L. Pearce Williams
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Leslie Pearce Williams (September 8, 1927 – February 8, 2015) was a chaired professor at
Cornell University Cornell University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university based in Ithaca, New York, United States. The university was co-founded by American philanthropist Ezra Cornell and historian and educator Andrew Dickson W ...
's Department of History who also chaired the department for many years. He was the founder, in the mid-1980s, of Cornell's program in the History and Philosophy of Science and Technology, which later became part of the Department of
Science and Technology Studies Science and technology studies (STS) or science, technology, and society is an interdisciplinary field that examines the creation, development, and consequences of science and technology in their historical, cultural, and social contexts. Histo ...
.


Early life and career

After a brief period of volunteering in the
United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...
, Williams began a career in chemical engineering in 1945. He found his lifelong passion because of a required course in History of Science, taught by the late
Henry Guerlac Henry Edward Guerlac (June 14, 1910 – May 29, 1985) was an American historian of science. He was a professor at Cornell University, where he was the Goldwin Smith Professor of History and a member of the Department of History. Biography Guerla ...
. He then switched his major and graduated from
Cornell University Cornell University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university based in Ithaca, New York, United States. The university was co-founded by American philanthropist Ezra Cornell and historian and educator Andrew Dickson W ...
with honors in 1949. He then pursued a Ph.D. at Cornell, which he completed in 1952. He taught at
Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...
and the
University of Delaware The University of Delaware (colloquially known as UD, UDel, or Delaware) is a Statutory college#Delaware, privately governed, state-assisted Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Newark, Delaware, United States. UD offers f ...
, and returned to teach at his alma mater in 1960, where he soon held the John Stambaugh Chair in History of Science.


Career

His biography of
Michael Faraday Michael Faraday (; 22 September 1791 – 25 August 1867) was an English chemist and physicist who contributed to the study of electrochemistry and electromagnetism. His main discoveries include the principles underlying electromagnetic inducti ...
won the
Pfizer Award The Pfizer Award is awarded annually by the History of Science Society "in recognition of an outstanding book dealing with the history of science" that was "published in English during a period of three calendar years immediately preceding the ...
in 1966. At that time most work in the history of science was focused on the scientific revolution of the 17th century and the 18th century spread of Newtonian philosophy; biographies of 19th century figures, other than
Charles Darwin Charles Robert Darwin ( ; 12 February 1809 â€“ 19 April 1882) was an English Natural history#Before 1900, naturalist, geologist, and biologist, widely known for his contributions to evolutionary biology. His proposition that all speci ...
, were still rare. Williams studied both Faraday's philosophical journals and laboratory notebooks, and suggested that Faraday, along with the little known Jesuit philosopher Roger Boscovich, played an important role in the origins of field theory. He went on to defend this thesis in a book on the origins of field theory. Williams was fond of pointing out that
James Clerk Maxwell James Clerk Maxwell (13 June 1831 â€“ 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 ...
, generally understood to be the author of field theory, publicly attributed the idea to Faraday in a series of lectures in the 1870s. Williams (like his Cornell colleague E.A. Burtt, his mentor Henry Guerlac, and the émigré historian of science
Alexandre Koyré Alexandre Koyré (; ; born Alexandr Vladimirovich (or Volfovich) Koyra; 29 August 1892 â€“ 28 April 1964), also anglicized as Alexander Koyre, was a French philosopher of Russian origin who wrote on the history and philosophy of science. ...
) paid close attention to the "extra-scientific determinants of scientific thought", especially the religious views of important scientists. This was notable not least because Williams himself was, as he often said to friends and students (see below) "a reluctant atheist." He advanced the thesis that electromagnetic field theory in 19th century physics owed a great philosophical debt to the speculative metaphysical movement in early 19th century Europe known as "Naturphilosophie." This view, now commonplace if not universally accepted, was quite radical at the time Williams first advanced it. At the end of his career he was at work in extending these insights concerning the complex interplay of science and philosophy in a biographical study of
André-Marie Ampère André-Marie Ampère (, ; ; 20 January 177510 June 1836) was a French physicist and mathematician who was one of the founders of the science of classical electromagnetism, which he referred to as ''electrodynamics''. He is also the inventor of ...
, which remained unfinished at the time of his death. He authored several other books, numerous articles in his field, and dozens of scholarly reviews. He also served on the board of editors for ''The Dictionary of Scientific Biography'', ''Studies in History and Philosophy of Science,'' ''Physis'', and ''Rivista della Storia della Scienza''. In the philosophy of science his views were closely aligned with those of his friend and contemporary
Norwood Russell Hanson Norwood Russell Hanson (August 17, 1924 – April 18, 1967) was an American philosopher of science. Hanson was a pioneer in advancing the argument that observation is theory-laden — that observation language and theory language are deeply in ...
on the interpenetration of theory language and observation language in physics. He was fundamentally opposed to the theory of scientific revolutions proposed by
Thomas Kuhn Thomas Samuel Kuhn (; July 18, 1922 â€“ June 17, 1996) was an American History and philosophy of science, historian and philosopher of science whose 1962 book ''The Structure of Scientific Revolutions'' was influential in both academic and ...
, finding it philosophically incoherent in its presentation and irrational in its implications.


Teaching and reputation

A tall and imposing figure, he reveled in the teaching of both the History of Science and the History of Western Civilization, and enjoyed giving his presentation, "The Notorious Note-Taking Lecture," to students entering the university. A showman, he attracted standing-room-only crowds to his Western Civ lectures, speaking without notes for 50 minutes that combined abstract and profound concepts with an unusual ability to play to the peanut gallery. His portrayals of
James I James I may refer to: People *James I of Aragon (1208–1276) * James I of Sicily or James II of Aragon (1267–1327) * James I, Count of La Marche (1319–1362), Count of Ponthieu * James I, Count of Urgell (1321–1347) *James I of Cyprus (1334†...
and
Rousseau Jean-Jacques Rousseau (, ; ; 28 June 1712 – 2 July 1778) was a Genevan philosopher ('' philosophe''), writer, and composer. His political philosophy influenced the progress of the Age of Enlightenment throughout Europe, as well as aspects ...
, along with many others, made lasting impressions on generations of Cornell undergraduates, winning him the Clark Teaching Award in 1971 from the College of Arts and Sciences. He cared particularly about the success of student athletes and devoted many hours to tutoring them privately. He oversaw the dissertations of dozens of graduate students, who were each welcomed into his home as well as into his professional life. Sunday touch football games with graduate students and colleagues were regular high points in his weekly life. He often expressed his opinions on various issues to '' The Ithaca Journal'' and ''
The Cornell Daily Sun ''The Cornell Daily Sun'' is an independent newspaper at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York. It is published twice weekly by Cornell University students and hired employees. Founded in 1880, ''The Sun'' is the oldest continuously independent ...
'', gaining him a certain local notoriety, or fame, depending on one's point of view. An outspoken conservative in politics - in the mold of Tocqueville, de Maistre, and Edmund Burke - he urged caution with regard to large initiatives fostered by central governments, believing, with most conservatives that humans learn principally by making mistakes and that big governments generally make big mistakes. Today his politics would probably be described as libertarian, and he put great emphasis on independence in thought and action and on individual initiative. Williams, along with E. A. Burtt and 23 other Cornell University professors, was a volunteer faculty member of Ithaca Neighborhood College. Williams was a courageous advocate for justice throughout his entire life. Early on in his college career, he met the son of the famous African American singer,
Paul Robeson Paul Leroy Robeson ( ; April 9, 1898 â€“ January 23, 1976) was an American bass-baritone concert artist, actor, professional American football, football player, and activist who became famous both for his cultural accomplishments and for h ...
, Paul Robeson, Jr., aka "Paulie". When he took Robeson to his home in Croton-on-Hudson, the local swim club refused Robeson entrance because of his race; Williams succeeded in getting the swim club shut down until it changed its policies. He was elected chair of the History Department at the height of racial tensions on campus in 1969, and insisted that both rigorous, open-minded inquiry and high standards be the principles guiding any changes at Cornell. He was a leading advocate of maintaining
ROTC The Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC; or ) is a group of college- and university-based officer-training programs for training commissioned officers of the United States Armed Forces. While ROTC graduate officers serve in all branches o ...
on the Cornell campus, of compulsory physical education, and of removing Dale Corson as Cornell President because of an alleged decline in academic standards. As chair, he fought hard for the hire of the first woman in the department, Dr.
Mary Beth Norton Mary Beth Norton (born 1943) is an American historian, specializing in American colonial history and well known for her work on women's history and the Salem witch trials. She is the Mary Donlon Alger Professor Emeritus of American History at th ...
. He did not care at all about the race, creed, gender, or sexual orientation of anyone he worked with; he wanted the sharpest and most intellectually curious people he could get to belong to the department and to lead Cornell University. Williams was, above all, a presence, intellectually, morally and physically. His physical activities included hunting with his
Weimaraner The is a German breed of hunting dog of medium to large size, with history going back at least to the nineteenth century. It originated in the area of the city of Weimar (then in Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach, now in the state of Thuringia), for which ...
dogs, earning a black belt in
karate (; ; Okinawan language, Okinawan pronunciation: ), also , is a martial arts, martial art developed in the Ryukyu Kingdom. It developed from the Okinawan martial arts, indigenous Ryukyuan martial arts (called , "hand"; ''tī'' in Okinawan) un ...
in his 50s, playing touch football, and wood chopping, a benefit of which was his many hours spent by his fireside. His powers of concentration were extraordinary; he usually wrote with opera playing, children talking, phones ringing and dogs barking. A self-described reluctant atheist, Williams nevertheless wanted the last words of his obituary to come from the
New Testament The New Testament (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus, as well as events relating to Christianity in the 1st century, first-century Christianit ...
: "I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith," (2 Timothy 4:7 King James Version).


Works


''Michael Faraday, a biography''
(1965, 1987),
Chapman & Hall Chapman & Hall is an imprint owned by CRC Press, originally founded as a British publishing house in London in the first half of the 19th century by Edward Chapman and William Hall. Chapman & Hall were publishers for Charles Dickens (from 1840 ...

''The origins of field theory''
(1966, 1980),
Random House Random House is an imprint and publishing group of Penguin Random House. Founded in 1927 by businessmen Bennett Cerf and Donald Klopfer as an imprint of Modern Library, it quickly overtook Modern Library as the parent imprint. Over the foll ...

''Relativity theory; its origins and impact on modern thought''
(1968, 1979),
John Wiley & Sons John Wiley & Sons, Inc., commonly known as Wiley (), is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Publishing, publishing company that focuses on academic publishing and instructional materials. The company was founded in 1807 and pr ...

''The nineteenth century''
(1978), Scribner *''The history of science in Western civilization'' (1978), authored with Henry John Steffens,
University Press of America University Press of America (''UPA'') is the former name of an American Academic publishing, academic publishing company based in Lanham, Maryland, which became the parent company of Rowman & Littlefield publishing house, then was later re-intr ...
, 1977, Volume
III
an
III
*''Great issues in Western Civilization''. Random House, 1967 and 1972. Volumes I and II. Eds. Brian Tierney,
Donald Kagan Donald Kagan (; May 1, 1932August 6, 2021) was a Lithuanian-born American historian and classicist at Yale University specializing in ancient Greece. He formerly taught in the Department of History at Cornell University. Kagan was considered am ...
, and L. Pearce Williams. * "Normal Science, Scientific Revolutions and the History of Science" (pages 49–50) i
''Criticism and the Growth of Knowledge: Proceedings of the International Colloquium in the Philosophy of Science, London, 1965''
Editors
Imre Lakatos Imre Lakatos (, ; ; 9 November 1922 – 2 February 1974) was a Hungarian philosopher of mathematics and science, known for his thesis of the fallibility of mathematics and its "methodology of proofs and refutations" in its pre-axiomatic stage ...
and Alan Musgrave,
Cambridge University Press Cambridge University Press was the university press of the University of Cambridge. Granted a letters patent by King Henry VIII in 1534, it was the oldest university press in the world. Cambridge University Press merged with Cambridge Assessme ...
, 1970, , 282 pages
Historiography of Victorian Science
(1966) (paper)


References


External links


His faculty profile
at
Cornell University Cornell University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university based in Ithaca, New York, United States. The university was co-founded by American philanthropist Ezra Cornell and historian and educator Andrew Dickson W ...

Memorial Statement
from
Cornell University Cornell University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university based in Ithaca, New York, United States. The university was co-founded by American philanthropist Ezra Cornell and historian and educator Andrew Dickson W ...

Volume 90, Issue 12, 14 September 1973. Page 1]
Page 16
of ''The Cornell Daily Sun
''

February 14, 1991. ''New York Times''.
''History of Science'', Vol. 18, p.68-74. 1980
Williams, L. P. Review of ''The Essential Tension'' by
Thomas Kuhn Thomas Samuel Kuhn (; July 18, 1922 â€“ June 17, 1996) was an American History and philosophy of science, historian and philosopher of science whose 1962 book ''The Structure of Scientific Revolutions'' was influential in both academic and ...
.
Friday, Aug. 13, 1965
Brief ''
Time Magazine ''Time'' (stylized in all caps as ''TIME'') is an American news magazine based in New York City. It was published weekly for nearly a century. Starting in March 2020, it transitioned to every other week. It was first published in New York Cit ...
'' review of Williams' ''Michael Faraday'' (Basic Books, 1965)
"Books: Saint of Science"
Jul. 23, 1965. Three page ''
Time Magazine ''Time'' (stylized in all caps as ''TIME'') is an American news magazine based in New York City. It was published weekly for nearly a century. Starting in March 2020, it transitioned to every other week. It was first published in New York Cit ...
'' review of Williams' ''Michael Faraday'' (Basic Books, 1965) {{DEFAULTSORT:Williams, L. Pearce 2015 deaths Cornell University alumni Cornell University faculty Cornell University Department of History faculty 1927 births