Pierre Teilhard de Chardin SJ was a French philosopher and Jesuit priest who trained as a paleontologist and geologist and took part in the discovery of Peking Man. He conceived the idea of the Omega Point and developed Vladimir Vernadsky's concept of noosphere. Many of Teilhard's writings were censored by the Catholic Church during his lifetime because of his views on original sin. However, in July 2009, Vatican spokesman Fr. Federico Lombardi said: "By now, no one would dream of saying that [Teilhard] is a heterodox author who shouldn?t be studied." and he has been praised by Pope Benedict XVI. Teilhard de Chardin's paleontological work is uncontroversial amongst scientists, but his evolutionary theorizing is today generally disparaged. Steven Rose wrote that "Teilhard is revered as a mystic of genius by some, but amongst most biologists is seen as little more than a charlatan." [More at Wikipedia]

May 1st, 1881 in Orcines  /  Died:   Apr 10th, 1955