If you wish to see Marie Curie’s scientific notebook at the National Library in Paris, you must don protective clothing and sign a waiver before reaching into the lead box.  Her scientific journal, already about 100 years old, is contaminated with Radium 226, and will remain radioactive for at least another 1500 years.  Madame Curie, the renowned chemist and scientist, dedicated her life to scientific inquiry and experimentation around radioactive energy.  Her body, buried in a lead-lined casket is still radioactive to this day.  

In From Wonder to Mastery, engineer and educator John Mays argues that “Wonder is the starting point – the sine qua non – for all instruction in science”.  It is that very wonder that caused Copernicus to stare at the night sky in 1543 and hypothesize that the sun was actually the center of the universe.  It is wonder that led scientists in 1996  to hypothesize there was once life on Mars when they found biological material on meteorite ALH84001.

Wonder drives the classical approach to science.  Wonder is “the fountain from which flows curiosity, and curiosity is in turn the precursor to discovery” (Mays).  That is why we engage in the scientific method here at Libertas Academy.  The scientific method is based on wonder, whether it be “why” or “how” or “what will happen?”  

It is not enough to just learn about science.  Anyone can digest a bunch of facts without meaning.  Instead, we engage with science.  The classical approach to science education is deeper and far more profound than just the ingesting of information.  It is living and breathing and working with God’s creation by approaching it with wonder.  

And this is why the classical, Christian approach to science is excellent.  As believers, we know that the beauty and order of the cosmos didn’t happen by accident or through a chance collision of molecules billions of years ago.  The beauty and order of science reflects the beauty and order of our God.  Science is a gift from God and points us to Him.  

Renowned French chemist and biologist, Louis Pasteur said “A bit of science distances one from God, but much science nears one to Him.”  That is who we are here at Libertas Academy: scientists disguised as students and teachers, engaging in wonder as we learn more about His creation.  

Holly Kalton
Head of School, Libertas Academy