Simon J. Schaffer (born 1 January 1955) is a historian of science, previously a professor of the history and philosophy of science at the Department of History and Philosophy of Science at the

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

and was editor of '' The British Journal for the History of Science'' from 2004 to 2009.

Early life and education

Schaffer was born in Southampton in 1955. His family moved to

Brisbane Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...

, Australia that same year, returning to the UK in 1965 to live in

Brighton Brighton ( ) is a seaside resort in the city status in the United Kingdom, city of Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, England, south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze Age Britain, Bronze Age, R ...

. His father, Bernard, was an academic social scientist who was a professorial fellow at the

Institute of Development Studies An institute is an organizational body created for a certain purpose. They are often research organisations (research institutes) created to do research on specific topics, or can also be a professional body. In some countries, institutes ca ...

at the

University of Sussex The University of Sussex is a public university, public research university, research university located in Falmer, East Sussex, England. It lies mostly within the city boundaries of Brighton and Hove. Its large campus site is surrounded by the ...

from 1966 until his death in 1984. Simon's mother, Sheila, who died in 2010, was a university librarian and Labour councillor who was Mayor of Brighton in 1995. Schaffer attended Varndean Grammar School for Boys in Brighton before studying

Natural Sciences Natural science or empirical science is one of the branches of science concerned with the description, understanding and prediction of natural phenomena, based on empirical evidence from observation and experimentation. Mechanisms such as peer ...

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any ...

, specialising in the history and philosophy of science in his final year. While at Trinity, he captained the winning college team in the 1974 '' University Challenge''. After completing his undergraduate degree, Schaffer went to

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

for a year as a Kennedy Scholar to study the history of science. He returned to Cambridge in 1976, and gained his PhD in 1980 with the thesis ''Newtonian cosmology and the steady state'', while Fellow of

St John's College, Cambridge St John's College, formally the College of St John the Evangelist in the University of Cambridge, is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge, founded by the House of Tudor, Tudor matriarch L ...

Career

During the early 1980s, Schaffer taught at Imperial College London. Since 1985, he has been a Fellow of Darwin College, Cambridge. He has also taught at the

University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school the ...

. He has authored or co-authored numerous books, including '' Leviathan and the Air-Pump: Hobbes, Boyle, and the Experimental Life'' with Steven Shapin. In addition to his work at Cambridge, he has been a presenter on the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

, in particular the series '' Light Fantastic'' broadcast on BBC Four in 2004. He has been a regular contributor and reviewer for the ''

London Review of Books The ''London Review of Books'' (''LRB'') is a British literary magazine published bimonthly that features articles and essays on fiction and non-fiction subjects, which are usually structured as book reviews. History The ''London Review of Book ...

.'' Schaffer has made multiple appearances on the BBC radio discussion series ''In Our Time''.

Awards and honours

In 2005, Schaffer shared the Erasmus Prize with Steven Shapin for ''Leviathan and the Air-Pump''. In 2013, he received the George Sarton Medal, the most prestigious honour awarded by the History of Science Society, in recognition of his contribution to the "history of science, not only as an academic discipline, but also as a source of broader intellectual inspiration and understanding". In 2018 he received the Dan David Prize. Schaffer was elected a

Fellow of the British Academy Fellowship of the British Academy (post-nominal letters FBA) is an award granted by the British Academy to leading academics for their distinction in the humanities and social sciences. The categories are: # Fellows – scholars resident in t ...

in 2012.

Selected bibliography

* * * Schaffer, Simon (1995). 'Accurate Measurement is an English Science,' ''The Values of Precision.'' Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press. . *

References

External links

Schaffer's page on the Department of History and Philosophy of Science website
at the University of Cambridge

—Ideas: How to Think about Science
Interviewed by Alan Macfarlane 27 June, continued 1 and 2 July 2008 (video)

Simon Schaffer's 2010 Tarner Lectures
"When the stars threw down their spears": Histories of Astronomy and Empire
Simon Schaffer's Videos at Imperial College

Simon Schaffer's contributor page for the ''London Review of Books''
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Schaffer, Simon British Jews Jewish philosophers 1955 births Living people Harvard University alumni Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge Fellows of Darwin College, Cambridge Fellows of St John's College, Cambridge British historians of science British philosophers of science History journal editors