Bishop Steno, the canonized fossil hunter
“In 1659 he decided not to accept anything simply written in a book, instead resolving to do research himself,” says Wikipedia about the now-late Bishop Steno, and goes on to give other bits of his history:
Steno’s landmark theory that the fossil record was a chronology of different living creatures in different eras was a sine qua non for Darwin’s theory of natural selection. Another principle, known simply as Steno’s law, or Steno’s law of constant angles, states that the angles between corresponding faces on crystals are the same for all specimens of the same mineral, a fundamental breakthrough that formed the basis of all subsequent inquiries into crystal structure.
(Thanks to investigator Sylvie Coyaud for bringing this to our attention.)
I would take issue with the headline in your little article about Bishop Steno. As far as I can tell, Steno has only been declared a “beatus”, not a “sanctus”. Beatification is not the same thing as canonization. The word “canonization” is, strictly speaking, applied only to full-fledged sainted. The Blessed Nicolas is only, so to speak, a Saint First Class, and can’t claim the title.
Strictly speaking, Nicolas Steno has been BEATIFIED, not canonized, which makes him the Blessed Nicolas Steno, not Saint Nicolas Steno. The word “canonized” refers only to those who have been through all of the steps of the santification process. Steno’s essentially a Saint second class. He’s made it past the Venerable stage into being Blessed and has to clear all the hurdles into Sainthood. Lots of holy folks stall at being Blessed for years, and some may never be canonized.