Reijer Hooykaas (1 August 1906 in

Schoonhoven Schoonhoven () is a city and was a former municipality in the western Netherlands, in the province of South Holland. Since 2015 it has been a part of the municipality of Krimpenerwaard, before it had been an independent municipality. The former mu ...

– 4 January 1994 in

Zeist Zeist () is the Capital city, capital and largest town of the Zeist (municipality), municipality of Zeist. The town is located in the Utrecht (province), Utrecht province of the Netherlands, east of the city of Utrecht. History The town of " ...

) was a Dutch historian of science. He along with

Eduard Jan Dijksterhuis Eduard Jan Dijksterhuis (28 October 1892 in Tilburg – 18 May 1965 in De Bilt) was a Dutch historian of science. Education Dijksterhuis studied mathematics at the University of Groningen from 1911 to 1918. His Ph.D. thesis was entitled "A Contri ...

were pioneers in professionalizing 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 ...

in the Netherlands. Hooykaas gave the prestigious

Gifford Lectures The Gifford Lectures () are an annual series of lectures which were established in 1887 by the will of Adam Gifford, Lord Gifford at the four ancient universities of Scotland: St Andrews, Glasgow, Aberdeen and Edinburgh. Their purpose is to "pro ...

at St. Andrews in 1975-77. H. Floris Cohen dedicated his historiographical text ''The Scientific Revolution'' (

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 ...

, 1994) to Hooykaas; its section on

religion Religion is a range of social system, social-cultural systems, including designated religious behaviour, behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, religious text, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics in religion, ethics, or ...

deals primarily with Hooykaas.

Life

He was born into a

Calvinist Reformed Christianity, also called Calvinism, is a major branch of Protestantism that began during the 16th-century Protestant Reformation. In the modern day, it is largely represented by the Continental Reformed Protestantism, Continenta ...

family of

silversmith A silversmith is a metalworker who crafts objects from silver. The terms ''silversmith'' and ''goldsmith'' are not exact synonyms, as the techniques, training, history, and guilds are (or were, at least) largely the same but differed in that t ...

s. Hooykaas studied chemistry and physics at the University of Utrecht graduating in 1933. While teaching high school chemistry and working on his Ph.D., he published articles on the history of science and religion, which brought his abilities to the attention of other scholars. Malcolm Oster (

The Open University The Open University (OU) is a Public university, public research university and the largest university in the United Kingdom by List of universities in the United Kingdom by enrolment, number of students. The majority of the OU's undergraduate ...

), Sep. 1999, ''

The British Journal for the History of Science ''The British Journal for the History of Science'' (''BJHS'') is an international academic journal published quarterly by Cambridge University Press in association with the British Society for the History of Science. It was founded under its pre ...

'', Vol. 32, No. 3, pp. 366–368 In 1946 he became the first to hold a history of science chair at a Dutch university. From 1946 to 1972 he was a professor at the Free University of Amsterdam (

Vrije Universiteit The (abbreviated as ''VU Amsterdam'' or simply ''VU'' when in context) is a public research university in Amsterdam, Netherlands, founded in 1880. The VU Amsterdam is one of two large, publicly funded research universities in the city, the othe ...

Amsterdam). In 1959 he became member of the

Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences The Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (, KNAW) is an organization dedicated to the advancement of science and literature in the Netherlands. The academy is housed in the Trippenhuis in Amsterdam. In addition to various advisory a ...

. In 1976—1984 he was president of the

International Commission on the History of Geological Sciences The International Commission on the History of Geological Sciences (INHIGEO) promotes ongoing research into the history of the earth sciences, particularly the history of geology. It has 20 Honorary Senior Members and 301 members (2018) worldwide. ...

(INHIGEO).

Impatience

Hooykaas's impatience with certain modern historical attitudes has been the object of respect and praise. Fellow historian Malcolm Oster noted that Hooykaas was "personally irritated" by historians who conclude that early modern scientists with strong religious views must have had "some mental disorder." Examples of such scientists for Hooykaas are

Blaise Pascal Blaise Pascal (19June 162319August 1662) was a French mathematician, physicist, inventor, philosopher, and Catholic Church, Catholic writer. Pascal was a child prodigy who was educated by his father, a tax collector in Rouen. His earliest ...

Robert Boyle Robert Boyle (; 25 January 1627 – 31 December 1691) was an Anglo-Irish natural philosopher, chemist, physicist, Alchemy, alchemist and inventor. Boyle is largely regarded today as the first modern chemist, and therefore one of the foun ...

, and

Isaac Newton Sir Isaac Newton () was an English polymath active as a mathematician, physicist, astronomer, alchemist, theologian, and author. Newton was a key figure in the Scientific Revolution and the Age of Enlightenment, Enlightenment that followed ...

Work

*"Pascal: His Science and His Religion" ''Tractrix'' 1, 1989, pp. 115–139. (Translation of "Pascal: Zijn wetenschap en zijn religie", 1939 ) *"Science and Reformation"
''Cahiers d'histoire mondiale / Journal of World History''
3(1956): pp. 109–139. :

In this once-important article defending the Protestantism thesis, Hooykaas shows "how the religious attitude of so-called 'ascetic' Protestantism, which more or less stood under Calvin's influence, furthered the development of science." This article is an acknowledged summary of (and thus has been superseded by) 'Religion and the Rise of Modern Science'' (1972)ref name=brooks/>

*"Answer to Dr. Bainton's Comment on 'Science and Reformation'", Journal of World History, 3 (1957), pages 781-784. :

Hooykaas defends the connection between Protestantism and the rise of science while distinguishing his position from Weber and Merton regarding economic activity. This short essay has been superseded by is book ''Robert Boyle'' (1997)''Science and Religion in the English Speaking World, 1600-1727 A Bibliographic Guide to the Secondary Literature'', Richard S. Brooks & David K. Himrod,
Scarecrow Press Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group is an American independent academic publishing company founded in 1949. Under several imprints, the company offers scholarly books for the academic market, as well as trade books. The company also owns ...
, 2001, , pp. 201-203

*"Science and Theology in the Middle Ages" ''Free University Quarterly'' 3, 1954, pp. 77–163.
''Natural Law and Divine Miracle: The Principle of Uniformity in Geology, Biology, and Theology''
Leiden: EJ Brill, 1963 ::

Though primarily focusing on discussions in the nineteenth century, the chapter on theology (outlining four different metaphysical positions) is also relevant to earlier debates.

* "Teilhardism, a pseudoscientific delusion" ''Free University Quarterly'' 9, 1963, pp. 1–57 * "Teilhardism, its predecessors, adherents and critics" ''Free University Quarterly'' 9, 1963, pp. 58–83 *
Catastrophism in Geology: Its Scientific Character in Relation to Actualism and Uniformitarianism
" ''Nieuwe Reeks,'' Vol. 33, No. 7, 1971, pp. 271-316
''Religion and the Rise of Modern Science''
Regent College Publishing, 2000 (Other edition Edinburgh: Scottish Academic Press, 1973 st Pub. 1972. :

This book is a systematic and articulate attempt to show the philosophical as well as sociological connections between science and Protestantism in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Hooykaas tends to oversimplify when he categorizes "types" of Christianity and of philosophy. His own theological biases sometimes intrude. But the book remains important for anyone doing work in our field. It is excellent for an introductory discussion of the philosophical issues--and especially as regards the relation of the "voluntaristic doctrine of God" to early modern natural philosophy. Hooykaas examines continental as well as English Calvinists and considers why and how they believed science should be cultivated: (1) to the glory of God and to the benefit of humankind; (2) empirically, in spite of human authorities; and (3) by using our hands. The book is a veritable mine of relevant biblical texts.

* ''Humanism and the Voyages of Discovery in 16th Century Portuguese Science and Letters'', North-Holland Publishing Company, 1979, 67 pages *"The Rise of Modern Science: When and Why?" ''British Journal for History of Science'' 20, 4, 1987, pp. 453–473. * ''Robert Boyle: a study in science and Christian belief'',

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 ...

, 1997 :

This work is important but riginallyin Dutch. It has been used as evidence by some scholars advancing the Protestantism-and-the-rise-of-science thesis. Hooykaas describes well Boyle's voluntaristic doctrine of God, his religious motivation and his justification for doing natural philosophy.

''Fact, Faith, and Fiction in the Development of Science''
Volume 205 in the Boston Studies in the Philosophy of Science,

Kluwer Academic Publishers Springer Science+Business Media, commonly known as Springer, is a German multinational publishing company of books, e-books and peer-reviewed journals in science, humanities, technical and medical (STM) publishing. Originally founded in 1842 in ...

, 1999,

Works compared

The historian and theologian

John Hedley Brooke John Hedley Brooke (born 20 May 1944) is a British historian of science specialising in the relationship between science and religion. Biography Born on 20 May 1944, Brooke is the son of Hedley Joseph Brooke, and Margaret Brooke, née Brown. ...

has said that British chemist and historian Colin A. Russell'
''Cross-currents: interactions between science and faith''
(

Leicester Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area, and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest city in the East Midlands with a popula ...

, 1985) shares some of Hooykaas's views.

, ''Science and Religion: Some Historical Perspectives'', 1991,

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 ...

, , page 350

Notes

External links