author
J. A. (John Augustine) Zahm
1851–1921
A Holy Cross priest, scientist, and travel writer, he spent his life showing that serious faith and serious inquiry could belong together. His books range from science and exploration to the history of women in science, giving his work an unusually wide horizon.
3 Audiobooks
Woman in Science With an Introductory Chapter on Woman's Long Struggle for Things of the Mind
by J. A. (John Augustine) Zahm
Up the Orinoco and down the Magdalena
by J. A. (John Augustine) Zahm
From Berlin to Bagdad and Babylon
by J. A. (John Augustine) Zahm
About the author
Born in Ohio in 1851, John Augustine Zahm entered the University of Notre Dame as a teenager, graduated with honors, and was ordained a Catholic priest in the Congregation of Holy Cross in 1875. He went on to become one of Notre Dame’s best-known early professors and a leading advocate for the study of science at a Catholic university.
Zahm wrote on many subjects, often in a lively, accessible way. He published works on science, religion, travel, and history, and he sometimes used the pen name H. J. Mozans. He is especially remembered for arguing that scientific discovery and Christian belief need not be enemies, a position that made him an important and sometimes controversial voice in his time.
He also had an adventurous side. Zahm traveled widely, wrote about South America and other regions, and helped shape the intellectual culture of Notre Dame during its formative years. He died in Munich in 1921, leaving behind a body of work that reflects both curiosity about the natural world and a broad interest in human learning.