Claim: Stephen Hawking is a scientist.

The Pontifical Academy of Sciences -LRB- Pontificia accademia delle scienze , Pontificia Academia Scientiarum -RRB- is a scientific academy of the Vatican City , established in 1936 by Pope Pius XI , and thriving with the blessing of the Papacy ever since . Its aim is to promote the progress of the mathematical , physical , and natural sciences and the study of related epistemological problems . The Academy has its origins in the Accademia Pontificia dei Nuovi Lincei -LRB- `` Pontifical Academy of the New Lynxes '' -RRB- , founded in 1847 as a more closely supervised successor to the Accademia dei Lincei -LRB- `` Academy of Lynxes '' -RRB- established in Rome in 1603 by the learned Roman Prince , Federico Cesi -LRB- 1585 -- 1630 -RRB- , who was a young botanist and naturalist , and which claimed Galileo Galilei as its president . The Accademia dei Lincei survives as a wholly separate institution .   The Academy of Sciences , one of the Pontifical academies at the Vatican in Rome , is headquartered in the Casina Pio IV in the heart of the Vatican Gardens .  The academy holds a membership roster of the most respected names in 20th century science , including such Nobel laureates as Ernest Rutherford , Max Planck , Otto Hahn , Niels Bohr , Erwin Schrödinger , and Charles Hard Townes .