Historical relations between the Roman Catholic Church and modern science are best epitomised in the case of Galileo Galilei. Condemned in 1616 for advancing the theory of a moving earth and a stationary sun, he was only fully exonerated in 1992. Yet apart from relatively few and specialised studies, there have been no extensive historical treatments of Catholic attitudes toward science after Galileo. This is the first general history of the reactions of the Roman Catholic Church to developments in the natural sciences from about 1800 to the dawn of the twenty-first century. While Galileo's heliocentric universe had challenged the inerrancy of the Bible, Darwin's theories challenged the divine origin of the universe and the direct and immediate creation of the human soul. Through O'Leary's cast of characters we get a clear picture of the back and forth volleys between representatives of the scientific and religious establishments.