Image by Didgeman on Pixabay · Pixabay License
John Polkinghorne
Sign in to saveAlso known as John C. Polkinghorne, J. C. Polkinghorne
physicist, theologian and anglican priest (1930–2021)
OverviewAI-generated
John Polkinghorne, born John Charlton Polkinghorne in Weston-super-Mare on 16 October 1930, was a British physicist, theoretical physicist, Anglican priest and theologian working across theology, physics and mathematical physics. He studied at Trinity College, Cambridge, under doctoral advisors Abdus Salam and Paul Dirac, and was later employed by the University of Cambridge, the University of Edinburgh and Trinity Hall, where his own doctoral students included Tom Kibble and Peter Goddard.
A Fellow of the Royal Society, he received the Templeton Prize and was made a Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire and a Knight Bachelor. He served as a chairperson, and died in Cambridge on 9 March 2021.
Synthesized by Vinony from 24 facts across 3 sources: Wikidata, Wikiquote, Vinony collections. Generated from structured data (not the Wikipedia text) and checked against those facts — may still contain errors.
Key facts
- Preceded by
- Ronald Oxburgh
- Succeeded by
- Lord Eatwell
- Born
- John Charlton Polkinghorne , ( 1930-10-16 ) 16 October 1930, Weston-super-Mare , Somerset , England
- Died
- 9 March 2021 (2021-03-09) (aged 90), Cambridge , England
- Citizenship
- United Kingdom
- Spouse
- Ruth Polkinghorne ( married</span>"}]]}'>m. 1955 )
- Awards
- Fellow of the Royal Society (1974) KBE (1997) Templeton Prize (2002)
- Church
- Church of England
- Ordained
- 1981 (deacon) 1982 (priest)
- Offices held
- Vicar of Blean (1984–1986) Dean of Chapel at Trinity Hall, Cambridge (1986–1989) Canon Theologian of Liverpool Cathedral (1994–2005)
- Alma mater
- Trinity College, Cambridge
- Thesis
- Contributions to Quantum Field Theory (1955)
- Doctoral advisor
- Nicholas Kemmer Abdus Salam
- Influences
- Ian Barbour Paul Dirac Murray Gell-Mann Bernard Lonergan Jürgen Moltmann Michael Polanyi W. H. Vanstone
- Discipline
- Physics theology
- Sub discipline
- Mathematical physics particle physics
- School or tradition
- Evangelical Anglicanism theological critical realism
- Institutions
- University of Edinburgh Trinity Hall, Cambridge Queens' College, Cambridge
via Wikipedia infobox
Wikidata facts
- Instance of
- human
- Given name
- John
- Gender
- male
- Citizenship
- United Kingdom
- Place of birth
- Weston-super-Mare
- Place of death
- Cambridge
- Occupation
- priest
- Position held
- chairperson
- Languages spoken
- English language
- Native language
- English language
- Religion
- Anglicanism
- Award
- Knight Bachelor
- Doctoral advisor
- Paul Dirac
- Field of work
- mathematical physics
- Image
- Johnpolkinghorne.jpg
Show 6 more facts
- date of birth
- 1930-10-16
- date of death
- 2021-03-09
- name in native language
- John Polkinghorne
- Commons category
- John Polkinghorne
- birth name
- John Charlton Polkinghorne
- maintained by WikiProject
- WikiProject Mathematics
Sources (5)
via Wikidata · CC0
~16 min read
Encyclopedic overview
John Charlton Polkinghorne (16 October 1930 – 9 March 2021) was a Cornish theoretical physicist, theologian, and Anglican priest. A prominent and leading voice explaining the relationship between science and religion, he was professor of mathematical physics at the University of Cambridge from 1968 to 1979, when he resigned his chair to study for the priesthood, becoming an ordained Anglican priest in 1982. He served as the president of Queens' College, Cambridge, from 1988 until 1996.
Polkinghorne was the author of five books on physics and twenty-six on the relationship between science and religion; his publications include The Quantum World (1989), Quantum Physics and Theology: An Unexpected Kinship (2005), Exploring Reality: The Intertwining of Science and Religion (2007), and Questions of Truth (2009). The Polkinghorne Reader (edited by Thomas Jay Oord) provides key excerpts from Polkinghorne's most influential books. He was knighted in 1997 and in 2002 received the £1-million Templeton Prize, awarded for exceptional contributions to affirming life's spiritual dimension.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “John Polkinghorne” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.