Overview
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.
Full Product Details
Author: Amir D Aczel ,
Barrett Whitener
Publisher: Tantor Audio
Imprint: Tantor Audio
ISBN: 9798200141371
Publication Date: 15 October 2007
Audience:
General/trade
,
General
Format: Audio
Publisher's Status: Active
Availability: Available To Order
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Reviews
"By making the discovery of evolution and its verifying evidence into a fun story, both author and narrator lighten education with entertainment.-- ""AudioFile"" ""[Aczel] writes elegantly and accessibly about the history of science...An important work of historical excavation."" -- ""Boston Globe"" ""[A] superb story."" -- ""Los Angeles Times"" ""A remarkable subject. Pierre Teilhard de Chardin (1881-1956) succeeded in melding his life as a Jesuit priest and as a scientist at a time when the Catholic Church denied that such a thing was either possible or desirable."" -- ""Publishers Weekly"" ""Exiled from France, forbidden to publish on evolution, denied prestigious academic appointments, Teilhard suffered mightily for his conviction. Aczel...is such a good storyteller, that I was caught up in the scientific discovery and taken by the personal anguish of this remarkable priest."" -- ""Cleveland Plain Dealer"""
Author Information
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. Barrett Whitener has been narrating audiobooks since 1992. His recordings have won several awards, including the prestigious Audie Award and numerous Earphones Awards. AudioFile magazine has named him one of the Best Voices of the Century.
