The story of Galileo has long been cited as evidence the Catholic Church is inherently opposed to scientific research. But in fact, astronomy has been built into the history of the Catholic Church – sometimes built literally into the churches themselves.

GUESTS

Guy Consolmagno, Director of the Vatican Observatory

Ann Blair, Harvard Professor of History

John Heilbron, Historian of Science Emeritus, University of Berkeley

Stephen Barr, Professor Emeritus of Physics at the University of Delaware

This episode was produced by Samantha Worcester and Maria Devlin McNair.