Conferences

During the week of 10-14 September, nearly 600 meteoriticists from around the world gathered for the 64th annual meeting of the Meteoritical Society, hosted by the Observatory and held at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome. CONSOLMAGNO served as chair of the local organizing committee; COYNE also served on the organizing committee, while MAFFEO, LORI, ROSSI, and IGEA provided significant support before and during the meeting.

The conference was the largest in the history of the Meteoritical Society with attendees from more than 20 nations. The scientific discussions took place during 30 oral sessions, with a total of 221 papers presented. During the coffee breaks, another 201 poster papers were presented. Sessions were held concurrently in the Aula Magna and another ground-floor classroom, while the Main Atrium was filled with posters and displays. Other classrooms were used for special meetings, and one room was dedicated to an Internet Point, arranged and staffed through the efforts of Alenia, a major conference sponsor. The Internet Point, filled with more than a dozen computers provided by Compaq Italia, helped the international assembly keep in touch with home, which was especially appreciated during the days following 11 September.

Special sessions at the meeting centered on understanding Mars from the meteorite perspective; spacecraft observations of near-earth objects; and laboratory simulations of circumstellar dust. Welcoming remarks were given by Father Franco IMODA,

Guy Consolmagno (right) holds a 70 g piece of the Fermo meteorite, which fell on 25 September 1996 near Fermo in central Italy. Through the efforts of Giordano Cevolani (left), with Italy's National Research Council, the sample was donated to the Vatican meteorite collection by the city of Fermo. An ordinary chondrite type H5 with H3 clasts, the specimen was presented to the Vatican Observatory during the Meteoritical Society meeting in Rome. (Photo by Judith Britt)

President of the Pontifical Gregorian University, and by Archbishop Giuseppe PITTAU, Secretary of the Vatican Congregation for Catholic Education. Invited talks were given by COYNE on the history of the Vatican Observatory, and by OLSON (New York Academy of Arts) and PASACHOFF (Williams College, Massachusetts), who described the artist's interpretation of meteorite impacts in a talk entitled "Meteoritics as Visual Metaphors." And after the meeting, MONTANARI (Osservatorio Geologico di Coldigioco) guided a field trip to meteorite impact sites in Italy, including the famous Gubbio K/T boundary, where he had been part of the team to first discover the iridium layers hinting at a giant impact cause for mass extinctions 65 million years ago.

For all of its scientific accomplishments, however, the meeting will be remembered most by the attendees for an event that happened thousands of miles away from Rome: the tragic terrorist attacks in the United States on 11 September, the Tuesday of the meeting week. The sad news was announced to conference participants at 17:00 hours, Rome time. The next day, Wednesday, had already been set aside for a morning Papal Audience. More than 400 conference attendees, family members, and guests joined a silent crowd of 50,000 gathered in St. Peter's Square as prayers for peace were offered by the Pontiff. Listening to the Pope, surrounded by monuments to the tragedies and triumphs of Rome's two-thousand-year-old history, helped put the terrible news in perspective.

At the meeting banquet held Thursday in Rome's Trastevere section, Dava SOBEL lectured on her highly acclaimed book, Galileo's Daughter, and reminded the attendees of the significance of science in a world of good and evil. The era of Galileo was one of terrible plagues and bitter conflictthe Thirty Years' War was the backdrop of his famous trialand yet the achievements from those days that remain fixed in our memory are those of the great artists and scientists: Shakespeare and Milton; Caravaggio and Bernini; Galileo and Kepler. She reminded the assembled scientists and their guests that to understand the natural universe and our place in it represents a part of the highest achievement of the human spirit; one that remains when wars and hatred are long forgotten.

The Large Binocular Telescope Board met at the Vatican Observatory at Castel Gandolfo from 29 June to 1 July.

The Clavius Group of Mathematicians, a community of Jesuits, other religious, and lay persons co-founded by WHITMAN in 1963, held its 39th meeting from 1 to 28 July at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey. WHITMAN gave a series of 10 lectures on "Low Dimensional Isomorphisms of Simple Complex Lie Algebras and Spin Representations."

In October the Vatican Observatory at Castel Gandolfo hosted the meeting of the International Planetarium Society with the participation of 21 regional associations. The meeting was coordinated by CONSOLMAGNO.

Presentations and Academic Activities

BOYLE Worked in January with PHILIP at Union College in Schenectady, New York, and he presented a colloquium there on "From the Colors of the Stars." Presented several lectures on data reduction and CCD image processing techniques and coordinated the expanded computer network for the students at the Vatican Observatory Summer School. Taught at a summer school on "CCD Observing and Image Processing" in Antalya, Turkey from 25-29 June at a national school for 49 graduate students in astronomy who came from five regions of Turkey. He was part of a faculty that included three Americans, a Russian, and a Lithuanian. During the school he also visited the Turkish national telescope in the mountains outside of Antalya.

CARUANA Gave a paper entitled "Possible Responses of Jesuits in Science to Critical Post-Modern Culture" at the First International Conference for Jesuits in Science, Chennai, India in January. Participated in the Seventh European Meeting of Jesuits in Science held at Malaga, Spain. Presented the annual course "Philosophy of Science and Nature" at the Philosophy Faculty, Pontifical Gregorian University, Rome. Directed a seminar on the nature of science according to Pierre Duhem and Alfred North Whitehead for graduate students at the same university.

CASANOVAS Lectured in Livorno, Italy, at the Museum of Natural History on the Star of Bethlehem. Participated in the dedication of a new solar telescope in the Observatorio del Ebro, Spain. Conducted a survey of the Greek island of Tynos for the installation of a solar telescope for the measurement of solar oscillations. Lectured on Fr. Angelo Secchi on the occasion of the publication of the correspondence between Secchi and astronomer Tacchini. Participated in the Workshop on the Solar Orbiter Satellite held in Puerto de la Cruz, Tenerife, Spain. Gave a paper on the problem of precession in the Alfonsine Tables at the meeting on "Cosmology Through Time," held in the observatory of Monte Porzio, Italy. Gave a course in Solar Physics for PhD candidates in the Observatorio del Ebro of the University Ramon Llull, Barcelona. Participated in the conference on Tycho Brahe, Prague, Czech Republic.

CONSOLMAGNO Continued to serve as secretary of Commission 16 of the International Astronomical Union. As part of his duties he created and maintained the Commission 16 web site. Continued to serve as a member of the Division of Planetary Sciences (DPS) Committee of the American Astronomical Society (AAS) Committee. In addition to his regular duties on this committee, he also visited Cambridge, England, from 31 January to 2 February to inspect the proposed site of the 2005 DPS meeting, and from 14-15 August attended a special meeting of this committee at the AAS headquarters in Washington, DC, including a meeting at NASA headquarters with Code S administrators. Spoke on "Asteroid Densities and Porosities" at the following venues: Inter-University Center for Astronomy and Astrophysics, Pune, India; Northern Illinois University, Department of Physics; American Museum of Natural Science, New York; California Institute of Technology, Division of Geological and Planetary Sciences, Pasadena, California; Physics Department, Purdue University, Lafayette, Indiana. Spoke on "Rethinking the Lunar Magma Ocean" at the following venues: Physics Department, Drexel University; Department of Terrestrial Magnetism, Carnegie Institute of Washington. Worked at the Field Museum in Chicago with BRITT (University of Tennessee), WADHWA (Field Museum), and WILKISON (Northwestern University) to set up the helium pycnometer described in previous annual reports, in order to begin measurements of the grain densities and porosities in the Field Museum Collection. Paid a working visit to the University of Texas (Austin) to work with COCHRIN, SCHAEFER, and SCHAEFER. Worked on the measurement of meteorite bulk densities with MCCOY and MACPHERSON at the Smithsonian Institution, Natural History Museum, Washington, DC. Visited the Natural History Museum, London, to prepare meteorite sample thin sections and consult with RUSSELL.

CORBALLY Was reappointed President of the Institute on Religion in an Age of Science for the year 2001-2002. He chaired council meetings in January at Manchester Village, Vermont, and in July at Durham, New Hampshire, and he chaired the annual meeting on Star Island, New Hampshire. Presented a lecture on "The Stars of Yesterday and Today: Young and Old" at the Vatican Observatory Foundation seminar in February. Visited the Raytheon Optical Discussion Group, Tucson, to talk on "The Vatican's Little-Big Telescope." Collaborated with Steward Observatory and Mt. Graham International Observatory personnel to improve outdoor lighting code in the Gila Valley. Continued on the Board of the St. Albert the Great Forum at the Catholic Newman Center, University of Arizona.

COYNE Served on the Organizing Committee and participated in the Third Meeting on the Inspiration of Astronomical Phenomena in Palermo, Sicily. On the occasion of the meeting he gave a public lecture entitled, "Modern Cosmology and the Image of God, Creator of the Universe." Participated in the Council meetings and in the Plenary Session of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences where he presented a paper entitled, "Modern Cosmology, A Source for Elementary School Education." As a member of the Board met with the International Center for Relativistic Astrophysics at Stanford University. Was confirmed for another three-year appointment on the Advisory Council of the Centre for Studies in Religion and Society, University of Victoria, Canada and participated by teleconference in the Council meeting. Met at Georgetown University with the founding members of the Institute for Advanced Catholic Studies. As a member of the Advisory Board of the Peter Gruber Foundation Cosmology Prize participated at Bern, Switzerland, in the Prize Award to Martin Rees. Gave a seminar on "Big Telescopes of the Future" at the Astronomy Department of the University of Minnesota. Gave a paper on "Galileo: The Myth and Attempts by the Church to Dispel Them" at the meeting at the Observatory of Rome at Monte Porzio Catone, Italy, on "Cosmology Through Time." Gave a paper on "Science and the Search for Ultimate Meaning in the Thought of John Paul II" at the Templeton Foundation Workshop on Science and Religion at Pune, India. Continues to serve on the "Science and Human Values Program" of the European Science Foundation. Taught the course, Natural Sciences 102, during Spring Semester at the University of Arizona.

FUNES Observed at the 0.9m telescope at Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory, Chile, in May and September. Eleven nights in total were awarded to the project on "Star Formation in the Local Universe." Gave a talk on that project at the 18th Steward Observatory Internal Symposium, held in Tucson on 1-2 November. At the Universidad Catolica de Cordoba, Argentina, he lectured on "Astronomy and Faith" to the faculty and gave lectures to students of the School of Engineering, School of Philosophy, and the School of Agriculture and Animal Sciences.

HELLER Participated at the following meetings in Cracow, Poland: Seventh Cracow Methodological Conference "Chance and Necessity" with a paper on "Origin of Probability"; International Conference "Quantum Theory and Symmetries" with a paper on "Generalized Symmetries and Time"; Historians of Science Conference with a paper on "Remarks on the History and Philosophy of Science." At Warsaw at the International School he spoke on "Noncommutative Geometry and Quantum Groups" and gave the Staszic Memorial Lecture on "Structure of the Initial Singularity." For the symposium at Lublin, Poland, on "Limits of Naturalism" gave a paper on "Is Christian Naturalism Possible?" For the symposium at Toruñ, Poland, on "Logos and Chaos" gave a paper on "The Universe as a Whole."

MAFFEO Gave a talk on "Father Angelo Secchi and Meteorology" to the Central Institute of Agrarian Ecology at the Institute's offices in the one-time Roman College where Secchi carried out his research. Completed further research in the Observatory archives that resulted in a much enlarged edition of his original history of the Observatory (see Sec. IV. Publications, under MAFFEO).

O'DONOGHUE Participated in January at a workshop of the Science and the Spiritual Quest II program in Paris, France. She gave a short talk and engaged in three days of intense discussions with the physics and cosmology group. In October, attended a public conference held at Harvard Memorial Church, Boston, entitled "The Quest for Truth, Knowledge, and Values in Science and Religion."

OMIZZOLO Is working as representative of the bishop of Padua, Italy, to create a group to investigate the relationship between faith and science. The group will include the Diocese of Padua and various departments of the University of Padua. The group's coordinator is RAFANELLI, director of the university's Department of Astronomy.

STOEGER Continues to team-teach the "Science and Theology" course in the Molecular and Cellular Biology Department, University of Arizona, with professors LINDELL and HEWLETT. Convened and chaired the Theology and the Natural Sciences continuing group session at the Catholic Theological Society of America meeting in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, June 7-10. Attended in January the workshop of the Science and Religion Course Program of the Center for Theology and Natural Sciences at Luther College in Adelaide, Australia, where he gave two invited presentations: "Cosmology and a Theology of Creation" and "Science, the Laws of Nature and Divine Action." Participated in a panel at Flinders University, Adelaide. On February 26 participated as an examiner in a dissertation defense on theology and science at St. Paul's University in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Gave lectures on "General Relativity and Black Holes" during the first ten days of the Vatican Observatory Summer School in Castel Gandolfo, Italy. Attended the 16th International Conference on General Relativity and Gravitation at the International Conference Centre in Durban, South Africa, July 15-21, presenting a paper there with ARAÚJO on "Perturbed Spherically Symmetric Dust Solution of the Einstein Field Equations in Observational Coordinates with Cosmological Data Functions." Afterwards he participated in the "Early Universe Cosmology" workshop in Cape Town, South Africa, July 22-26. In late August was an invited participant at the "Anthropic Arguments in Cosmology" workshop at the home of Sir Martin REES in Cambridge, U. K., where he presented a paper, "Are Anthropic Arguments Legitimate?"

Public and Educational Outreach

CARREIRA Gave a series of six lectures, sponsored by the Physics Department of John Carroll University in Cleveland, Ohio, on milestones in the development of the physical world from the "Beginning of Time" to "The Space Age."

CARUANA Gave a talk entitled "Natura e Divinità: loro mutua implicanza" at the Sala Convegni della Cassa di Risparmio, Florence, as part of an ongoing cultural seminar on Nature and Culture, organized by the group Eumeswil.

CONSOLMAGNO Gave popular astronomy presentations at the following venues: Capricon Science Fiction Convention, Chicago, Illinois; Library of Science and Technology, New York City; Astronomical Society of Long Island, New York; Vatican Observatory Foundation Seminar, Tucson, Arizona; Rose Center/Hayden Planetarium, New York City; Adler Planetarium, Chicago; Web Broadcast from University of Wisconsin and a presentation at the Madison, Wisconsin, "Space Place" Museum; Amateur Astronomy Association of New York City; Windycon Science Fiction Convention, Chicago; Sun City Astronomy Club, Tucson, Arizona. Gave presentations on the interrelations between science and religion at the following venues: De Nobili College, Pune, India; Harvard University Society of Physics Students, Cambridge, Massachusetts; MIT Catholic Community, Cambridge, Massachusetts; Templeton Lecture, Loyola University of New Orleans, Louisiana; Stonyhurst College, England; Drexel University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Templeton Lecture, Purdue University, Lafayette, Indiana.

CORBALLY Spoke in Tucson on three occasions sponsored by the Knights of Columbus: to St. Thomas the Apostle parish on "Stars and the Vatican"; to St. Joseph and to St. Francis de Sales parishes on "The Pope's Scope in Arizona." Gave talks to the sixth and seventh grade students of Immaculate Heart Middle School, Tucson, also on "The Pope's Scope in Arizona." Spoke to three classes at Marana High School, Arizona, for the careers awareness program. Gave lunchtime talks to the Optimists Club, Tucson, on "The Vatican Observatory" and to the Serra Club, Tucson, on "The Heavens Declare the Glory of God." Gave a public lecture on "The Coolest, the Oldest, and the Prettiest Stars in Our Galaxy" for the Lyceum series sponsored by the New Mexico Military Institute, Roswell, New Mexico. Continued as an advisor to the Earth & Sky radio series. Was interviewed for two astronomy projects at University of Arizona. Hosted various visits to the VATT on Mt. Graham: with O'DONOGHUE, a nighttime visit by the docents of Discovery Park, Safford; two Dark Sky Parties for civic leaders from Graham County and local cities; and a daytime visit with COYNE for clergy and staff from the Diocese of Tucson Chancery. Hosted various visits to the Steward Observatory Mirror Laboratory, including one for the Vice-Rector for Science from the Silesian University of Technology, Gliwice, Poland, and another for sixty fifth-grade students from Lafe Nelson Elementary School, Safford.

COYNE Gave two lectures at the Istituto L. Murialdo, Albano, Italy, on "Modern Cosmology and the Image of God the Creator." Spoke at the Capitoline Museum, Rome, on the search for extra-solar planets. Spoke on the "Origins of Life in the Universe" at the annual meeting of Las Servidoras, Santa Maria de la Armonía, Cobo and Buenos Aires, Argentina. Gave talks in Scutari and Tirana, Albania, on the most recent developments in astrophysics. Talked to the "Spirit of the Senses Salons" in Phoenix, Arizona, on "Will the Universe Expand Forever?" Discussed "God and the Big Bang" with the physics seminar of that same title at Brophy Preparatory School, Phoenix. Spoke about the Galileo case to the Italian Cultural Society, Sun City, Tucson, Arizona. Gave a talk on "Wayfarers in the Universe" to the Centro Culturale Guglielmo da Volpiano, San Benigno (Turin), Italy. Presented the talk, "When the Sacred Cows of Religion and Science Meet," at the following venues: the Pierson Lecture at Mt. Olive College, North Carolina; Fraternità Sacerdotale dei Missionari di San Carlo Borromeo, Rome; keynote address at the meeting of the Association of Science-Technology Centers in Phoenix, Arizona; Christ Presbyterian Church, Tucson, Arizona; Santa Clara University, California; Tucson Children's Museum Mars Quest, Tucson, Arizona; Cosmos Club of Washington; Community School of Naples, Florida; Mt. St. Mary's College, Emmitsburg, Maryland; University of L'Aquila, Italy; the Phoenix Country Club, Arizona; Science and Culture Class, University of Arizona; Movimento Ecclesiale Impegno Culturale, Vercelli, Italy; Association of Amateur Astronomers, Rome, Italy; St. Thomas University, St. Paul, Minnesota.

FUNES Gave a public lecture on "The Origin of the Universe" at the Universidad Nacional del Nordeste, Corrientes, Argentina. Gave lectures to the general public with the title "Astronomía y fe: Dos aventuras del Espíritu" at the Iglesia Jesús Nazareno, Corrientes, Argentina and to Saint Cyril's Parish, Tucson.

HELLER Lectured on various occasions to the general public in Poland on recent developments in cosmology and on the philosophical and religious aspects of science.

O'DONOGHUE For the past two years, has written a semi-monthly column for the magazine of the Adirondack Mountain Club, Adirondac. Aimed at those with enthusiasm and interest, but little or no formal education in astronomy, the primary purpose of the column is to familiarize readers with the sky and keep them informed of the positions and motions of the planets and events such as conjunctions, eclipses, and other sky phenomena such as the Aurora. As the faculty advisor for the Saint Lawrence University Habitat for Humanity chapter, spent a week building houses in Anniston, Alabama, with a crew of 12 university students and 60 other students and advisors from other high schools and colleges, who chose to spend their spring break working to provide interest-free housing for economically challenged families.

STOEGER Spent 10 days in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia, during which he gave a 5-day retreat-seminar on theology and science to the priests, religious, and seminarians of the two dioceses of Saba; a day-long seminar on the same subject to the Catholic students at the University of Malaysia, Sabah; and a two-day series of lectures on theology and science to the Catholic laity of Kota Kinabalu. At Gonzaga University, Spokane, Washington, gave a Templeton Lecture, "Cosmology, Theology and Creation," and participated in both faculty and student colloquia. Gave a public lecture on "Black Holes" at the Arizona Science Center in Phoenix.

TERES Gave lectures at many Hungarian universities and colleges on: "Modern Cosmology and Scripture," "Solar-Terrestrial Relations," and "History of the Vatican Observatory."

WHITMAN Continues to advise the Jesuit Social Center Presidente Kennedy in the city of Campinas in the State of São Paulo, Brazil. This work is part of the outreach of the Jesuit's mission to serve the Faith and Justice Apostolate of the Third World. The Center is doing a thorough revision of its mission, and in particular, is tooling up for a move into the twenty-first century in order to initiate a program in distance learning. This new program should be in place by early 2002.

News Media Contacts

BOYLE Was host to MOYNIHAN (Inside the Vatican magazine) during a visit to Castel Gandolfo.

CONSOLMAGNO Appeared in January on Italian television discussing Space in the Year 2001. Was filmed in February in Oxford, England, for a BBC/PBS Nova special based on the book Galileo's Daughter by Dava Sobel. Appeared with the author TIMOTHY FERRIS on the PBS television show Uncommon Knowledge, which was taped in February at the Hoover Institute of Stanford University, and aired in May. Was filmed at the VATT for the National Geographic Channel in April. Was interviewed in September by RAI (Italian National Television) discussing meteorites. Appeared on the syndicated radio programs "Religion with Brother Bernard Seif" on February 14, and "Dr. Sky" on May 31. Was interviewed in August for the series The DNA Files, which aired on Public Radio in November and December. Was interviewed by the Times of India in January; by Catholic New World (Chicago Diocese Catholic Newspaper) in March; and in Corriere della Sera (Milan daily) in September.

CORBALLY Provided interviews to the following journalists: Renée Houghton, Texas Catholic; Alexandra Foldarait, Noticias, Argentina, on the Christmas Star; Tim Dill, KINF, Roswell, New Mexico Answered questions from: Cara Conway, Georgetown University; Tom Stauffer, Arizona Star; Alison Rose for PTV Productions, Toronto, Canada; Alison Cherry, BBC Radio Scotland; Neal Buckley, London Weekend Television; Craig Smith, National Geographic Cable Television.

COYNE Provided interviews to the following media and journalists: RAI UNO "A Sua Immagine"; Roberta Rose of Cicada Film, Discovery Channel; Renée Horton for the Texas Catholic; Alison Rose for PTV Productions, Toronto, Canada; Vincent Gielly for TV 2 France, Paris; Fred Guterl, Newsweek International; Claudia Windisch-Graetz, Global Satellite Broadcasting Network; Axel Schnuch, Der Spiegel, Germany; Charles Seife, Science, Magazine of the American Association for the Advancement of Science; Marie-Pierre Olphand, Ciel & Espace, Paris; Allan Chapman, Kugelblitz, London; Patricia Briel, Basel Switzerland; Ralph Breier, Berlin, Germany; Klaus Bachman, GEO Magazine, Hamburg, Germany. Participated in the presentation by Gruppo Ugo Mursia Editore of the book by Giovanni Bignami, La Storia nello Spazio.

FUNES Provided interviews to the San Diego Union Tribune, to the weekly magazine Noticias of Buenos Aires, Argentina, and to Canal 13, Corrientes, Argentina.

HELLER Gave several interviews to various Polish newspapers, journals, radio, and television on the interaction among science, philosophy, and theology.

MAFFEO Provided assistance to Alison Rose for PTV Productions, Toronto, Canada during her filming at Castel Gandolfo in June and July.

O'DONOGHUE Has come to be familiar to listeners of North Country Public Radio (NCPR) of Canton, New York, which regularly invites her for short chats about astronomical and sky phenomena. Participated as a guest host for the NCPR "Readers and Writers on the Air" series of call-in discussions with authors of current books. She discussed Galileo's Daughter with the author Dava Sobel and the NCPR station manager and series director, Ellen Rocco. Annibale Fantoli, author of the Vatican Observatory Publication "Galileo: For Copernicanism and for the Church" also contributed to the discussion by phone from Victoria, Canada.

STOEGER Gave a radio interview in Adelaide, Australia, on the interaction between science and theology.

TERES Provided interviews to: Dunat TV and Zenit TV, Budapest; Local TV, Kecskemet; Remeny Radio, Pecs; Miskolc Radio; Vatican Radio, Rome.

International Meetings

31 December-6 January: Palermo, Sicily, Italy. Third Meeting on the Inspiration of Astronomical Phenomena. GEORGE V. COYNE, S.J. served on the Organizing Committee and gave a paper.

4-6 January: Chennai, India. International Jesuits in Science Conference. GUY CONSOLMAGNO, S.J. presented a paper.

7-11 January: San Diego, California. 197th Meeting of the American Astronomical Society. RICHARD BOYLE, S.J., and CHRISTOPHER CORBALLY, S.J. gave papers.

9-11 March: Tucson, Arizona. Annual Meeting 2001 of the International Dark-Sky Association. RICHARD BOYLE, S.J., and CHRISTOPHER CORBALLY, S.J. participated.

12-16 March: Houston, Texas. Thirty-second Lunar and Planetary Science Conference. GUY CONSOLMAGNO, S.J. was co-author of two presented papers.

11-15 June: Palermo, Sicily, Italy. Asteroids III. GUY CONSOLMAGNO, S.J. presented a paper.

17-20 June: Monte Porzio Catone, Italy. International Conference on "Cosmology Through Time." JUAN CASANOVAS, S.J. and GEORGE V. COYNE, S.J. gave papers.

28 July-4 August: Star Island, New Hampshire. Annual Conference of the Institute on Religion in an Age of Science. CHRISTOPHER CORBALLY, S.J. participated and chaired the IRAS Council and Annual Meeting.

5-9 September: Malaga, Spain. European Jesuits in Science. LOUIS CARUANA, S.J. and GEORGE V. COYNE, S.J. participated.

10-14 September: Rome, Italy. 64th Annual Meeting, Meteoritical Society. GUY CONSOLMAGNO, S.J. chaired and GEORGE V. COYNE, S.J. served on the Local Organizing Committee. CONSOLMAGNO was co-author on two papers.

5-8 November: Boston, Massachusetts. Geological Society of America, Annual Meeting. GUY CONSOLMAGNO, S.J. was co-author of a paper.

17-20 November: Denver, Colorado. Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Religion. CHRISTOPHER CORBALLY, S.J. presented awards at the Institute on Religion in an Age of Science's reception during the meeting.

19-21 November: Vatican City. Plenary Session of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences on the Challenges for Science Education for the Twenty-First Century. GEORGE V. COYNE, S.J. gave a paper.

27 November-1 December: New Orleans, Louisiana. Annual Meeting, Division for Planetary Sciences, American Astronomical Society. GUY CONSOLMAGNO, S.J. was co-author of two papers.

29 December-2 January: Pune, India. Workshop on Modern Science and Contemporary Religions. GEORGE V. COYNE, S.J. participated and gave a paper.