Grzegorz P. Karwasz, physicist and engineer of the Nicolaus Copernicus University of Toruń, analyzed at the University of Navarra the constant movement of boundaries between physics, metaphysics and theology. He did so at the framework of the seminar of the group 'Science, Reason and Faith' (CRYF) held on Tuesday, November 13.

During the same, he recalled that Pope Benedict XVI, in 1981, when he was a cardinal, affirmed that, in general, it seems that the history of Christianity in the last 400 years has been that of a constant defense: a battle in which, step by step, many contents have been abandoned. It would be difficult to avoid the impression that we are retreating little by little into an empty space, until a time comes when there will be nothing to defend because the entire domain of Scripture will be occupied by reason, no longer allowing the latter to exist.

Against this approach, Professor Karwasz disagreed and explained that the interrelation between physics, metaphysics and theology is constant, in all directions. To explain this, he focused his speech on three points. First, on the cosmological discussion about the beginning of the world between Plato and Aristotle, between St. Thomas and the University of Paris, and even between Kant and 20th century astronomers, mentioning George Lemaître, Hubble and Einstein. Secondly, in the interpretation of the genetic data pointing to a "common ancestor" of humans some 120-160 thousand years ago and the question of the cause of this rapid evolution. Thirdly, in the reflection on the great diversity of organic and inorganic compounds made possible by the existence of particles that follow the Fermi-Dirac statistics and the Pauli exclusion principle.

The speaker, Grzegorz P. Karwasz is a physicist and engineer. He has been researcher at the National high school for Physics of the subject, doing research and teaching at the School of Physics and at the School of Engineering of the University of Trento. He has also spent time at research in Detroit, Berlin, Canberra and Gunsan (South Korea), working in the field of atomic and nuclear physics. In 1996, he started working at high school Physics at Słupsk Pedagogical University, where he directed from 1998 to 2006 the department Spectroscopy. He obtained his habilitation in experimental physics in 1997. Currently, since 2006, he is the head of the department of Physics Didactics at the Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń. He has received the Medal of the National Commission of Education of Poland. He is a member of the committee Program of the Józef Rotbalta Foundation.