Lynn Thorndike (24 July 1882, in

Lynn, Massachusetts Lynn is the eighth-largest municipality in Massachusetts and the largest city in Essex County. Situated on the Atlantic Ocean, north of the Boston city line at Suffolk Downs, Lynn is part of Greater Boston's urban inner core. Settled by E ...

, USA – 28 December 1965, Columbia University Club, New York City) was an American historian of medieval science and

alchemy Alchemy (from Arabic: ''al-kīmiyā''; from Ancient Greek: χυμεία, ''khumeía'') is an ancient branch of natural philosophy, a philosophical and protoscientific tradition that was historically practiced in China, India, the Muslim wo ...

. He was the son of a clergyman, Edward R. Thorndike, and the younger brother of

Ashley Horace Thorndike Ashley Horace Thorndike (1871 – April 17, 1933) was an American educator and expert on William Shakespeare. He was the son of a clergyman Edward R Thorndike, and the brother of Lynn Thorndike, an American historian of medieval science and alche ...

, an American educator and expert on William Shakespeare, and

Edward Lee Thorndike Edward Lee Thorndike (August 31, 1874 – August 9, 1949) was an American psychologist who spent nearly his entire career at Teachers College, Columbia University. His work on comparative psychology and the learning process led to the theory o ...

, known for being the father of modern educational psychology.

Education and teaching career

Thorndike studied at

Wesleyan University Wesleyan University ( ) is a private liberal arts university in Middletown, Connecticut. Founded in 1831 as a men's college under the auspices of the Methodist Episcopal Church and with the support of prominent residents of Middletown, the col ...

, Middletown, Connecticut (Bachelor of Arts, 1902), and then medieval history at

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

(Master of Arts 1903, Doctorate 1905). Thorndike's doctoral dissertation (1905) was about "The Place of Magic in the Intellectual History of Europe", which he went on to link with the historical development of experimental science. He began teaching medieval history at

Northwestern University Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston, Illinois. Founded in 1851, Northwestern is the oldest chartered university in Illinois and is ranked among the most prestigious academic institutions in the world. Charte ...

in 1907. He moved to

Western Reserve University Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US * Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that i ...

in 1909 and stayed there until 1924. Columbia University lured him away in fall 1924 and he taught there until he retired from teaching in 1950.

Writing career

After retiring from teaching, Thorndike continued to publish for an additional ten years and in 1957 received the Sarton Medal from the

History of Science Society The History of Science Society (HSS) is the primary professional society for the academic study of the history of science. It was founded in 1924 by George Sarton, David Eugene Smith, and Lawrence Joseph Henderson, primarily to support the publi ...

. He served as the president there in 1929 and also served as president of the

American Historical Association The American Historical Association (AHA) is the oldest professional association of historians in the United States and the largest such organization in the world. Founded in 1884, the AHA works to protect academic freedom, develop professional s ...

. Counter to Swiss historian

Jacob Burckhardt Carl Jacob Christoph Burckhardt (25 May 1818 – 8 August 1897) was a Swiss historian of art and culture and an influential figure in the historiography of both fields. He is known as one of the major progenitors of cultural history. Sigfri ...

who argued that the

Italian Renaissance The Italian Renaissance ( it, Rinascimento ) was a period in Italian history covering the 15th and 16th centuries. The period is known for the initial development of the broader Renaissance culture that spread across Europe and marked the trans ...

was a separate phase, Thorndike believed that most of the political, social, moral and religious phenomena which are commonly defined as Renaissance seemed to be almost equally characteristic of Italy at any time from the twelfth to the eighteenth centuries. Among his books on magic and science are: ''A History of Magic and Experimental Science'' (8 vol., 1923–1958), spanning the period from early Christianity through early modern Europe to the end of the 17th century. In that book, he commented about the best way to find historical truth:Lynn Thorndike (1934) ''A History of Magic and Experimental Science: Fourteenth and fifteenth centuries'', pp. 253–254. Columbia University Press.

Some investigators of manuscripts, like certain anthropologists and archeologists, seem to think that they attain a higher degree of scholarship, if they propound some novel and improbable theory and adduce a certain amount of evidence for it. This is hardly the direct or rapid method of attaining historical truth.

Another book by Thorndike about magic and science is ''Science and Thought in the Fifteenth Century'' (1929). Thorndike also wrote ''The History of Medieval Europe'' (1917, 3d ed. 1949) and translated the medieval astronomical textbook ''

De sphaera mundi ''De sphaera mundi'' (Latin title meaning ''On the Sphere of the World'', sometimes rendered ''The Sphere of the Cosmos''; the Latin title is also given as ''Tractatus de sphaera'', ''Textus de sphaera'', or simply ''De sphaera'') is a medieval ...

'' of

Johannes de Sacrobosco Johannes de Sacrobosco, also written Ioannes de Sacro Bosco, later called John of Holywood or John of Holybush ( 1195 – 1256), was a scholar, monk, and astronomer who taught at the University of Paris. He wrote a short introduction to the Hi ...

Works

Place of Magic in the Intellectual History of Europe,''
The Columbia University Press, 1905. * ''The True Roger Bacon,'' 1916.
''The History of Medieval Europe,''
Houghton Mifflin Company, 1917.
''Medieval Europe, its Development & Civilization,''
George G. Harrap & Company Ltd., 1920.
the man and his times''
1922. * ''Peter of Abano: A Medieval Scientist'', 1923. * ''History of Magic and Experimental Science,'' 1923–1958, in 8 volumes (e.g
Volume I

Volume II
. * ''A Short History of Civilization'', 1926. * ''Outline of Medieval and Modern History'', 1929. * ''Check-list of Rotographs in the History of Natural and Occult Science,'' 1934. * ''University Records and Life in the Middle Ages,'' New York: Columbia University Press, 1944. * ''Dates in Intellectual History: the Fourteenth Century,'' 1945. * ''Traditional Medieval Tracts Concerning Engraved Astrological Images,'' 1947.
''The Sphere of Sacrobosco and its Commentators,''
Universitay of Chicago Press, 1949.
''Latin Treatises on Comets Between 1238 and 1368 A. D.,''
University of Chicago Press, 1950. * ''The Sixteenth Century,'' Columbia University Press, 1959. * ''Science and Thought in the Fifteenth Century; Studies in the History of Medicine and Surgery, Natural and Mathematical Science, Philosophy, and Politics,'' 1963 * ''Michael Scot,'' Nelson, 1965.

Miscellany

''"Measuring Euripides,"''
Issued by The College for Women Section, Chapter Alpha of Ohio,

Phi Beta Kappa The Phi Beta Kappa Society () is the oldest academic honor society in the United States, and the most prestigious, due in part to its long history and academic selectivity. Phi Beta Kappa aims to promote and advocate excellence in the liberal ...

, 1916.
''"Whatever Was, Was Right,"''
Presidential Address Read at the Annual Dinner of the American Historical Association, Mayflower Hotel, Washington, D. C., December 29, 1955

References

External links