Synopses & Reviews
Pierre Teilhard De Chardin was one of the most distinguished thinkers and scientists of our time. He fits into no familiar category for he was at once a biologist and a paleontologist of world renown, and also a Jesuit priest. He applied his whole life, his tremendous intellect and his great spiritual faith to building a philosophy that would reconcile Christian theology with the scientific theory of evolution, to relate the facts of religious experience to those of natural science.
The Phenomenon of Man, the first of his writings to appear in America, Pierre Teilhard's most important book and contains the quintessence of his thought. When published in France it was the best-selling nonfiction book of the year.
Synopsis
"A profound book of great distinction and originality. . . . A brilliant synthesis of the evidence with respect to man's evolutionary direction. . . . I cannot imagine anyone reading this book who will not be profoundly influenced by it, and who will not wish to read it several times over, for it is a great work by a great man--one of the most spiritually erudite of our time." --New York Times
Visionary theologian and evolutionary theorist Pierre Teilhard de Chardin's analysis of human evolution
Pierre Teilhard De Chardin was one of the most distinguished thinkers and scientists of our time. He applied his whole life, his tremendous intellect, and his great spiritual faith to building a philosophy that would reconcile Christian theology with the scientific theory of evolution, to relate the facts of religious experience to those of natural science.
In this timeless book, which contains the quintessence of his thought, Teilhard argues that just as living organisms sprung from inorganic matter and evolved into ever more complex thinking beings, humans are evolving toward an omega point--defined by Teilhard as a convergence with the Divine.
About the Author
Pierre Teilhard De Chardin was born in Auvergne, France, in 1881.An ordained member of the Society of Jesus, Pierre Teilhard held positions as professor of geology at the Catholic Institute in Paris, director of the National Geologic Survey of China and director of the National Research Center of France.He lived in China for many years where he played a major role in the discovery of Pekin man. In 1951 he moved to New York where under the auspices of the Wenner-Gren Foundation he was enabled to continue his work until his death in 1955. Le Phénomène Humain, issued in France in December of that year, was immediately pronounced one of the outstanding publishing events of the century.