Pierre
Teilhard de Chardin,
paleontologist, Jesuit priest and philosopher, was born in Auvergne,
France. He lectured in science at the Jesuit College in Cairo, became
professor of geology at the Intitut Catholique in Paris, and studied
at the Institute of Human Paleontology at the Museum of Natural
History in Paris. In 1922 he obtained his doctorate and a year later
left France on a paleontological expedition to China, where he stayed
until 1946.
His many writings include Building the Earth, Le Milieu Divin, Trialogues at the Edge of the West, various essays. His major work, The Phenomenon of Man (written 1938-40) was posthumously published. Based on Teilhardís scientific thinking, it argues the humanity is in a continuous process of evolution towards a perfect spiritual state.
Today Teilhard is best known for his unique evolutionary cosmology which supporters believe predicted the arrival of a global "internet" more than half a century before its creation. Teilhard described this "Noosphere" as a global network of trade, communication, exchange of knowledge and cooperative research which would ultimately weave into a sphere of collective thought. He also imagined this next evolutionary stage of humanity as a complex membrane of information enveloping the globe and fueled by human consciousness. Teilhard maintained that humankinds combined achievements, the only realized purpose in the universe, would be secured and advanced through this global network of collective minds.
Designed by: Don Kildebeck
King, U. (1996). Spirit of Fire: The Life & Vision of Teilhard de Chardin. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books.
Birx, J. (1993). Interpreting Evolution: Darwin and Teilhard de Chardin. Amherst, NY: Prometheus Books.
Wall, B. (1960). Le Milieu Divin (translation). London: William Collins and Sons & Co.Ltd.
http://www.biology.semo.edu/web/courses/ui415/teilhard.html