Presidential Address

British Journal for the History of Science

Volumn 30, Issue 1, 1997, Pages 5-23

  Cantor, Geoffrey ^a  

^a UNIVERSITY OF LEEDS   (United Kingdom)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

EID: 0346158701     PISSN: 00070874     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1017/S0007087496002865     Document Type: Conference Paper

References (103)

1. Paul Forman, 'Independence, not transcendence, for the historian', Isis (1991), 82, 71-86. On the role of anniversaries see Pnina Abir-Am, 'An historical ethnography of a scientific anniversary in molecular biology: the first protein X-ray photograph (1984, 1934)', Social Epistemology (1992), 6, 323-54.
2. Paul Forman, 'Independence, not transcendence, for the historian', Isis (1991), 82, 71-86. On the role of anniversaries see Pnina Abir-Am, 'An historical ethnography of a scientific anniversary in molecular biology: the first protein X-ray photograph (1984, 1934)', Social Epistemology (1992), 6, 323-54.
3. H. W. Dickinson, 'J. O. Halliwell and the Historical Society of Science (London, 1841)', Isis (1932), 18, 127-32. The Society's papers are in Edinburgh University Library, MS LOA 3/40. See also A Collection of Letters Illustrative of the Progress of Science in England from the Reign of Queen Elizabeth to that of Charles the Second (ed. J. O. HalHwell), London, 1941.
4. H. W. Dickinson, 'J. O. Halliwell and the Historical Society of Science (London, 1841)', Isis (1932), 18, 127-32. The Society's papers are in Edinburgh University Library, MS LOA 3/40. See also A Collection of Letters Illustrative of the Progress of Science in England from the Reign of Queen Elizabeth to that of Charles the Second (ed. J. O. HalHwell), London, 1941.
5. Jane Smeal Thompson and Helen G. Thompson, Silvanus Phillips Thompson. His Life and Letters, London, 1920, 228. The Gilbert Club produced William Gilbert, On the Magnet, Magnetick Bodies also, and on the Great Magnet of the Earth, etc, London, 1900.
6. Jane Smeal Thompson and Helen G. Thompson, Silvanus Phillips Thompson. His Life and Letters, London, 1920, 228. The Gilbert Club produced William Gilbert, On the Magnet, Magnetick Bodies also, and on the Great Magnet of the Earth, etc, London, 1900.
7. Much useful biographical information is to be found in Julia Sheppard, 'Illustrations from the Wellcome Institute Library. Charles Joseph Singer, DM, DLitt, DSc, FRCP (1876-1960): papers in the Contemporary Medical Archives Centre', Medical History (1987), 31, 466-71, and in the obituaries by A. Rupert Hall (Isis (1961), 51, 558-60), E. Ashworth Underwood (History of Medicine (1960), 4, 353-8) and Edwin Clarke (Journal of the History of Medicine (1961), 16, 411-19). A bibliography of Singer's publications to 1953 is contained in Science, Medicine and History (ed. E. Ashworth Underwood), 2 vols., Oxford, 1953, ii, 555-81.
8. Much useful biographical information is to be found in Julia Sheppard, 'Illustrations from the Wellcome Institute Library. Charles Joseph Singer, DM, DLitt, DSc, FRCP (1876-1960): papers in the Contemporary Medical Archives Centre', Medical History (1987), 31, 466-71, and in the obituaries by A. Rupert Hall (Isis (1961), 51, 558-60), E. Ashworth Underwood (History of Medicine (1960), 4, 353-8) and Edwin Clarke (Journal of the History of Medicine (1961), 16, 411-19). A bibliography of Singer's publications to 1953 is contained in Science, Medicine and History (ed. E. Ashworth Underwood), 2 vols., Oxford, 1953, ii, 555-81.
9. Much useful biographical information is to be found in Julia Sheppard, 'Illustrations from the Wellcome Institute Library. Charles Joseph Singer, DM, DLitt, DSc, FRCP (1876-1960): papers in the Contemporary Medical Archives Centre', Medical History (1987), 31, 466-71, and in the obituaries by A. Rupert Hall (Isis (1961), 51, 558-60), E. Ashworth Underwood (History of Medicine (1960), 4, 353-8) and Edwin Clarke (Journal of the History of Medicine (1961), 16, 411-19). A bibliography of Singer's publications to 1953 is contained in Science, Medicine and History (ed. E. Ashworth Underwood), 2 vols., Oxford, 1953, ii, 555-81.
10. Much useful biographical information is to be found in Julia Sheppard, 'Illustrations from the Wellcome Institute Library. Charles Joseph Singer, DM, DLitt, DSc, FRCP (1876-1960): papers in the Contemporary Medical Archives Centre', Medical History (1987), 31, 466-71, and in the obituaries by A. Rupert Hall (Isis (1961), 51, 558-60), E. Ashworth Underwood (History of Medicine (1960), 4, 353-8) and Edwin Clarke (Journal of the History of Medicine (1961), 16, 411-19). A bibliography of Singer's publications to 1953 is contained in Science, Medicine and History (ed. E. Ashworth Underwood), 2 vols., Oxford, 1953, ii, 555-81.
11. Much useful biographical information is to be found in Julia Sheppard, 'Illustrations from the Wellcome Institute Library. Charles Joseph Singer, DM, DLitt, DSc, FRCP (1876-1960): papers in the Contemporary Medical Archives Centre', Medical History (1987), 31, 466-71, and in the obituaries by A. Rupert Hall (Isis (1961), 51, 558-60), E. Ashworth Underwood (History of Medicine (1960), 4, 353-8) and Edwin Clarke (Journal of the History of Medicine (1961), 16, 411-19). A bibliography of Singer's publications to 1953 is contained in Science, Medicine and History (ed. E. Ashworth Underwood), 2 vols., Oxford, 1953, ii, 555-81.
12. The Authorised Daily Prayer Book of the United Hebrew Congregations of the British Empire, with a New Translation by the Late Rev. S. Singer, 12th edn, London, 1924. The print run including the 11th (1920) edition was 150,000 copies.
13. V. D. Lipman, A History of the Jews in Britain since 1858, London, 1990, 256.
14. C. Singer, The Christian Failure, London, 1943, 107-8.
15. E. Kessler (ed.), An English Jew. The Life and Writings of Claude Montefiore London, 1989, 12. Singer travelled with Montefiore to America to hire Rabbi Israel Mattuck to serve this new Liberal congregation. See also Anne J. Kershen and Jonathan A. Romain, Tradition and Change. A History of Reform Judaism in Britain 1840-1995, London, 1995, 102-6.
16. E. Kessler (ed.), An English Jew. The Life and Writings of Claude Montefiore London, 1989, 12. Singer travelled with Montefiore to America to hire Rabbi Israel Mattuck to serve this new Liberal congregation. See also Anne J. Kershen and Jonathan A. Romain, Tradition and Change. A History of Reform Judaism in Britain 1840-1995, London, 1995, 102-6.
17. Cited in Chaim Bermant, Troubled Eden. An Anatomy of British Jewry, London, 1969, 235.
18. C. Singer, 'What Judaism means to me', Liberal Jewish Monthly (1938), 8, 71-4, on 73.
19. Singer, op. cit. (7), 117.
20. Singer, op. cit. (10).
21. Singer, op. cit. (7), 62-6. On scientism see Casper Hakfoort, 'Science deified. Wilhelm Ostwald's energeticist world-view and the history of scientism', Annals of Science (1992), 49, 525-44. Singer seems to have been greatly troubled by the question of human purpose and subsequently appears to have accepted the inadequacy of religion to define the purpose of life. See the MS text of his 1948 presidential address to BSHS which includes the following attached notes: 'I cannot see any system of PHILOSOPHY or RELIGION has given any inkling of purpose[,] such solutions as are offered are VERBAL./ We are made for the Glory of God[.] Man seeks to fulfil himself./ Nevertheless the desire for PURPOSE seems a specially human attribute. Since we can see no purpose outside us in this vastly complex world, we must to live at all, form our own purpose within ourselves.' Contemporary Medical Archives Centre, Wellcome Institute, Singer Papers, A56 (hereafter Singer Papers).
22. Singer, op. cit. (7), 62-6. On scientism see Casper Hakfoort, 'Science deified. Wilhelm Ostwald's energeticist world-view and the history of scientism', Annals of Science (1992), 49, 525-44. Singer seems to have been greatly troubled by the question of human purpose and subsequently appears to have accepted the inadequacy of religion to define the purpose of life. See the MS text of his 1948 presidential address to BSHS which includes the following attached notes: 'I cannot see any system of PHILOSOPHY or RELIGION has given any inkling of purpose[,] such solutions as are offered are VERBAL./ We are made for the Glory of God[.] Man seeks to fulfil himself./ Nevertheless the desire for PURPOSE seems a specially human attribute. Since we can see no purpose outside us in this vastly complex world, we must to live at all, form our own purpose within ourselves.' Contemporary Medical Archives Centre, Wellcome Institute, Singer Papers, A56 (hereafter Singer Papers).
23. Bodleian Library, MS NS/R/1/2, fol. 66. The idea of a science room was based on the Leipzig Institut where a room dedicated to the history of science had been founded in 1902. My thanks to Jack Morrell for providing me with this information.
24. Information kindly supplied by Jack Morrell. Cf. account by A. C. Crombie ('Beginnings at Oxford', Isis (1984), 75, 25-8), who omits any mention of Singer's role in Oxford history of science.
25. Paul Weindling ('Refugee physicians and the renaissance of the history of medicine', typescript) has pointed out that Henry Wellcome refused the Singers access to his well-stocked library and also declined to endow a chair in the history of medicine in 1921.
26. Singer, op. cit. (7), 119.
27. See, for example, his letter in The Times, 7 April 1933, 12. As Tony Kushner has argued (The Holocaust and the Liberal Imagination. A Social and Cultural History, Oxford, 1994) many in Britain and elsewhere were unable to comprehend the enormity and barbarity of Hitler's persecution of Jews.
28. See, for example, his letter in The Times, 7 April 1933, 12. As Tony Kushner has argued (The Holocaust and the Liberal Imagination. A Social and Cultural History, Oxford, 1994) many in Britain and elsewhere were unable to comprehend the enormity and barbarity of Hitler's persecution of Jews.
29. R. M. Cooper (ed.), Refugee Scholars: Conversations with Tess Simpson, Leeds, 1992, 249. See also W. H. Beveridge, A Defence of Free Learning, London, 1959.
30. R. M. Cooper (ed.), Refugee Scholars: Conversations with Tess Simpson, Leeds, 1992, 249. See also W. H. Beveridge, A Defence of Free Learning, London, 1959.
31. Genevieve Miller, 'Charles and Dorothea Singer's aid to Nazi victims', Koroth (1985), 8, 207-17, on 217. Sigerist had moved from Leipzig to Johns Hopkins in 1932.
32. Miller, op. cit. (20), 216. Dorothea was a Joint Honorary Secretary of the Nursing Department of the Coordinating Committee for Refugees. See Singer Papers, E/1.
33. B. Hessen, 'The social and economic roots of Newton's Principia', in Science at the Cross Roads: Papers Presented to the International Congress of the History of Science and Technology (ed. N. I. Bukharin et al.), London, 1931, 147-212. See also Loren Graham, 'The socio-political roots of Boris Hessen: Soviet Marxism and the history of science', Social Studies of Science (1985), 15, 705-22.
34. B. Hessen, 'The social and economic roots of Newton's Principia', in Science at the Cross Roads: Papers Presented to the International Congress of the History of Science and Technology (ed. N. I. Bukharin et al.), London, 1931, 147-212. See also Loren Graham, 'The socio-political roots of Boris Hessen: Soviet Marxism and the history of science', Social Studies of Science (1985), 15, 705-22.
35. C. Singer, obituary of 'Mme. H. Metzger-Brühl', Nature (1946), 157, 472.
36. C. Singer to H. Metzger, 9 May 1933; quoted by Gad Freudenthal, 'Hélène Metzger: eléments de biographie', in Corpus: Revue de philosophie. Etudes sur Hélène Metzger (ed. G. Freudenthal) Paris, 1988, 197-208, on 207.
37. C. Singer to A. Mieli, 11 June 1933; Singer Papers, A53.
38. Lenard's support for the Nazis has been graphically charted by Alan Beyerschen in his Scientists under Hitler. Politics and the Physics Community in the Third Reich, New Haven, CT, and London, 1977, ch. 5.
39. 'Philipp-Lenard-Institut at Heidelberg', Nature (1936), 133, 93-4.
40. [C. Singer], 'Heidelberg, Spinoza and academic freedom', Nature (1936), 133, 303-4. This item does not appear in the bibliography attached to Underwood, op. cit. (4).
41. Letter from the Bishop of Durham, The Times, 4 February 1936, 13.
42. Letters from Arnold Wilson (The Times, 7 February 1936, 15), Academic Freedom Committee (7 February, 15), J. B. C. Grundy (7 February, 15), M. G. Balfour (8 February, 8), J. C. Stamp (10 February, 8; and 27 February, 8), Norman Bentwich (10 February, 8), Ann Dallas (11 February, 10), Ian Hamilton (13 February, 13; and 19 February, 13), T. G. Gilmour (14 February, 10), seventeen university teachers (14 February, 10), Edwyn Bevan (15 February, 13), Charles Grant Robertson (18 February, 10), Harold Stannard (18 February, 10), Henry W. Nevison (20 February, 10), J. H. Clapham (20 February, 10), G. E. G. Catlin (21 February, 10), W. H. Beveridge (22 February, 8), F. J. W. Folliot (22 February, 8), F. Gowland Hopkins (24 February, 8), E. Graham-Little (27 February, 8), H. L. Henderson (27 February, 8), Henry E. Armstrong (28 February, 12) and R. Bruce Lockhart (29 February, 8).
43. Weiner Library, Documents Section, 599(2); Bodleian Library, Society for the Protection of Science and Learning (hereafter SPSL), Box 26, file 3 and Box 53, file 4. Singer was also very active in orchestrating responses to an article praising the current state of the German universities that appeared in the Universities Review at about the same time.
44. [Singer], op. cit. (28). See also The Times, 24 May 1933, 10, for the article on the formation of the Academic Assistance Council.
45. C. Singer to J. C. Stamp, 14 and 17 February 1936; SPSL, Box 53, file 4. Ernst Roehm and his followers among the SA (Sturm-Abteilung) were violently deposed on 30 June 1934.
46. Letter to The Times, 27 February 1936, 8. Walter Adams to Charles Singer, 27 February 1936; SPSL, Box 26, file 3.
47. Leonard Montefiore to Walter Adams, n.d. [February 1936] and 18 February 1936; SPSL, Box 53, file 4.
48. The Times, 3 March 1936; Nature (1936), 133, 394.
49. The Times, 3 March 1936; Nature (1936), 133, 394.
50. See for example anecdote in K. C. Phillips, Catching Cornwall in Flight, or the Bettermost Class of People, St Austell, 1995, 72. I am grateful to Bill Brock for this reference.
51. Miller, op. cit. (20), 210; C. Singer to P. Diepgen, 28 April 1934; Singer Papers, A63.
52. C. Singer, From Magic to Science. Essays on the Scientific Twilight, New York, 1958, pp. xv-xvii.
53. C. Singer, 'Historical relations of religion and science', in Science, Religion and Reality (ed. J. Needham), London, 1925, 85-148, especially 148.
54. C. Singer, 'What is science?', British Medical Journal (1921), 1, 954, and A Short History of Science to the Nineteenth Century, Oxford, 1941, 1-2.
55. C. Singer, 'What is science?', British Medical Journal (1921), 1, 954, and A Short History of Science to the Nineteenth Century, Oxford, 1941, 1-2.
56. Singer related his early connection with F. S. Marvin, 'that stimulating and invincible optimist, last of the English Comtians', op. cit. (39), p. xi.
57. C. Singer, 'Science and Judaism', in The Jews. Their History, Culture, and Religion (ed. Lewis Finkelstein), 2 vols., New York, 1949, ii, 1376-429, especially 1412.
58. 'Liste des membres de l'Académie internationale d'histoire des science', Archives Internationales d'Histoire des Sciences (1947-48), 1, 188-204.
59. For example, F. H. C. Butler to Lawrence [Bragg], 30 September 1944; Science Museum Library, BSHS Archive, 4/1.
60. F. H. C. Butler, 'The foundation of the British Society for the History of Science', Bulletin of the British Society for the History of Science (1949), 1, 1- 4. E. C. Egerton and J. Salisbury to F. H. C. Butler, 13 September 1946; Science Museum Library, BSHS Archive, 4/1.
61. Julian Huxley to Pierre Brunet, 29 April 1947; Science Museum Library, BSHS Archive, 4/2.
62. Archives Internationales d'Histoire des Sciences (1947-48), 1, 132-5.
63. e Congrès International d'Histoire des Sciences, Paris, 1948, 25-35. It is important to notice that Needham and Cortesao were the only new 'membres effectifs' elected to the Académie in June 1947 who had not previously been corresponding members.
64. e Congrès International d'Histoire des Sciences, Paris, 1948, 25-35. It is important to notice that Needham and Cortesao were the only new 'membres effectifs' elected to the Académie in June 1947 who had not previously been corresponding members.
65. C. Singer to John Grant, 14 July 1947; Singer Papers, A53.
66. H. Dingle to F. H. C. Butler, 24 October 1946; Science Museum Library, BSHS Archive, 4/1.
67. D'A. W. Thompson to H. Dingle, 2 November 1946; Science Museum Library, BSHS Archive, 4/5.
68. Circular from H. Dingle, 4 November 1946; Science Museum Library, BSHS Archive, 4/1.
69. Butler, op. cit. (46), 2.
70. Typed report of meeting of 22 November 1946; Science Museum Library, BSHS Archive, 4/1.
71. Undated notes in pencil; Science Museum Library, BSHS Archive, 4/1.
72. Council Minutes, 28 October 1947; Science Museum Library, BSHS Archive, 1/1.
73. Quoted in Peter Hennessy, Never Again. Britain 1945-51, London, 1992, 277.
74. Whipple was seriously ill and was unable to attend meetings.
75. For biographical information on Butler see obituary notices in The Times, 19 and 28 November 1970.
76. F. H. C. Butler to C. Singer, 20 April 1947; Singer Papers, A53; see also Singer's reply, 22 April 1947; Singer Papers, A53. Relations between Singer and Butler were not always so congenial. Singer could be impatient and tended to treat Butler as a menial. Thus shortly before the Lausanne meeting Singer berated Butler for not having circulated members with information about the Congress: 'I know the temptations of this exceptional real summer weather, but the Secretary of the British Society really must function as such!' (15 August 1947; Science Museum Library, BSHS Archive, 4/2). In a drafted response Butler expressed his exasperation - 'I think your remarks about the secretarial work are quite unjustified. I am working hard on the membership of the Society, and [H. W.] Robinson [the hon. treasurer] is too, and these innuendoes are quite uncalled for.' (Draft letter in pencil, F. H. C. Butler to C. Singer, 21 August 1947; BSHS Archive, 4/2).
77. Singer, op. cit (41), 1-2.
78. C. Singer to F. H. C. Butler, 22 April 1947; Singer Papers, A53.
79. D. McKie to C. Singer, 18 May 1948; Singer Papers, A53.
80. G. R. de Beer (FRS 1940), J. D. Bernai (1937), C. H. Desch (1923), Clifford Dobell (1918), F. G. Donnan (1911), R. A. Fisher (1919), F. E. Fritsch (1932), R. Gregory (1933), Harold Hartley (1926), Joseph Needham (1941), C. F. A. Pantin (1937), J. Read (1935), H. R. Robinson (1929), C. S. Sherrington (1893), H. Hamshaw Thomas (1934) and D'Arcy Wentworth Thompson (1916). I have also included F. J. M. Stratton who was elected to the Royal Society in 1947.
81. 'List of members on 1st June 1948', Bulletin of the British Society for the History of Science (1949), 1, 19-24, reprinted in this BJHS number. The proportion is doubtless much higher than 60 per cent since many of those with an MA degree would have studied science at Oxford or Cambridge.
82. F. H. C. Butler to C. Singer, 20 April 1947; Singer to Butler, 22 April 1947; Singer Papers, A53.
83. F. Sherwood Taylor to F. H. C. Butler, 24 April 1947; Singer Papers, 4/2.
84. C. Singer, 'The role of the history of science', Bulletin of the British Society for the History of Science (1949), 1, 16-18, reprinted in this BJHS number. See L. Thorndike, A History of Magic and Experimental Science, 8 vols., New York, 1923-58; J. R. Partington, Origins and Development of Applied Chemistry, London, 1935.
85. C. Singer, 'The role of the history of science', Bulletin of the British Society for the History of Science (1949), 1, 16-18, reprinted in this BJHS number. See L. Thorndike, A History of Magic and Experimental Science, 8 vols., New York, 1923-58; J. R. Partington, Origins and Development of Applied Chemistry, London, 1935.
86. C. Singer, 'The role of the history of science', Bulletin of the British Society for the History of Science (1949), 1, 16-18, reprinted in this BJHS number. See L. Thorndike, A History of Magic and Experimental Science, 8 vols., New York, 1923-58; J. R. Partington, Origins and Development of Applied Chemistry, London, 1935.
87. Arnold Thackray and Robert K. Merton, 'On discipline building: the paradoxes of George Sarton', Isis (1972), 63, 473-95.
88. Singer, op. cit. (69), 16.
89. e Congrès International d'Histoire des Sciences, Paris, 1948, 36-44.
90. e Congrès International d'Histoire des Sciences, Paris, 1948, 36-44.
91. e Congrès International d'Histoire des Sciences, Paris, 1948, 36-44.
92. Robert K. Merton, 'Science and technology in a democratic order', Journal of Legal and Political Sociology (1942), 1, 115-26. For a recent analysis of the cultural significance of Merton's writings of the period see David A. Hollinger, 'Science as a weapon in Kulturkämpfe in the United States during and after World War II', Isis (1995), 86, 440-54.
93. Robert K. Merton, 'Science and technology in a democratic order', Journal of Legal and Political Sociology (1942), 1, 115-26. For a recent analysis of the cultural significance of Merton's writings of the period see David A. Hollinger, 'Science as a weapon in Kulturkämpfe in the United States during and after World War II', Isis (1995), 86, 440-54.
94. George Sarton, The History of Science and the New Humanism, New York, 1956. Most of the lectures in this volume were delivered at Brown University in 1930.
95. Singer, op. cit. (69), 18.
96. Thackray and Merton, op. cit. (70).
97. 'He [Sarton] is a very charming man and the members of the Council were delighted to have an opportunity of meeting him personally in this informal way; I think Sarton enjoyed it also.' F. H. C. Butler to C. Singer, 12 March 1948; Singer Papers, A53.
98. G. Sarton, Horus. A Guide to the History of Science, Waltham, MA, 1952, especially 7-11. For a recent analysis of the role of both science and technology in the Holocaust see Z. Bauman, Modernity and the Holocaust, Cambridge, 1989.
99. G. Sarton, Horus. A Guide to the History of Science, Waltham, MA, 1952, especially 7-11. For a recent analysis of the role of both science and technology in the Holocaust see Z. Bauman, Modernity and the Holocaust, Cambridge, 1989.
100. B. Farrington, 'What must we include in the history of science?', Bulletin of the British Society for the History of Science (1949), 1, 6.
101. Archives Internationales d'Histoire des Sciences (1947-48), 1, 320-2. The other British members were Leon Rosenfeld, J. G. Crowther, Gordon Childe, Samuel Lilley and H. T. Pledge. Robert Merton, who had relinquished the political left by this time, also belonged to this group.
102. C. Singer, '[Second] Presidential address', Bulletin of the British Society for the History of Science (1949), 1, 59-63.
103. George Sarton to Charles Singer, 27 April 1955; quoted in Bern Dibner, 'Sarton letters in the Burndy Library', Isis (1984), 75, 45-9.