Nicolaas Adrianus Rupke (born 22 January 1944 in

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , ; ; ) is the second-largest List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city in the Netherlands after the national capital of Amsterdam. It is in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of South Holland, part of the North S ...

) is a Dutch historian of science and biographer, who began his academic career as a marine geologist.''Who is Who in the World 2011'' - 28th edition. He studied biology and geology at the

university of Groningen The University of Groningen (abbreviated as UG; , abbreviated as RUG) is a Public university#Continental Europe, public research university of more than 30,000 students in the city of Groningen (city), Groningen, Netherlands. Founded in 1614, th ...

and geology and the history of science at Princeton and

Oxford Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...

. Early in his studies, Rupke was a Christian and proponent of

Flood geology Flood geology (also creation geology or diluvial geology) is a Pseudoscience, pseudoscientific attempt to interpret and reconcile :geology, geological features of the Earth in accordance with a literal belief in the Genesis flood narrative, th ...

,Rupke, N.A. 1970. Prolegomena to a study of cataclysmal sedimentation. In Lammerts, W.E. (editor), ''Why Not Creation?'' pp. 141–179. Baker Book House, Grand Rapids, MI. but later came to reject this position. When in 1977 he was elected to a

Wolfson College, Oxford Wolfson College () is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Wolfson is an all-graduate college, it prides itself on being one of the most international colleges at Oxford, with part ...

research position in the history of science, Rupke made this subject his full-time occupation. A series of similar international research posts followed, until in 1993 he took up a professorship at

Göttingen University Göttingen (, ; ; ) is a college town, university city in Lower Saxony, central Germany, the Capital (political), capital of Göttingen (district), the eponymous district. The River Leine runs through it. According to the 2022 German census, t ...

to teach the

history 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 ...

and

medicine Medicine is the science and Praxis (process), practice of caring for patients, managing the Medical diagnosis, diagnosis, prognosis, Preventive medicine, prevention, therapy, treatment, Palliative care, palliation of their injury or disease, ...

."Die Geschichte der Naturwissenschaften als Lebensgeschichten", ''Jahrbuch der Akademie der Wissenschaften zu Göttingen'', 2005, pp. 313-322. Autobiographical sketch in the Yearbook of Göttingen Academy on the occasion of Rupke's election as a member of the academy. In 2009, Rupke was awarded a Lower Saxony research chair.http://www.uni-goettingen.de/de/108191.html. Press-release of the Lower Saxony Ministry of education about the "Niedersachsenprofessur 65+" (Lower Saxony research chair) 2009
Interview
with ''

Die Zeit (, ) is a German national weekly newspaper published in Hamburg in Germany. The newspaper is generally considered to be among the German newspapers of record and is known for its long and extensive articles. History The first edition of was ...

'' In 2012, he took up an endowed professorship at

Washington and Lee University Washington and Lee University (Washington and Lee or W&L) is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Lexington, Virginia, United States. Established in 1749 as Augusta Academy, it is among ...

Lexington, Virginia Lexington is an Independent city (United States)#Virginia, independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia, United States. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 7,320. It is the county seat of Rockbridge County, Virg ...

, USA. Rupke is known for his studies of late-modern biology, geology and science & religion. With an interest in the biographical approach, he restored to their contemporary prominence several nineteenth-century scientists, most important among them

Richard Owen Sir Richard Owen (20 July 1804 – 18 December 1892) was an English biologist, comparative anatomy, comparative anatomist and paleontology, palaeontologist. Owen is generally considered to have been an outstanding naturalist with a remarkabl ...

who well before the appearance of '' The Origin of Species'' developed a naturalistic theory of evolution, albeit a non-Darwinian one.''Richard Owen: Biology without Darwin'' (revised ed. of ''Richard Owen: Victorian Naturalist'', New Haven and London: Yale, 1994) Chicago and London: University of Chicago Press, 2009. Studies of

Alexander von Humboldt Friedrich Wilhelm Heinrich Alexander von Humboldt (14 September 1769 – 6 May 1859) was a German polymath, geographer, natural history, naturalist, List of explorers, explorer, and proponent of Romanticism, Romantic philosophy and Romanticism ...

came next,''Alexander von Humboldt: A Metabiography'' (corrected edition). Chicago and London: University of Chicago Press, 2008. in which Rupke developed what he terms the metabiographical approach by exploring how a famous life – in this case Humboldt's – may be multiply retold and reconstructed as part of different belief systems and memory cultures."Lives after death"

Steven Shapin Steven Shapin ( ) (born 1943) is an American historian and sociologist of science. He is Professor Emeritus of the History of Science at Harvard University. Early life and education Steven Shapin (born 1943 in New York) was educated at Central ...

's review in ''

Nature Nature is an inherent character or constitution, particularly of the Ecosphere (planetary), ecosphere or the universe as a whole. In this general sense nature refers to the Scientific law, laws, elements and phenomenon, phenomena of the physic ...

'', May 18, 2006, of ''Alexander von Humboldt: A Metabiography'', discussing Rupke's metabiographical approach. Rupke is a fellow of Germany's National Academy of Sciences LeopoldinaMembership listing of the Deutsche Akademie der Naturforscher Leopoldina - Nationale Akademie der Wissenschaften
and of the Göttingen Academy of Sciences.

Selected books

* ''Distinctive Properties of Turbiditic and Hemipelagic Mud Layers'' (with Daniel J. Stanley). Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1974. *''The Great Chain of History:

William Buckland William Buckland Doctor of Divinity, DD, Royal Society, FRS (12 March 1784 – 14 August 1856) was an English theologian, geologist and paleontology, palaeontologist. His work in the early 1820s proved that Kirkdale Cave in North Yorkshire h ...

and the English School of Geology (1814–1849)''. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1983. *''Vivisection in Historical Perspective'' (ed.). London, Croom Helm, 1987; Routledge, 1988. *''Science, Politics and the Public Good'' (ed.). London: Macmillan, 1988. *''Medical Geography in Historical Perspective'' (ed.). London:

Wellcome Trust Centre for the History of Medicine The Wellcome Trust Centre for the History of Medicine at UCL (2000–2012) was a research and teaching centre within University College London dedicated to the history of medicine. It was created through a grant from the Wellcome Trust, on the mo ...

, 2000. *''Richard Owen: Biology without Darwin'' (revised ed. of ''Richard Owen: Victorian Naturalist'', New Haven and London: Yale, 1994, ) Chicago and London:

University of Chicago Press The University of Chicago Press is the university press of the University of Chicago, a Private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois. It is the largest and one of the oldest university presses in the United States. It pu ...

, 2009. *''Alexander von Humboldt: A Metabiography'' (corrected edition). Chicago and London: University of Chicago Press, 2008. *''Eminent Lives in Twentieth-Century Science and Religion'' (ed.) (revised and much expanded edition). Frankurt a.M.: Lang, 2009. *''

Albrecht von Haller Albrecht von Haller (also known as Albertus de Haller; 16 October 170812 December 1777) was a Swiss anatomist, physiologist, naturalist, encyclopedist, bibliographer and poet. A pupil of Herman Boerhaave and Jacob Winslow, he is sometimes r ...

im Göttingen der Aufklärung'' (ed. with ). Göttingen: Wallstein, 2009.

References

External links

Academic homepage

Faculty listing, Göttingen University
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rupke, Nicolaas Adrianus 1944 births Living people Academic staff of the University of Göttingen 20th-century Dutch geologists Historians of science Princeton University alumni Alumni of Wolfson College, Oxford Writers from Rotterdam 21st-century Dutch geologists