Clerics and Priests as Scientists in the Spanish Golden Age

Abstract

The Spanish Golden Age was a very fruitful period in disciplines as varied as literature, painting and religion, while giving rise to the first global empire. However, the scientific-technological aspect of this period is little known, especially with regard to clerical and religious scientists, among whom are figures such as the Dominican Domingo de Soto, who contributed to physics with the concept of mass and the constant acceleration of bodies in free fall; the Jesuit José de Acosta, considered the founder of biogeography; Nicolás Monardes, a pioneer in pharmacognosy who in his later years wore the habit of St. Peter and likely became a priest; Benito Daza de Valdés, who was most likely a Dominican and authored the first treatise on physiological optics; and Juan Caramuel, a bishop and polymath who conceptualized the binary system. This could support the idea expressed by some authors that scientific questions often arise in an environment with a deep interest in the transcendental, as is the case with these clerics presented here.