PHYSICS, FAITH AND A MOBILE PHONE

The Miracles offers a satirical take on a present-day academia and the Church—made possible by time travel and a physicist unintentionally arriving in Renaissance Italy. It’s purely coincidence that, circa 1498, Michelangelo, Copernicus, and Cardinal della Rovere (soon to be Pope Julius II) were in Bologna, with Leonardo da Vinci just down the road.

De Biaggi is a brilliant physicist whose research into time travel is mocked by academic colleagues. Due to his religious zeal, they laugh that he seeks to visit Jesus. De Biaggi decides to return to Bologna at the time of his grandmother, 1937, and to make profound breakthroughs that he can attribute to divine inspiration. He arrives in 1498. His breakthroughs require, at the very least, an understanding of Einstein. His scheme fails. Christ and physics remain disunited. Unforeseen, the tech he has brought with him enables him to perform seeming miracles. He can use his mobile phone to play e.g. Ave Maria emanating from wherever in the church he chooses to hide his phone. Bishop Richter, Copernicus, Da Vinci and Michelangelo certify that miracles are occurring. Cardinal della Rovere and Copernicus secure DeBiaggi a position at the University of Bologna.

All is not lost.