The website of the Interdisciplinary Encyclopedia of Religion and Science is edited by the Advanced School for Interdisciplinary Research (ADSIR), operating at the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross, Rome, and directed by Giuseppe Tanzella-Nitti. The documents and services presented are intended to meet the growing need for qualified and accurate information on the relationship between theology, philosophy and scientific thought. The website is principally addressed to those who teach in schools and universities, promote pastoral initiatives for the Christian evangelization of culture, or those who are interested in the interdisciplinary aspects of scientific research.
Staff
Full professor of Fundamental Theology, Pontifical University of the Holy Cross, Rome. Formerly: CNR researcher in Radioastronomy, Bologna, and Astronomer at the Observatory of Turin. Editor in Chief of the Interdisciplinary Encyclopedia of Religion and Science ISSN: 2037-2329.
Formerly: Full Professor of Mathematical Physics at the University of Bari and C.I.R.A.M, Bologna. Formerly Associate Professor of Philosophy of Science and Philosophy of Nature at the Facoltà Teologica dell’Emilia Romagna, Bologna and Associate Professor of Fundamental Theology at the Istituto Superiore di Scienze Religiose all'Apollinare, Rome. Co-editor in Chief of the Interdisciplinary Encyclopedia of Religion and Science ISSN: 2037-2329.
Director Poggiolevante University College, Bari. Graduate in Physics, Degree in Canon Law. Formerly: ELIS Centre, Rome, Director, and Professor of Computer Science, University Campus Bio-Medico, Rome.
Ivan Colagè
Vice-Director of the DISF Centre. Didactic Coordinator of the SISRI school. Associate Professor of Logic, Philosophy of Mind and Science, Faculty of Philosophy of the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross. He deals with interdisciplinary anthropological topics, especially concerning cultural evolution and the relationship between biology and culture.
Sabrina di Forte
Head of editorial staff at the DISF Center. Philosophy major at Pontifical Antonianum University.
Stefano Oliva
DISF Educational project manager and researcher at the DISF Center. Associate Professor of Aesthetics at the Niccolò Cusano University and scientific consultant for the Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana Treccani.
Giuseppe Murati
Graduated in Philosophy. IT services manager and webmaster of DISF Center sites.
Giampaolo Del Monte
Pontifical University of the Holy Cross Library, Rome. He manages the library of the DISF center and the updates of bibliographical news.
ADSIR members
A number of young researchers who are members of the Advanced School for Interdisciplinary Research (ADSIR) work as authors and editors of most of the documents uploaded on this website. An editorial assistant based in Oxford (England, UK) is also collaborating on the Inters project.
Scientific Council
Prof. Roberto Timossi (President)
Philosopher and Essayist. In the field of culture, education and training he was a Member of CISEI - International Centre for Studies on Italian Emigration (2007-2012). Board Member of Genoa Science Festival (2006-2012).
Prof. Ugo Amaldi (Honorary President)
Physicist, CERN Research Senior Physicist, member of the Italian National Academy of Sciences and of the Academy of Sciences of Turin. He is the President of TERA Foundation, born to develop the modern radiotherapy technique for the treatment of cancer. Among many honors, he received the International Gold Medal of Merit for Catholic Culture. Presently he teaches Medical Physics at the University of Milano Bicocca.
Prof. Piero Benvenuti
Full Professor of Astrophysics at the University of Padua. Since 1981 he has been the Director of the Ultraviolet International Explorer (IUE). From 1984 to 2003 he was a European (ESA) Project Scientist for the "Hubble Space Telescope" Project hosted by ESO (European Southern Observatory) in München, Germany.
Dott. Ing. Mario Gargantini
Electronic Engineer, Scientific Journalist, head of the Euresis Association. As a High School Physics and Math Teacher he carried out research on science teaching and learning. Since 1979 he has worked as a scientific journalist, collaborating with several newspapers, magazines and websites.
Rev. Prof. Alberto Strumia
Director of the “Faith and Reason” Section at "Veritatis Splendor" Institute, Bologna. Associate Professor of Philosophy of Science and Philosophy of Nature at the Facoltà Teologica dell’Emilia Romagna, Bologna and Associate Professor of Fundamental Theology at the Istituto Superiore di Scienze Religiose all'Apollinare, Rome. Formerly: Full Professor of Mathematical Physics at the University of Bari and C.I.R.A.M, Bologna. Co-editor in Chief of the Interdisciplinary Encyclopedia of Religion and Science ISSN: 2037-2329.
Prof. Filippo Tempia
Full Professor of Physiology, School of Medicine and Surgery, University of Turin. He is a member of the Rita Levi-Montalcini Institute and of the Italian Institute of Neurosciences. He has been a senior researcher at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston. He is also a member of the Society for Neuroscience (SfN), of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), and of the Alzheimer's Association International Society to Advance Alzheimer Research and Treatment (ISTAART).
Prof. Paolo Zellini
Mathematician and Essayist. Full Profossor of Numerical Analysis at the University of Rome Tor Vergata. He is one of the most important scholars of the history of mathematics, publishing books on the concept of Infinity, Number and Logos.
Prof. Giancarlo Genta
Professor Emeritus at the Polytechnic Institute of Turin, former Full Professor of Machine Building. He is a Member of the Academy of Sciences of turin and of the International Academy of Astronautics. His interests range from static and dynamic machine design to space systems, from mechatronics to robotics. He is also a science fiction author.
The promoters of the Interdisciplinary Documentation of Religion and Science web site encourage:
- the focus on a rigorous methodology, typical of scientific and philosophical research, which protects every sincere research of truth even in the delicate field of interdisciplinary studies, which involves theology and religion;
- the profound conviction that there is a necessity for the unity of knowledge where diverse insights coming from science, philosophy, art, morality and religion can be integrated into the unity of the intellectual experience of the knowing subject;
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the persuasion that the scientific enterprise no longer presents itself as a neutral and aseptic enterprise but as a truly personal activity of the researcher and as a passion for the truth, which has the capacity to involve the subject and to support his or her own motivations;
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the awareness that scientific thought is, by nature, open to philosophical thought. This openness is shown by both the presence of fundamental philosophical themes recurrent in the analyses of the most varied scientific disciplines and the presence of metaphysical principles underlying the method and the cognitive praxis of the sciences;
and finally, the conviction that the relationship between science and religion should not stem from a renunciation to understand, as frequently happens when some choose fideism as the easy way out, but from an effort to know, trying to integrate that which is believed with that which is known.
