Special Issues | Inters.org

On the International Year of Quantum Science and Technology

Readings on Quantum Mechanics: An Introduction, by Gabiele Coci

Matter and Light. The New Physics (1937), by Louis de Broglie

The Meaning of Beauty in Exact Natural Science (1970), by Werner Heisenberg

Quantum Mechanics (2002), by John Polkinghorne, from INTERS

Faith and Quantum Theory (2007), by Stephen Barr

Quantum Mechanics. Philosophical and Theological Implications (2019), by Javier Sánchez Cañizares, from INTERS

Articles of Historical Interest

Can Quantum-Mechanical Description of Physical Reality Be Considered Complete? (1935), by A. Einstein, B. Podolski, N. Rosen

On the Einstein Podolsky Rosen Paradox (1964), by J.S. Bell

Experimental Realization of Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen-Bohm Gedankenexperiment: A New Violation of Bell's Inequalities (1982), by A. Aspect, P. Grangier and G. Roger

Moreover…

Pursuing Scientific Humanism. Letters Between Werner Heisenberg and Enrico Cantore, 1967-1976, a forthcoming book edited by Claudio Tagliapietra, INTERS staff

AI Ethics Two Years after ChatGPT

Introduction, by Jeffrey Pawlick

Antiqua et Nova, Notes on the Relationships between Artificial Intelligence and Human Intelligence, Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, Dicastery for Culture and Education (2025)

The AI Dilemma (video), Center for Humane Technology (2023)

The Asilomar AI Principles, Future of Life Institute (2017)

Managing the Risks of Generative AI, Harvard Business Review (2023)

The United Nations Resolution on AI, United Nations General Assembly (2024)

Recommendation on the Ethics of Artificial Intelligence, UNESCO (2021)

AI Thinks. But Do We?, by Riccardo Manzotti (2023)

AI and the Vatican: What AI is and how it can be used, by Giuseppe Tanzella-Nitti (2025)

Peace, Science and development

The Russell-Einstein Manifesto (1954)

The Erice Statement (1982)

Addendum to the Erice Manifesto (2023)

International Science Council State ment on the
occasion of the United Nations International Day
of Living Together in Peace (2024)

Peace: a need inscribed in the heart of human,
from the Compendium of the Social Doctrine
of the Church (2004)

Pope Francis, Address to the Pontifical Academy of Science (2022)

Readings on Freedom of Research

Introduction to readings, by Stefano Oliva

John Henry Newman, Christianity and Scientific Investigation. A Lecture Written for the School of Science (1855)

Michael Polanyi, The foundations of academic freedom (1947)

John Paul II, Address to Scientists and Students in the Cologne Cathedral (1980)

A. Einstein, On Freedom, in Out of my Later Years (1950)

Giuseppe Tanzella-Nitti,The Autonomy of the Sciences and Freedom of Research (2002)

400th Anniversary: Blaise Pascal's birth (1623 - 1662)

Pope Francis, The Grandeur and Misery of Man, Apostolic Letter on the IV Centenary of the Birth

Blaise Pascal and the Youth of the Sixty-Eight, by Giuseppe Tanzella - Nitti

Pascal on Faith and Reason: Thoughts beyond the Wager, by Luca Arcangeli

What was the influence of Blaise Pascal in the development of science in the seventeenth century?, by Luca Granieri

The Inescapable Human Reflection on the Ultimate Questions, from Penseés, nn. 194-195

Truth is known not only with reason, but also with the heart, from Penseés, nn. 282, 245

Pascal's "Memorial"

Genes and culture in human evolution: What Pääbo's work adds to the question

I. Colagè, Introduction: human progressive uniqueness between genes and culture

The Nobel Assembly, The Nobel Prize in Physiology and Medicine to Svante Pääbo, for his discoveries concerning the genomes of extinct hominins and human evolution

The video and the slides of professor Pääbo's Nobel Lecture, where he tells the origin of his research interests, the methods he developed, and the results he achieved with their theoretical and pratical implications

R. Dulbecco, "A Turning Point in Cancer Research: Sequencing the Human Genome", Science, 1986

Th. Dobzhansky and M.F. Ashley Montagu, "Natural Selection and the Mental Capacities of Mankind", Science, 1947

C. Renfrew, The concept of evolution as applied to the development of human cultures, 2009

J. C. Polkinghorne, Mind and matter: A physicist's view, 2009

K. Rahner, The Problem of Evolution as Seen by Theology, 1981

First images from the James Webb Space Telescope: while showing us the depths of the cosmos, they show us the depths of human beings

Today's date of Tuesday, July 12, 2022, is destined to remain for a long time in the memory of scientists as one of the great dates in astrophysics. The first color images and spectroscopic data collected in previous weeks by the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), the new space telescope launched last Dec. 25, 2021, have been released today by NASA, ESA and CSA, respectively the U.S., European and Canadian space agencies.
[Read more]

200 years since the birth of Gregor Mendel (July 20, 1822)

Anna Pelliccia, Johann Gregor Mendel, his cultural environment and legacy

Ivan Colagè, Gregor Mendel and genetics between discovery and "invention", 200 years after his birth

Daniel J. Fairbanks, Mendel and Darwin: untangling a persistent enigma (2020)

Gregor Mendel, a brief portion of an Easter sermon (ca 1867)

Clemens Richter, Remembering Johann Gregor Mendel: a human, a Catholic priest, an Augustinian monk, and abbot (2015)

Gregor Mendel, Experiments in Plant Hybridation (1865)

Gregor Mendel and the History of Genetics (2020), a video by GCSE Biology

On the Human Dimensions of Scientific Knowledge

Introduction to readings, by Giuseppe Tanzella-Nitti

R. Rudner, The Scientist qua Scientist Makes Value Judgments (1953)

M Polanyi, On the Intellectual Passions in Scientific Research (1958)

T. Dobzhansky, Humanism and Humanity (1967)

E. Cantore, The Humanistic Character of Science (1977)

J. Zycinski, Between Mathematics and Transcendence. The Search for the Spiritual Dimension of Scientific Discovery (2005)

Beauty and Wonder in Science

Scientific Beauty and Wonder Everywhere, by Geoffrey Wollard (2021)
The scientific experience of ultimates: Wonder, by E. Cantore (1977)
The meaning of beauty in exact natural science, by W.K. Heisenberg (1970)
Beauty and the quest for beauty in science, by S. Chandrasekhar (1979)

From the INTERS Articles: W. Derske, Beauty

Suggested readings:
Engineering, beauty and a longing for the infinite, by M.A. Mooney, Scientific American (2019)
How beauty is making scientists rethinking evolution, by F. Jabr, The New York Times Magazine (2019)
Truth and beauty in physics and biology, by Ben D. MacArthur, Nature Physics (2021)

In Memory of John C. Polkinghorne (1930-2021)

John Polkinghorne, one of the most active, known and loved personalities in the field of Science and Religion studies, passed away on last March, 9. He was born in Weston-super-Mare, United Kingdom, on October 16, 1930. Templeton Prize in 2002, Polkinghorne was a man of science. Until the age of 50, he had worked in the field of elementary particles as a theoretical physicist. [Read more]

The Human Factor in Science

Readings on the Human Factor in Science: an approach to Scientific Humanism, an introduction by G. Tanzella-Nitti

The scientific experience of knowledge, by E. Cantore (1977)

On the intellectual passion in scientific research, by M. Polanyi (1958)

The two supreme elements in human progress, by R. A. Millikan (1950)

Humanism and humanity, by Th. Dobzhansky (1967)

Science as a culture: A critical appreciation, by C. N. R. Rao (2002)

From the INTERS articles: E. Cantore, Science, The Humanistic Significance of

Science and Faith in the Coronavirus Epoch, by G. Tanzella-Nitti

We are living in an unprecedented time. For nearly all of us, we could compare things to the last world war, with its global reach and extent of the measures taken, as we heard from our grandparents, or in my case from my parents. The whole world is involved. But so is the whole man, the whole person: scientific research, emotions, feelings, relationships, personal beliefs [read more]

George Coyne has left us: a personal remembering

George Coyne, a Jesuit astronomer former Director of the Vatican Observatory from 1978 to 2006, left us on February 11. He died in Syracuse, New York, as a consequence of a cancer contracted years earlier. [Read more]

Science and Theology on the Metaphor of the Book of Nature

Augustine of Hippo (354-430), On the Book of Nature, a selection of quotes

Bonaventure of Bagnoregio (1221-1274), selected texts on the Metaphor

The Understanding of the Book of Nature according to Galileo Galilei (1564- 1642)

Nature as a Book in Robert Boyle's Works (1627-1691)

Book of Nature: Origin and Development of the Metaphor (2019), by Giuseppe Tanzella-Nitti

The Context of the Book of Nature in Patristic and Medieval Theology (2020), by Oskari Juurikkala

Theories of Evolution: the Roots of Recent Developments

Introduction and guide to the proposed readings, by I. Colagè

History of evolution theories, by J. Gayon (2010)

Nicolas Stensen’s Prodromus to a Dissertation concerning Solids Naturally Contained within Solids, by I. Colagè

Natural Selection, by C.R. Darwin (1859)

The Limits of Natural Selection as Applied to Man, by A.R. Wallace (1870)

Natural Selection and the Mental Capacities of Mankind, by Th. Dobzhansky and M.F. Ashley Montagu (Science, 1947)

Excerpt from a Précis of Evolution in Four Dimensions, by E. Jablonka and M.J. Lamb (BBS, 2007)

"Does Evolutionary Theory Need a Rethink?", by K. Laland, G.A. Wray, et al. (Nature, 2014)

October 13th, 2019: Newman among the Saints

J.H. Newman, Christianity and Scientific Investigation. A Lecture Written for the School of Science (1855)

John Henry Newman: when Truth and Conscience smell of Holiness, by G. Tanzella-Nitti

The Heritage of J.H. Newman: an interview with Andrew Pinsent (2019)

J.H. Newman, The Nature of Faith in Relation to Reason (1839)

J.H. Newman, Knowledge Viewed in Relation to Religion (1852)

Benedict XVI, Discourse and Homily for the Beatification of Cardinal John Henry Newman (2010, September 18)

The Works of John Henry Newman on Newman Reader

The International Centre of Newman Friends (Roma-Oxford-Bregenz-Budapest)

On the way to the Moon: memories and documents 50 years later

The Descent of Man on the Moon: Some Historical Images

D. F. Noble, The Ascent of the Saints: Space Exploration (1997)

Von Braun said: "Human space travel is God's will", from an interview by Oriana Fallaci (1965)

Paul VI, General Audience, 23 July 1969

Paul VI, Message delivered to the Astronauts of Apollo 11, July 1969

Jacques Arnould, Astronautics, from INTERS Encyclopedia

Giuseppe Reibaldi, Next Stop in Space: the Moon (2019)

350th Anniversary of Nicolas Stensen (1638-1686) Two Major Works

Nicolas Stensen’ Discourse on The Anatomy of the Brain, by Ivan Colagè

Nicolas Stensen’s Prodromus to a Dissertation concerning Solids Naturally Contained within Solids, by Ivan Colagè

Monuments and Iconography on Niels Stensen

Niels Stensen: A 17th Century Scientist with a Modern View of Brain Organization, by André Parent

The scientific revolution and Nicholas Steno’s twofold conversion, by Gian Battista Vai

Niels Stensen (1638-1686): Scientist, Neuroanatomist, and Saint, by P. Perrini, G. Lanzino, G.F. Parenti

Niels Stensen official website, Catholic Diocese of Copenhagen

IAU members vote a resolution to recommend renaming the Hubble Law as the Hubble-Lemaître law. More information.

400 years from the Discovery of Kepler's Third Law

Kepler's Third Law and the "Harmonices Mundi" by Alessandro Giostra (2018)

Romano Guardini: 50 years from his death

Romano Guardini: a look to the future, by Francisco Fernández Labastida (2018)

March 14, 2018: Stephen Hawking left us

One of the most renowned scientists of the XX century died in Cambridge, by Giuseppe Tanzella Nitti

See the special issue of Nature dedicated to Stephen Hawking

A letter from the PCC Assembly has been delivered to Pope Francis on November 24 2017 requesting the revision of the Monitum (1962) on the works of Pierre Teilhard de Chardin. (Read more)

700 years from the birth of St. Bonaventure

The Philosophy of St. Bonaventure On Creation, Etienne Gilson (1938)

The six forms of Light unified in the unique divine creation, from On the Reduction of the Arts to Theology (1255-1257)

On the Steps of Ascension into God and on the Sight of Him Through His Vestiges in the Universe, from The Journey of the Mind into God (1259)

On the Sight of God in His Vestiges in the Sensible World, from The Journey of the Mind into God (1259)

"The Language of God": on the bestseller book written in 2006 by the head of the Human Genome Project

Selected texts from The Language of God. A Scientist Presents Evidence for Belief:

- What I Ask to Believers and Scientists
- Cristianity's Reasons of Credibility for a Scientist

God vs. Science, R. Dawkins and F. Collins interviewed by D. Cray (2006)

The Scientist as Believer, Francis Collins interviewed by J. Horgan (2009)

What is the BioLogos Project?

Joseph Ratzinger's 90 years: suggested readings between Faith and Reason

Reflections on the Foundations of Law, Visit to the Bundestag, Berlin (2011)

Discourse and Homily for the Beatification of John Henry Newman, London - Birmingham (2010)

Lecture prepared for the visit to the University "La Sapienza", Rome (2008)

Speech delivered at the Catholic University of America, Washington (2008)

The Truth of Christianity, Lecture given at the University of Sorbonne, Paris (1999)

Christmas readings

On the difference between Platonists and Christianity concerning the doctrine of the Logos, Confessions, Book VII, c. 9, Augustine of Hippo (397-400)
The design of God in the incarnation, Sermons, XXII, 1-2, Leo the Great (461)
The Christmas Sun, Hugo Rahner (1963)
He became a man, Benedict XVI (2013)

Einstein and Lemaître: 50° Anniversary of George's Lemaître's death (1849-1966) and 100 years of Albert Einstein's General Relativity (1916)

Einstein and Lemaître, two friends, two cosmologies..., by Dominique Lambert
When I met Albert Einstein, by George Lemaître (1957)
Relativity, theory of, by Alberto Strumia
The Pius XII - Lemaître Affair (1951-1952) on Big Bang and Creation, by G. Tanzella-Nitti
VIDEO - Atv5: Georges Lemaitre, Monseigneur Big Bang

IV Centenary of the Index Congregation's Decree on Heliocentrism (1616)

Congregation for the Index: N. Copernicus' De Revolutionibus "is suspended until corrected", the Official Text of the Decree, March 5, 1616
What about the 1616 Decree? A historical and philosophical comment, by Rafael Martinez
At the roots of the 1616 Decree: Robert Bellarmino's letter to Paolo Foscarini (1615), by Luca Arcangeli
Roman Clouds: on Galileo's third trip to Rome (December 1615 - June 1616), by William R. Shea
Galileo, for Copernicanism and for the Church, a historical report around the publication of the Decree, by Annibale Fantoli (1996)

A Global Lab. Religion among Scientists in International Context.
A survey on the religiosity of scientists provided by the RICE University, Texas, December 2015

The Rainbow between Science and Religion

On the Physics of Rainbow, by Federica Volpi

The Bow in the Clouds: the Biblical Symbolism of the Rainbow, by Filippo Serafini

A Middle Age interpretation of the Rainbow: Robert Grosseteste’s De Iride et Speculo

The Properties of Light to explain the Colours of the Rain-bow, from
I. Newton’s 4th ed. of Opticks (1730)

400° Anniversary of Galileo Galilei’s Letter to Madame Christina of Lorraine (1615)

Galileo Galilei’s Letter to Madame Christina of Lorraine: a reading-guide, by Luca Arcangeli

The full text of the Letter

On the prudence and openness in interpreting sacred Scripture, when biblical passages deal with our knowledge of nature, from Augustine of Hippo, De Genesi ad Litteram (401-405)

The Notion od Scientific Proof in Galileo’s Letter to Christina, from “The Rethoric of Proof in Galileo’s Writings on the Copernican System” (1985), by Jean Dietz Moss