Jesuits as scientists. The enormous impact the Church had on mechanical science.

Ignatius Loyola started the Society of Jesus in the early 16^th century.  Their dedication to science was an early principle and activity.  The list of their accomplishments is impressive and without equal across any civilisation or religious group.  A partial recitation of Jesuit scientific accomplishment includes:

Development and discovery of pendulum clocks; pantographs, barometers, reflecting telescopes, microscopes, magnetism, optics, electricity, astronomy, solar physics, physics in general, Jupiter surface observations, the Andromeda nebulae, Saturn’s rings, lunar effect on tides, moon containing the same material as the Earth, geomagnetism, meteorology, seismology, blood circulation (independent of Harvey), theoretical models to support flight, wave-like nature of light, star maps of the southern hemisphere, symbolic logic, flood controls, plus and minus signs for mathematics, to name a few.

It is well known that the single most important collective contributor to experimental physics in the 17^th century (the ‘Scientific Revolution’) was the Society of Jesus.  Optics, maths, astronomy and many other areas so important to modern life were utterly dominated by Jesuits for centuries.  Massive encyclopaedias were written, recording their data and allowing the spread of scientific research across Europe.  The Jesuits were the main drivers of scientific collaboration.  Charles Bossut in the early 19^th century composed a list of history’s most eminent mathematicians.  Out of the 303 listed, 16 were Jesuits or 5%, even though Jesuits had only existed for 2.5 centuries. 

The Jesuits introduced Western science into China, Japan and India.  In these geographies the Jesuits presented a wide array of mathematical and mechanical tools to better understand physical reality and the universe, including Euclidean geometry which made planetary movements somewhere understandable.  Enormous effort was made to translate the dynamism of Western science into local languages and to teach and offer support for learning to local populations.

Important Jesuit scientists include:  Father Riccioli, the first person to determine the rate of acceleration of a falling body (early 17^th century), and created an enormous encyclopaedia on astronomy (1640); Father Kirchner who built the foremost astronomical departure from Aristotle in history (1651); Fathers Grimaldi and Francesco (17^th century) observations and detailed experiments of pendulums, and Grimaldi and Riccioli’s accurate moon scape depictions; Father Grimaldi’s discovery of light refraction; Father Roger Boscovich who was a polymath accomplished in atomic theory, optics, maths, and astronomy who discovered sunspots, the transit of mercury, differing effects of gravity on different places on Earth amongst many other achievements; and Father Cassini who confirmed elliptical orbits (17^th century).  This is just a small list of some prominent Jesuits in Science. 

Few know much if anything about the above facts.  The Catholic Church put more money and investment into science, than any other institution in history.  Without this funding and support modern science would not have developed.  The Jesuits played a vital role in all of this.