hail Mary, full of grace: A Commentary''. New Hope, KY: Real View Books. {{ISBN|978-1-892539-06-9}} *{{Cite book| publisher = Real View Books| isbn = 978-1-892539-25-0| last = Jaki| first = Stanley L., O.S.B.| others = Caterino Tommaso, T.O.P. (trans.)| title = New Trends in Ecclesiology| location = New Hope, Ky.| date = 2021 | url = https://www.realviewbooks.com/product-page/new-trends-in-ecclesiology-11027}} ([https://isidore.co/calibre/get/PDF/8873 PDF], [https://isidore.co/calibre/get/EPUB/8873 EPUB]) *2024. ''Christ and Science and Other Essays''. Asociación Española Ciencia y Cultura. {{ISBN|979-83-25544-59-0}}
== See also == * [[List of Christian thinkers in science]] * [[List of Roman Catholic scientist-clerics]]
== References ==
{{Reflist}}
==External links== *A selection re Jaki from Haffner, Paul, 1996 (Spring), "[http://www.columbia.edu/cu/augustine/a/science_origin.html The Pope's Physicist]," ''Sursum Corda'' 66–73. *[http://www.sljaki.com/ Web page maintained by Father Jaki's publisher.]<!-- *[http://pirate.shu.edu/~jakistan/ Website] devoted to Jaki's work. --> *[http://www.isi.org/bios/bio.aspx?id=75339484-78d5-49fe-aeda-b19ee4bf9f34&source=Books&select=true&detail=1 Archive of Stanley Jaki articles at Intercollegiate Studies Institute] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130823204917/http://www.isi.org/bios/bio.aspx?id=75339484-78d5-49fe-aeda-b19ee4bf9f34&source=Books&select=true&detail=1 |date=2013-08-23 }}" *[http://www.asa3.org/ASA/PSCF/1972/JASA3-72Jaki.html "Brain, Mind and Computers"]. Stanely L. Jaki. ''JASA'' 24 (March 1972): 12–17. (Peer-review commentary from [[Richard H. Bube]]). *[http://www.asa3.org/ASA/PSCF/1972/JASA9-72Jaki.html "No Other Options"]. Stanely L. Jaki. ''JASA'' 24 (September 1972): 127. (Response to R.H.Bube's commentary.) {{Templeton Prize Laureates}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jaki, Stanley}} [[Category:1924 births]] [[Category:2009 deaths]] [[Category:People from Győr]] [[Category:American Benedictines]] [[Category:Fordham University alumni]] [[Category:Stanford University people]] [[Category:University of California, Berkeley fellows]] [[Category:Fellows of Balliol College, Oxford]] [[Category:Yale University fellows]] [[Category:Princeton University people]] [[Category:Anselmianum alumni]] [[Category:Historians of science]] [[Category:Catholic clergy scientists]] [[Category:Members of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences]] [[Category:Templeton Prize laureates]] [[Category:Seton Hall University faculty]] [[Category:Hungarian emigrants to the United States]] [[Category:20th-century American Roman Catholic priests]] [[Category:Hungarian expatriates in Italy]] [[Category:Hungarian expatriates in England]] [[Category:Hungarian expatriates in Scotland]]