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He was born in Weston-super-Mare, Somerset, England
to a devout Church of England family.
He was the third of three children and his father was George Polkinghorne, a Post Office worker and his mother's name was Dorothy Charlton, the daughter of a groom who was skilled horseman as both a rider and a trainer. -
John attends Perse school in Cambridge. He travels there daily by train. While he was there, he did exceedingly well in mathematics, and took his tests in pure mathematics, applied mathematics, and physics. He went on to winning a Major Scholarship to Trinity College, Cambridge, and left Perse School in 1948
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John Polkinghorne enters Trinity College, Cambridge.
He takes mathematics and quantum mechanics and spends his time as a research student. He meets his future wife, Ruth Martin. They both graduate in 1952. He graduates with a master's degree in Mathematics -
John and Ruth get married
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His first child Peter is born
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In 1974, John Polkinghorne is awarded a doctorate degree in Elementary Particle Physics as well as being recognized for creating a mathematical model showing the trajectory of quantum particles. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=35Tp8UqdaEU
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In 1977, Polkinghorne decides to join the Church of England. He wrote, "The most fundamental reason for thinking about such an unconventional move was simply that Christianity has always been central to my life. Therefore, becoming a minister of word and sacrament would be a privileged vocation that held out the possibility of deep satisfaction." -- John Polkinghorne, 1977
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In 1983, John Polkinghorne publishes The Way the World is, a book that helped bridge the relationship between science and religion, the study of which he's most renowned for.
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His later works include The Faith of a Physicist: Reflections of a Bottom-Up Thinker (1994), Faith Science and Understanding (2000), The God of Hope and the End of the World (2002), Science and the Trinity: Christian Encounter with Reality (2004), and Quantum Physics and Theology: An Unexpected Kinship (2007)
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In 1997, Polkinghorne was knighted for his disntiguished service to science, knighthood, and medical ethics.
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John C. Polkinghorne is awarded the Templeton Prize in 2002. An excerpt is provided for his commendation, it read: "John C. Polkinghorne is a mathematical physicist and Anglican priest whose treatment of theology as a natural science invigorated the search for interface between science and religion and made him a leading figure in this emerging field. -- Templeton Award excerpt 2002
He also became the Founding President of the International Society for Science and Religion. -
- The Gifford Lectures.http://www.giffordlectures.org/lecturers/lecturers/john-plokinghorne. Accessed 26 June 2020.
- Turner, Darrell J. John Polkinghorne: English Physicist and Scientist. Britannica, 2020, https://www.britannica.com/biography/John-Polkinghorne
- MacTutor. https://mathshistory.st-andrews.ac.uk/Biographies/Polkinghorne/. Accessed 26 June 2020.
