In 1978, twenty STURP specialists from different scientific disciplines studied the Shroud for five days, concluding from their data that the image was that of a “scourged, crucified man.” Information not observable to the naked eye showed a mass of injuries, wounds in the wrists and feet and innumerable bloodstains. In 1973 two US physicists, John Jackson and Eric Jumper, who went on to found the Shroud of Turin Research Project (STURP), made computer scans of the photos of the Shroud and thereby “transformed the photograph into a three-dimensional map of the body.” This was sufficient to show that the image was not a painting – for “how could a two-dimensional painting ever include three-dimensional information of a real body?” Thus, ever since the dramatic discovery – from the first photograph of the Shroud taken in 1898 by photographer Secundo Pia – that the image is a photographic negative, its secrets have slowly yielded to further investigation. Lay people not versed in the dense technical complexities described here (such as this reviewer) must take it on trust that science, though often inconclusive, debatable and provisional, can still reach certain demonstrable conclusions. What is the scientific evidence for this? Verschuuren’s study goes into some detail on the different investigations that have played their part in the ongoing Shroud research and their findings. However, to speak of “the Man of the Shroud” is to accept that the image on the cloth is of a real man and is not a painted icon. To come to this conclusion does not, of course, imply they have taken the spiritual step of identifying the Man of the Shroud with Christ of the Gospels. He has dedicated the book “To all scientists who have defended the authenticity of the Shroud of Turin.” This includes the many agnostic scientists and technicians who have become involved in trying to unravel the mystery posed by the Shroud over recent decades, and who have concluded on purely scientific grounds that it is not a fake. The chief value of what he has written, particularly for our modern age, is to demonstrate that there need be no conflict between the two. However, in this study Verschuuren remains faithful to his twin vocations, both as a Catholic and as a scientist, achieving an admirable balance in a highly controversial area. People who read the title of this book will probably divide into two camps: those who already believe the piece of cloth known as the Holy Shroud and preserved in Turin cathedral to be the actual winding sheet of the crucified Christ and those who think the author has allowed his objective scientific judgement to be overborne by his subjective faith. A Catholic Scientist Champions the Shroud of Turinīy Gerard Verschuuren, Sophia Institute Press, 2021, 240 pages