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Born in Weston-Super-Mare, England
John Polkinghorne was born to Dorothy Charlton and George Polkinghorne. John's father worked for the post office at the time, and John had an older sister and brother. Tragically, his older sister Ann died at the age of six just before John was born. -
His brother's death.
John's older brother Peter was killed while serving as a Pilot for the Royal Air Force during WWII while John was at the age of 12. At that point, John became an only surviving child. -
PhD in Physics. Trinity College, Cambridge
John Polkinghorne got his PhD from Cambridge. His PhD was supervised by a Nobel laureate named Abdus Salam. The group overseeing John's research was headed by none other than famous Paul Dirac (see picture) himself. -
John's Work in Quantum Theory
John was instrumental in developing the theory and the discovery of quarks, which are the fundamental particles that make up protons and neutrons. While at Cambridge, John Polkinghorne became one the most respected living theoretical physicists of his time. Goldberger, M. L. (1967). Mathematical Physics: The Analytic S-Matrix . R. J. Eden, P. V. Landshoff, D. I. Olive, and J. C. Polkinghorne. Cambridge University Press, New York, 1966. -
Priesthood?
After attending Westscott-House, Cambridge studying Anglican Theology, John became an ordained Priest under the Anglican Church. This was a surprise as John was the first leading Physicist to resign from a prominent position in physics to pursue priesthood. John responded to questions on this matter by saying that he had always been a strong Christian, and that he believed his best work in mathematical physics was being him. -
Synthesizing Faith and Science
After resigning from Cambridge, John published many books on science and religion. One theorizes the universe being an open system, allowing God and people to influence outcomes "top down." This would account for free will and divine providence along with the current understanding of quantum mechanics. Polkinghorne, J. (2008). Faith, science, and understanding. Yale University Press.
Templeton Prize -
