The Jesuit and the Skull: Teilhard de Chardin, Evolution, and the Search for Peking Man Book

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...

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.]