Italian Chemist Explores Science of Miracles
Daniel Williams
The Washington Post
Austin American-Statesman
_____________________
Pavia (Italy):
Such is the supply of miracles in Italy that if a month goes by without one, it's, well, a miracle. Weeping Madonnas, sacred blood that goes from solid to liquid and back again, lottery numbers divined by gazing on a photo of a deceased pope, sudden cures after contact with a holy relic: Miracles are old, old phenomena in Italy, the land where a veil taken from Saint Agatha's tomb stopped lava in its tracks. But this is also the land of science par excellence, the home of Galileo, da Vinci, Fermi and Marconi. Luigi Garlaschelli is a chemist at Pavia University who skeptically eyes Italy's parade of miracles. He belongs to the Italian Committee to Investigate Claims of the Paranormal, made up of Italian scientists, including two Nobel Prize winners, who use science to try to explain the inexplicable. He's not trying to undermine people's religious beliefs, he says: "We're just trying to study phenomena. If there's a non-miraculous answer, we say so." Garlaschelli's study of religious phenomena is a far cry from his usual research, which produces academic papers with titles such as "Recent Progress in the Field of N-acylalanines as Systemic Fungicides." Garlaschelli completed a periodic imitation of the miracle of San Gennaro an event that has been celebrated in Naples since the 14th century.
The city's archbishop pulls out a vial containing a maroon-colored solid substance from a case, then rotates and shakes the container until the contents liquefy. Garlaschelli put together a cocktail of material available near Naples, which would have been obtainable in the Middle Ages, to try to replicate the miracle.
His mixture of limestone powder, iron and pigments was solid when left still but turned fluid when stirred or shaken. In the 1990s, Garlaschelli took on one of the most revered relics in Christendom, the Shroud of Turin.
It bears an image of Jesus that supporters say was miraculously acquired when the cloth covered his body after the crucifixion. Carbon dating found that the fabric dates from around the 14th century, but defenders say the tests were inaccurate because the cloth could have picked up pollutants in its travels through various European cathedrals.
Nov 13, 2005
Daniel WilliamsThe Washington Post
Austin American-Statesman
_____________________
Pavia (Italy):
Such is the supply of miracles in Italy that if a month goes by without one, it's, well, a miracle. Weeping Madonnas, sacred blood that goes from solid to liquid and back again, lottery numbers divined by gazing on a photo of a deceased pope, sudden cures after contact with a holy relic: Miracles are old, old phenomena in Italy, the land where a veil taken from Saint Agatha's tomb stopped lava in its tracks. But this is also the land of science par excellence, the home of Galileo, da Vinci, Fermi and Marconi. Luigi Garlaschelli is a chemist at Pavia University who skeptically eyes Italy's parade of miracles. He belongs to the Italian Committee to Investigate Claims of the Paranormal, made up of Italian scientists, including two Nobel Prize winners, who use science to try to explain the inexplicable. He's not trying to undermine people's religious beliefs, he says: "We're just trying to study phenomena. If there's a non-miraculous answer, we say so." Garlaschelli's study of religious phenomena is a far cry from his usual research, which produces academic papers with titles such as "Recent Progress in the Field of N-acylalanines as Systemic Fungicides." Garlaschelli completed a periodic imitation of the miracle of San Gennaro an event that has been celebrated in Naples since the 14th century.
The city's archbishop pulls out a vial containing a maroon-colored solid substance from a case, then rotates and shakes the container until the contents liquefy. Garlaschelli put together a cocktail of material available near Naples, which would have been obtainable in the Middle Ages, to try to replicate the miracle.
His mixture of limestone powder, iron and pigments was solid when left still but turned fluid when stirred or shaken. In the 1990s, Garlaschelli took on one of the most revered relics in Christendom, the Shroud of Turin.
It bears an image of Jesus that supporters say was miraculously acquired when the cloth covered his body after the crucifixion. Carbon dating found that the fabric dates from around the 14th century, but defenders say the tests were inaccurate because the cloth could have picked up pollutants in its travels through various European cathedrals.
Nov 13, 2005
