MEN OF SCIENCE AND FAITH IN GOD
Nicolaus Steno (1638-1686)

Benjamin L. Clausen
Geoscience Research Institute

Geoscience Reports 29:8 (Spring 2000).

    Niels Stensen, often known by the latinized Nicolaus Steno, is considered to be one of the greatest among Danish naturalists. During his studies in Amsterdam he discovered what came to be known as "Stensen's duct", the excretory duct of the parotid gland providing the mouth with saliva for digestion.
    By order of the Danish King, he served as the royal anatomist for 2 years. A line from a public lecture given during this time has been widely quoted: "Beautiful is that which we see, more beautiful that which we know, but by far the most beautiful that which we do not comprehend."
    Steno's interests included the characteristics and origins of minerals, rocks, and fossils so that his geological studies took him to Tuscany and the mountains of central Italy in 1667 and 1668. In the summer of 1668 he wrote his most famous treatise which was published the following April — the Prodromus, or "forerunner" to a dissertation (which was never written). This treatise contained so many new observations and views that Charles Lyell said, "from the contents of the Prodromus a work might be composed under the title Principles of Geology". Among the basic principles mentioned in this work include: the law of superposition — if a series of sedimentary rocks has not been overturned, the upper layers are younger and the lower layers are older; and the law of horizontality — although strata may be found dipping steeply, they were initially deposited nearly horizontal. According to Steno's interpretation, Tuscany had twice been flooded by the sea. The older marine strata were deposited in the universal ocean after the second day of Creation and he attributed the younger sediments to the Universal Flood of the Scriptures.
    Steno had a conversion experience on All Souls' Day 1667 and was ordained a Catholic priest in 1675. The remainder of his life was spent in ministerial work which included presiding over a vast but poor diocese in northern Germany and Scandinavia. He took a vow of voluntary poverty and gave all his belongings to the poor. After an ordeal of poverty and fasting, he died on 26 November 1686.

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