The Alumni Memorial Union ballrooms were filled to capacity Wednesday night with people who came to hear the Vatican Observatory Director the Rev. George Coyne's speech, "Dance of the Fertile Universe: Chance and Destiny Embrace."

"Most of you came tonight to hear me discuss the question 'did the universe come about by chance or destiny?', but you're not going to because that question is wrong according to modern science, therefore every answer to that question is wrong," Coyne said.

Popular opinion states that if the universe came about by chance then there is no need for a God, and if the universe came about by necessity then God had to design it. Coyne argued that it was both "chance and destiny that has led to the fertile universe which you and I know."

According to Coyne, "evolution is the best scientific explanation for the scientific facts of the universe." However, he also emphasized that evolution is compatible with Catholic thinking.

"If evolution was purely chance then it would exclude God, but it does not exclude God because evolution is not purely chance but a statistical destiny of probability," Coyne said. "Why is it hard to believe that over billions of years particles would eventually collide and create the chemical makeup of life?"

"From the death of old stars brings about the life of new ones, from this creates the chemical elements that compose organic life…all in all Homo sapiens are organic beings composed of stardust," Coyne continued.

Coyne said during his lecture that he is on a sort of "crusade" against the movement promoting the teaching of Intelligent Design in classrooms.

"Teaching Intelligent Design as an alternative to evolution is something we have to fight against in the scientific community because Intelligent Design is simply outside the realm of science.

"Science completely excludes whether or not God had anything to do with the creation of the universe. There's 1,500 years between the beginning of the writing of the Bible and the beginning of modern science. So to say one is reflected in the other is incorrect.

"As Galileo said, scripture was written to teach us how to go to heaven, not how heaven goes,'" Coyne said.

Coyne went on to say that the laws of the universe indeed reflect God's will, as "God is a god of love who in creating the universe and continually creating the universe is making a universe that has the capability of responding to him."

Coyne's lecture is a part of a lecture series sponsored by the physics department and was endowed by College of Arts & Sciences alumnus and former board of trustees member Mercedes Hurley Hughes to "encourage young people with hearts of science."

"The Jesuits are outstanding in all scientific fields and bringing Coyne, who is a Jesuit priest and one of the foremost astronomers in the world, gives back to the Marquette community," Hughes said.

"I am delighted that Mrs. Hughes has endowed this lecture series and thus brought this kind of thinking to Marquette. If we can't discuss the relations of science and religion at Marquette, where can we?" said Ruth Howes, chair of the physics department.

Coyne concluded his lecture with a piece of advice for Marquette students: "Be very diligent in following what your teachers teach, but not too diligent. Be creative, and don't just accept what you're told, but think about it and challenge it."