Elizabeth Anne Garber (1939–2020) was an American

historian of science The history of science covers the development of science from ancient history, ancient times to the present. It encompasses all three major branches of science: natural science, natural, social science, social, and formal science, formal. Pr ...

known for her work on

James Clerk Maxwell James Clerk Maxwell (13 June 1831 – 5 November 1879) was a Scottish physicist and mathematician who was responsible for the classical theory of electromagnetic radiation, which was the first theory to describe electricity, magnetism an ...

and the history of physics. She was a professor of history for many years at

Stony Brook University Stony Brook University (SBU), officially the State University of New York at Stony Brook, is a public university, public research university in Stony Brook, New York, United States, on Long Island. Along with the University at Buffalo, it is on ...

Biography

Elizabeth Anne Wolfe was born in England in 1939. She studied mathematics, physics, and geology at the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a collegiate university, federal Public university, public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The ...

. After moving to the United States and marrying physicist Donald Garber, she earned a Ph.D. from

Case Western Reserve University Case Western Reserve University (CWRU) is a Private university, private research university in Cleveland, Ohio, United States. It was established in 1967 by a merger between Western Reserve University and the Case Institute of Technology. Case ...

with a dissertation on Maxwell. She became a faculty member at

, and retired in 2008. Garber died from complications of Alzheimer's disease at home on July 1, 2020.

Books

Garber was the author of: *''The Language of Physics: The Calculus and the Development of Theoretical Physics in Europe, 1750–1914'' (Birkhäuser, 1999) Garber co-edited several books collecting the works of James Clerk Maxwell: *''Maxwell on Saturn's Rings'' (edited with Stephen G. Brush and C. W. F. Everitt, MIT Press, 1983) *''Maxwell on Molecules and Gases'' (edited with Stephen G. Brush and C. W. F. Everitt, MIT Press, 1986) *''Maxwell on Heat and Statistical Mechanics: On "Avoiding All Personal Enquiries of Molecules"'' (edited with Stephen G. Brush and C. W. F. Everitt, Associated University Presses, 1995) Garber also edited: *''Beyond History of Science: Essays in Honor of Robert E. Schofield'' (Lehigh University Press, 1990)

Recognition

Garber was named a

Fellow of the American Physical Society The American Physical Society honors members with the designation ''Fellow'' for having made significant accomplishments to the field of physics. The following lists are divided chronologically by the year of designation. * List of fellows of the ...

in 1989 "for her research in the history of physics, including the development of kinetic theory and molecular science in the 19th century."

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Garber, Elizabeth 1939 births 2020 deaths American historians of science American women historians Alumni of the University of London Stony Brook University faculty Fellows of the American Physical Society 21st-century American women