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Early Life
John Charlton Polkinghorne is a theoretical physicist, writer, theologian, and priest. He was born on October 16, 1930, in Weston-super-Mare in Somerset, England and is the third born child (only surviving child) of Dorthy Charlton who is the daughter of a groom and his father George Polkinghorne who worked at a post office. John grew up in a Christian family and at an early age became interested in science which is what inspired him to become a particle physicist in graduate school. -
Early Education
John's early education consisted of him attending a local primary school in Street Somerset, was homeschooled by a family friend, and attended a Quaker school. By the time John was 11-years old, he attended Elmhurst Grammar School until his father George got promoted to head postmaster in Ely where John transferred to The Perse School and studied Mathematics. Polkinghorne then spent a year (1948-1949) in the National Service. -
College
John excelled in mathematics and as a result, obtained his bachelor’s degree in 1952 and a few years later received his master’s degree. By 1956 Polkinghorne received his doctorate in the quantum field from Trinity College in Cambridge and in this same year was appointed lecturer at the University of Edinburgh for two years before taking a similar position at Cambridge. From 1968-1979 he was offered professorship in mathematical physics. -
Elementary Particles
Polkinghorne theorized about elementary particles and researched foundations of the S-Matrix theory which was an attempt to replace the quantum field theory as a basic principle of elementary particle physics. He was made Fellow of the Royal Society in 1974 after creating a model to calculate the pathways of quantum particles. At the peak of John's career, he decided to pursue a career as an Anglican priest and resigned from his position at Cambridge to begin his studies at the seminary. -
"The Way The World Is"
John Polkinghorne was ordained in 1982 and assigned to a parish in South Bristol. By 1983 Polkinghorne published his first of many books "The Way the World Is", which was him making the connections and identifying the relationship between science and religion. In 1984 John became a parish in Blean and a few years later became the chaplain of Trinity Hall in Cambridge. In 1989 he was appointed the president of Queens’ College in Cambridge. -
Templeton Prize
John served as the canon theologian of Liverpool Cathedral and during his time here was made Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire. He was made honorary fellow of St Chad's College in Durham and awarded an honorary doctorate by the University of Durham. He was awarded the Templeton Prize (equivalent to a Nobel Prize) in 2002 for his contributions and has been part of various committees, founded the Society of Ordained Scientists, and International Society for Science and Religion. -
An Afternoon With Polkinghorne (Video)
Below is a link to a video of John Polkinghorne discussing science and religion at a sponsored event in 2011. https://youtu.be/nFrYXr8JYgU -
Short Educational Video
attached is a link to a short educational video about John Polkinghorne and some of the many contributions he is known for.
https://youtu.be/_0KOHJz8FHE -
Citations
1) Cunningham, J. M. (2018, October 10). Templeton Prize. Retrieved from https://www.britannica.com/topic/Templeton-Prize
2) John Polkinghorne. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.closertotruth.com/contributor/john-polkinghorne/profile
3) (n.d.). Retrieved from https://biologos.org/articles/searching-for-motivated-belief-introducing-john-polkinghorne
4) What is John Polkinghorne?, Explain John Polkinghorne, Define John Polkinghorne. (2018, August 27). Retrieved from https://youtu.be/_0KOHJz8FHE
