The Jesuit and the Skull: Teilhard de Chardin, Evolution, and the Search for Peking Man by Amir D. Aczel

From the Publisher

In The Jesuit and the Skull, bestselling author Amir D. Aczel vividly recounts how the discovery of Peking Man by, among others, a young Jesuit priest named Pierre Teilhard de Chardin 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.

Scott Vieira - Library Journal

Best-selling science author Aczel (Fermat's Last Theorem) returns with the story of a modern-day Galileo. Paleontologist and Jesuit Pierre Teilhard de Chardin spent his life searching for fossils of early man and developing a theology that attempted to resolve any conflict with evolution. Aczel's story focuses on the role Teilhard played in the 1929 discovery of Peking Man, an early ancestor of modern man. Aczel interweaves this remarkable find with Teilhard's close and difficult relationship with sculptor Lucille Swan, the Catholic church's censorship of his writings, and his exile to China. Aczel provides insights into Teilhard's personality by evoking questions about his tireless loyalty: he often sacrificed his career, his personal fulfillment, and work for vows to a church that continually disowned him. Additionally, Aczel supplies a helpful introduction to paleoanthropology and a recent update about the search for the lost Peking Man fossils, which disappeared in China during World War II. Unfortunately, Aczel only hints at Teilhard's unique theology, never providing a full explanation of how he might have resolved the conflict between his science and his faith. Still, recommended for academic and public libraries. [See Prepub Alert, LJ6/1/07.]

Kirkus Reviews

A priest/paleontologist's fraught efforts to reconcile the theory of evolution with his faith. Aczel (The Artist and the Mathematician: The Story of Nicolas Bourbaki, the Genius Mathematician Who Never Existed, 2006, etc.) doesn't bother much with biographical detail in this proficient account of Teilhard de Chardin's role in the international quest for a "missing link" that would demonstrate the evolutionary ties between apes and humans. Ordained in 1911, Chardin did not believe that his devout Catholicism required him to ignore the period's rapid advances in science. He had experienced those advances firsthand as a participant in exciting fossil discoveries in Egypt, in French caves and on digs in China with Rockefeller-funded fossil-hunter Davidson Black. The new field of paleoanthropology was emerging, Aczel shows, driven by discoveries of the fossils of three hominids inhabiting the world at overlapping periods: Homo sapiens (Cro-Magnon Man), Homo neanderthalensis (Neanderthal) and Homo erectus (Java Man). A spectacular example of erectus was discovered in 1929 by Chardin and the David crew in China's Zhoukoudian caves. There they unearthed the fossil dubbed Peking Man-"as typical a link between man and the apes as one could wish for," the priest wrote exultantly. (This vital find, along with many other fossils, vanished in 1941 during the Japanese occupation of China.) Chardin extensively considered the relationship of science and religion in his books, which attempted to prove that "God works through evolutionary processes to propel humanity ever forward." His ideas continually got him into trouble with his Jesuit superiors, who essentially exiled him to America. Aczel manipulatesan enormous amount of material in an orderly fashion, and his admiration for Chardin's humanity is evident. No-frills intellectual history for the lay reader.

What People Are Saying

Ian Tattersall
"An absorbing read [and] deeply moving personal story that sheds light on a now-vanished world."--(Ian Tattersall, curator in the Division of Anthropology of the American Museum of Natural History and author of Human Origins)

Ofer Bar-Yosef
"The fascinating story of the tumultuous life of Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, The Jesuit and the Skull is also an object lesson in how to reconcile one's religious beliefs with the study of evolution. Amir D. Aczel skillfully brings to life the struggles and achievements of this legendary scientist, and he tells a very human tale with great insight and compassion."--(Professor Ofer Bar-Yosef, Department of Anthropology, Harvard University)

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