Joseph Bayma

Who was Joseph Bayma?

Joseph Bayma was a mathematician, philosopher, and scientist. He is known for work relating to stereochemistry and mathematics.

He entered the Society of Jesus on February 5, 1832. He was in charge of the episcopal seminary of Bertinoro when political troubles in 1860 led to his move to England. At Stonyhurst College he took up philosophy and taught it for some seven years. This led to his producing three volumes of "Realis Philosophia." These were for private presses, and the volumes are not reliable as evidence of his mature opinions. In 1868 he left England for California. He believed technology could be abused but could improve society.

In California he would be Rector of Saint Ignatius' College, San Francisco, for three years, and is listed as a past President of the University of San Francisco. He resided at Santa Clara, teaching elementary mathematics there. He would work in Santa Clara until his death. At his death he left behind, in manuscript, an elaborate new edition of the "Realis Philosophia" which never saw the light. His published works are "Molecular Mechanics"; "The Love of Religious Perfection", originally in Italian, in the style of "The Imitation of Christ"; articles in "The Catholic World", XVII-XXI, the best printed account of his philosophy; two articles in the "Am. Cath. Q. Rev.", II; and "A Discussion with an Infidel", being a review of Büchner's "Force and Matter". His elementary works on mathematics, all published in San Francisco, are "Algebra", "Geometry", "Analytical Geometry", "Plane and Spherical Trigonometry", and "Infinitesimal Calculus".