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{{short description|British academic}}
{{short description|British academic (born 1955)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2020}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2020}}
{{Use British English|date=April 2014}}
{{Use British English|date=April 2014}}
{{BLP sources|date=June 2018}}{{Infobox scientist
{{BLP sources|date=June 2018}}{{Infobox scientist
| name =
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| image = Simon Schaffer 2015.JPG
| image = Simon Schaffer 2015.JPG
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| caption = Schaffer at a pub in Cambridge, UK, 2015
| caption = Schaffer at a pub in Cambridge, UK, 2015
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|df=y|1955|1|1}}
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|df=y|1955|1|1}}
| birth_place = [[Southampton]]
| birth_place = [[Southampton]]
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| workplaces = [[University of Cambridge]]<br>[[Darwin College, Cambridge]]<br>[[Imperial College London]]<br>[[University of California, Los Angeles]]
| workplaces = [[University of Cambridge]]<br>[[Darwin College, Cambridge]]<br>[[Imperial College London]]<br>[[University of California, Los Angeles]]
| education = [[Varndean College|Varndean Grammar School for Boys]]
| education = [[Varndean College|Varndean Grammar School for Boys]]
| alma_mater = [[University of Cambridge]] (BA, PhD) <!--colleges do not award degrees, the --><BR />[[Harvard University]]
| alma_mater = [[University of Cambridge]] (BA, PhD) <!--colleges do not award degrees, the --><br />[[Harvard University]]
| thesis_title = Newtonian cosmology and the steady state
| thesis_title = Newtonian cosmology and the steady state
| thesis_url = http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.281053
| thesis_url = http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.281053
| thesis_year = 1980
| thesis_year = 1980
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| awards = {{ubl|[[Erasmus Prize]] (2005)|[[Sarton Medal]] (2013)|[[Dan David Prize]] (2018)}}
| awards = {{ubl|[[Erasmus Prize]] (2005)|[[Sarton Medal]] (2013)|[[Dan David Prize]] (2018)}}
| signature = <!--(filename only)-->
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| website = {{URL|https://www.people.hps.cam.ac.uk/index/teaching-officers/schaffer}}
| website = {{URL|https://www.hps.cam.ac.uk/directory/schaffer}}
| footnotes =
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}}
'''Simon J. Schaffer''' (born 1 January 1955)<ref name=lcnaf>{{cite web|url=http://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/n85118587.html|title=Schaffer, Simon, 1955-|website=[[Library of Congress]] Name Authority File|accessdate=12 June 2014}}</ref> is a historian of science, previously a professor of the [[history and philosophy of science]] at the [[Department of History and Philosophy of Science, Cambridge|Department of History and Philosophy of Science]] at the [[University of Cambridge]] and was editor of ''[[The British Journal for the History of Science]]'' from 2004 to 2009.<ref>{{Cite journal|date=June 2017|title=Past editors' favourite papers published during their time in office|journal=The British Journal for the History of Science|language=en|volume=50|issue=2|pages=173–179|doi=10.1017/S0007087417000061|pmid=28438228|issn=0007-0874|doi-access=free}}</ref>
'''Simon J. Schaffer''' (born 1 January 1955)<ref name=lcnaf>{{cite web|url=http://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/n85118587.html|title=Schaffer, Simon, 1955-|website=[[Library of Congress]] Name Authority File|accessdate=12 June 2014}}</ref> is a historian of science, previously a professor of the [[history and philosophy of science]] at the [[Department of History and Philosophy of Science, Cambridge|Department of History and Philosophy of Science]] at the [[University of Cambridge]] and was editor of ''[[The British Journal for the History of Science]]'' from 2004 to 2009.<ref>{{Cite journal|date=June 2017|title=Past editors' favourite papers published during their time in office|journal=The British Journal for the History of Science|language=en|volume=50|issue=2|pages=173–179|doi=10.1017/S0007087417000061|pmid=28438228|issn=0007-0874|doi-access=free}}</ref>
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Schaffer was born in Southampton in 1955. His family moved to [[Brisbane]], Australia that same year, returning to the UK in 1965 to live in [[Brighton]].<ref name=macf>{{Citation|url=https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/handle/1810/205060|title=Interview of Simon Schaffer|first=Alan|last=Macfarlane|editor-first=Sarah |editor-last=Harrison|author-link=Alan Macfarlane|publisher=University of Cambridge|date=2008-11-17}}</ref> His father, Bernard, was an academic social scientist who was a professorial fellow at the [[Institute of Development Studies]] at the [[University of Sussex]] from 1966 until his death in 1984.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bath.ac.uk/library/services/archives/schaffer.html|title=Bernard Schaffer Collection|publisher=University of Bath|accessdate=12 June 2014}}</ref> Simon's mother, Sheila, who died in 2010, was a university librarian and [[Labour Party (UK)|Labour]] councillor who was Mayor of Brighton in 1995.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/theguardian/2010/mar/18/sheila-schaffer-obituary|title=Sheila Schaffer obituary|first=Peter|last=Avis|date=18 March 2010|newspaper=[[The Guardian]]}}</ref>
Schaffer was born in Southampton in 1955. His family moved to [[Brisbane]], Australia that same year, returning to the UK in 1965 to live in [[Brighton]].<ref name=macf>{{Citation|url=https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/handle/1810/205060|title=Interview of Simon Schaffer|first=Alan|last=Macfarlane|editor-first=Sarah |editor-last=Harrison|author-link=Alan Macfarlane|publisher=University of Cambridge|date=2008-11-17}}</ref> His father, Bernard, was an academic social scientist who was a professorial fellow at the [[Institute of Development Studies]] at the [[University of Sussex]] from 1966 until his death in 1984.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bath.ac.uk/library/services/archives/schaffer.html|title=Bernard Schaffer Collection|publisher=University of Bath|accessdate=12 June 2014}}</ref> Simon's mother, Sheila, who died in 2010, was a university librarian and [[Labour Party (UK)|Labour]] councillor who was Mayor of Brighton in 1995.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/theguardian/2010/mar/18/sheila-schaffer-obituary|title=Sheila Schaffer obituary|first=Peter|last=Avis|date=18 March 2010|newspaper=[[The Guardian]]}}</ref>


Schaffer attended [[Varndean College|Varndean Grammar School for Boys]] in Brighton before studying [[Natural Sciences (Cambridge)|Natural Sciences]] at [[Trinity College, Cambridge]], specialising in the [[history and philosophy of science]] in his final year.<ref name=macf/> While at Trinity, he captained the winning college team in the 1974 ''[[University Challenge]]''. After completing his undergraduate degree, Schaffer went to [[Harvard University]] 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''.<ref name=macf/><ref name="bloggsphd">{{cite thesis |degree=PhD |first=Simon|last=Schaffer |title=Newtonian cosmology and the steady state|url=https://idiscover.lib.cam.ac.uk/permalink/f/t9gok8/44CAM_ALMA21428167030003606|website=cam.ac.uk |publisher=University of Cambridge |date=1980 |id={{EThOS|uk.bl.ethos.281053}}|oclc=216242434}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.alanmacfarlane.com/DO/filmshow/schaffer1_fast.htm|title=Simon Schaffer|website=www.alanmacfarlane.com|access-date=2016-11-02}}</ref>
Schaffer attended [[Varndean College|Varndean Grammar School for Boys]] in Brighton before studying [[Natural Sciences (Cambridge)|Natural Sciences]] at [[Trinity College, Cambridge]], specialising in the [[history and philosophy of science]] in his final year.<ref name=macf/> While at Trinity, he captained the winning college team in the 1974 ''[[University Challenge]]''. After completing his undergraduate degree, Schaffer went to [[Harvard University]] 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'',<ref name=macf/><ref name="bloggsphd">{{cite thesis |degree=PhD |first=Simon|last=Schaffer |title=Newtonian cosmology and the steady state|url=https://idiscover.lib.cam.ac.uk/permalink/f/t9gok8/44CAM_ALMA21428167030003606|website=cam.ac.uk |publisher=University of Cambridge |date=1980 |id={{EThOS|uk.bl.ethos.281053}}|oclc=216242434}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.alanmacfarlane.com/DO/filmshow/schaffer1_fast.htm|title=Simon Schaffer|website=www.alanmacfarlane.com|access-date=2016-11-02}}</ref> while Fellow of [[St John's College, Cambridge]].<ref>{{cite web |title=New Johnian Fellows of the British Academy |website=www.joh.cam.ac.uk |url=https://www.joh.cam.ac.uk/new-johnian-fellows-british-academy |date=2012}}</ref>


==Career==
==Career==
During the early 1980s, Schaffer taught at [[Imperial College London|Imperial College London.]]<ref>{{Cite book |last=Gay |first=Hannah |title=The History of Imperial College London, 1907–2007: Higher Education and Research in Science, Technology and Medicine |publisher=Imperial College Press |year=2007 |isbn=978-1-86094-708-7 |location=London |page=588 |language=en}}</ref> Since 1985, he has been a Fellow of [[Darwin College, Cambridge]]. He has also taught at the [[University of California, Los Angeles]].<ref>{{Cite book |title=Creative Lives and Works: Science and Culture |publisher=Routledge |year=2022 |isbn=9781032198545 |editor-last=Béteille |editor-first=Radha |location=New York |page=69 |language=en}}</ref> He has authored or co-authored numerous books, including ''[[Leviathan and the Air Pump|Leviathan and the Air-Pump: Hobbes, Boyle, and the Experimental Life]]'' with [[Steven Shapin]].<ref>{{cite book |author1=Schaffer, Simon |author2=Shapin, Steven |title=Leviathan and the Air-Pump: Hobbes, Boyle, and the Experimental Life (New in Paper) |publisher=Princeton University Press |location=Princeton, N.J |year=2011 |isbn=978-0-691-15020-8 }}</ref> In addition to his work at Cambridge, he has been a presenter on the [[BBC]],<ref name="automata">{{cite web |url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0229pbp |title=BBC Four - Mechanical Marvels: Clockwork Dreams }}</ref> in particular the series ''[[Light Fantastic (TV series)|Light Fantastic]]'' broadcast on [[BBC Four]] in 2004.<ref name="light fantastic">{{cite web|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/pressreleases/stories/2004/11_november/04/light_fantastic_schaffer.shtml|title=BBC - Press Office - Light Fantastic Simon Schaffer interview|archivedate=28 December 2009|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20091228064910/http://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/pressreleases/stories/2004/11_november/04/light_fantastic_schaffer.shtml|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{IMDb title|0810664|Light Fantastic}}</ref><ref name="imdb">{{IMDb name | id = 2406693 }}</ref> He has been a regular contributor and reviewer for the ''[[London Review of Books]].''<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.lrb.co.uk/contributors/simon-schaffer|title=Simon Schaffer · LRB|website=www.lrb.co.uk|access-date=2019-09-26}}</ref> Schaffer has made multiple appearances on the BBC radio discussion series [[In Our Time (radio series)|''In Our Time'']].<ref>{{Cite web |title=BBC Radio 4 - In Our Time, Calculus |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00mrfwq |access-date=2023-09-05 |website=BBC |language=en-GB}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=BBC Radio 4 - In Our Time, The Scientific Method |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01b1ljm |access-date=2023-09-05 |website=BBC |language=en-GB}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=BBC Radio 4 - In Our Time, The Invention of Radio |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0368knw |access-date=2023-09-05 |website=BBC |language=en-GB}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=BBC Radio 4 - In Our Time, Automata |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0bk1c4d |access-date=2023-09-05 |website=BBC |language=en-GB}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=BBC Radio 4 - In Our Time, Absolute Zero |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01r113g |access-date=2023-09-05 |website=BBC |language=en-GB}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=BBC Radio 4 - In Our Time, Longitude |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000vyn6 |access-date=2023-09-05 |website=BBC |language=en-GB}}</ref>
During the early 1980s, Schaffer taught at [[Imperial College London]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Gay |first=Hannah |title=The History of Imperial College London, 1907–2007: Higher Education and Research in Science, Technology and Medicine |publisher=Imperial College Press |year=2007 |isbn=978-1-86094-708-7 |location=London |page=588 |language=en}}</ref> Since 1985, he has been a Fellow of [[Darwin College, Cambridge]]. He has also taught at the [[University of California, Los Angeles]].<ref>{{Cite book |title=Creative Lives and Works: Science and Culture |publisher=Routledge |year=2022 |isbn=9781032198545 |editor-last=Béteille |editor-first=Radha |location=New York |page=69 |language=en}}</ref> He has authored or co-authored numerous books, including ''[[Leviathan and the Air Pump|Leviathan and the Air-Pump: Hobbes, Boyle, and the Experimental Life]]'' with [[Steven Shapin]].<ref>{{cite book |author1=Schaffer, Simon |author2=Shapin, Steven |title=Leviathan and the Air-Pump: Hobbes, Boyle, and the Experimental Life (New in Paper) |publisher=Princeton University Press |location=Princeton, N.J.|year=2011 |isbn=978-0-691-15020-8 }}</ref> In addition to his work at Cambridge, he has been a presenter on the [[BBC]],<ref name="automata">{{cite web |url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0229pbp |title=BBC Four – Mechanical Marvels: Clockwork Dreams }}</ref> in particular the series ''[[Light Fantastic (TV series)|Light Fantastic]]'' broadcast on [[BBC Four]] in 2004.<ref name="light fantastic">{{cite web|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/pressreleases/stories/2004/11_november/04/light_fantastic_schaffer.shtml|title=BBC – Press Office – Light Fantastic Simon Schaffer interview|archivedate=28 December 2009|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20091228064910/http://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/pressreleases/stories/2004/11_november/04/light_fantastic_schaffer.shtml|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{IMDb title|0810664|Light Fantastic}}</ref><ref name="imdb">{{IMDb name | id = 2406693 }}</ref> He has been a regular contributor and reviewer for the ''[[London Review of Books]].''<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.lrb.co.uk/contributors/simon-schaffer|title=Simon Schaffer |website=www.lrb.co.uk|access-date=2019-09-26}}</ref> Schaffer has made multiple appearances on the BBC radio discussion series [[In Our Time (radio series)|''In Our Time'']].<ref>{{Cite web |title= Our Time, Calculus |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00mrfwq |access-date=2023-09-05 |website=BBC Radio 4 |language=en-GB}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title= In Our Time, The Scientific Method |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01b1ljm |access-date=2023-09-05 |website=BBC Radio 4|language=en-GB}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title= The Invention of Radio |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0368knw |access-date=2023-09-05 |website=BBC |language=en-GB}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=In Our Time, Automata |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0bk1c4d |access-date=2023-09-05 |website=BBC Radio 4 |language=en-GB}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=In Our Time, Absolute Zero |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01r113g |access-date=2023-09-05 |website=BBC Radio 4|language=en-GB}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title= In Our Time, Longitude |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000vyn6 |access-date=2023-09-05 |website=BBC Radio – 4|language=en-GB}}</ref>


===Awards and honours===
===Awards and honours===
In 2005, Schaffer shared the [[Erasmus Prize]] with Steven Shapin for ''Leviathan and the Air-Pump''.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Erasmusprijswinnaars |url=https://erasmusprijs.org/en/laureates/simon-schaffer/ |access-date=2023-09-05 |website=Praemium Erasmianum Foundation |language=en-US}}</ref> In 2013, he received the [[George Sarton Medal]], the most prestigious honor 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".<ref>{{Cite journal |last= |first= |date=June 2014 |title=HSS 2013 Prize Citations |url=https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/abs/10.1086/677205 |journal=Isis |volume=105 |issue=2 |pages=394–397 |doi= 10.1086/677205|via=The University of Chicago Press Journals}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Thompson |first=David |date=2017-07-19 |title=Sarton Medal awarded to Simon Schaffer |url=https://www.hps.cam.ac.uk/news-events/news-archive/sarton-medal |access-date=2023-09-05 |website=www.hps.cam.ac.uk |language=en}}</ref> In 2018 he received the [[Dan David Prize]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Thompson |first=David |date=2018-02-12 |title=Simon Schaffer wins the 2018 Dan David Prize |url=https://www.hps.cam.ac.uk/news-events/news-archive/schaffer-dan-david-prize |access-date=2023-09-05 |website=www.hps.cam.ac.uk |language=en}}</ref> Schaffer was elected a [[Fellow of the British Academy]] in 2012.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Professor Simon Schaffer FBA |url=https://www.thebritishacademy.ac.uk/fellows/simon-schaffer-FBA/ |access-date=2023-09-05 |website=The British Academy |language=en}}</ref>
In 2005, Schaffer shared the [[Erasmus Prize]] with Steven Shapin for ''Leviathan and the Air-Pump''. In 2013, he received the [[Sarton Medal]], the most prestigious honor awarded by the [[History of Science Society]], in recognition of his "lifetime of scholarly achievement". In 2018, he received the [[Dan David Prize]].


=== Selected bibliography ===
=== Selected bibliography ===

* {{cite book | last1=Shapin | first1=Steven| last2 = Schaffer | first2 = Simon | author-link1 = Steven Shapin | title=Leviathan and the air-pump: Hobbes, Boyle, and the experimental life | publisher=Princeton University Press | location=Princeton, New Jersey | year=1985 | isbn=9780691178165}}<ref>{{cite journal|author=Hankins, Thomas L.|author-link=Thomas L. Hankins|year=1986|title=Review of ''Leviathan and the Air-Pump''|journal=Science|volume=232|issue=4753|pages=1040–1042|doi=10.1126/science.232.4753.1040|pmid=17759318 }}</ref>
* {{cite book | last1=Shapin | first1=Steven| last2 = Schaffer | first2 = Simon | author-link1 = Steven Shapin | title=Leviathan and the air-pump: Hobbes, Boyle, and the experimental life | publisher=Princeton University Press | location=Princeton, New Jersey | year=1985 | isbn=9780691178165}}<ref>{{cite journal|author=Hankins, Thomas L.|author-link=Thomas L. Hankins|year=1986|title=Review of ''Leviathan and the Air-Pump''|journal=Science|volume=232|issue=4753|pages=1040–1042|doi=10.1126/science.232.4753.1040|pmid=17759318 }}</ref>
*{{cite book | last1 = Schaffer | first1 = Simon | last2 = Pinch | first2 = Trevor | last3 = Gooding | first3 = David | author-link2 = Trevor Pinch | author-link3 = David Gooding | title = The uses of experiment: studies in the natural sciences | publisher = Cambridge University Press | location = Cambridge England New York | year = 1989 | isbn = 9780521337687 }}
* {{cite book | last1 = Schaffer | first1 = Simon | last2 = Pinch | first2 = Trevor | last3 = Gooding | first3 = David | author-link2 = Trevor Pinch | author-link3 = David Gooding | title = The uses of experiment: studies in the natural sciences | publisher = Cambridge University Press | location = Cambridge, England & New York | year = 1989 | isbn = 9780521337687 }}
*Schaffer, Simon (1995). 'Accurate Measurement is an English Science,' ''The Values of Precision.'' Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press. {{ISBN|0-691-03759-0}}.
* Schaffer, Simon (1995). 'Accurate Measurement is an English Science,' ''The Values of Precision.'' Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press. {{ISBN|0-691-03759-0}}.
*{{cite book | last=Schaffer | first=Simon | title=The brokered world : go-betweens and global intelligence, 1770-1820 | publisher=Science History Publications | location=Sagamore Beach, MA | year=2009 | isbn=978-0881353747}}
* {{cite book | last=Schaffer | first=Simon | title=The brokered world : go-betweens and global intelligence, 1770–1820 | publisher=Science History Publications | location=Sagamore Beach, MA | year=2009 | isbn=978-0881353747}}


==References==
==References==
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== External links ==
== External links ==
*[https://www.people.hps.cam.ac.uk/index/teaching-officers/schaffer Schaffer's page on the Department of History and Philosophy of Science website] at the University of Cambridge
* [https://www.hps.cam.ac.uk/directory/schaffer Schaffer's page on the Department of History and Philosophy of Science website] at the University of Cambridge
*[http://www.cbc.ca/ideas/features/science/index.html#episode1 CBC interview]—Ideas: How to Think about Science
* [http://www.cbc.ca/ideas/features/science/index.html#episode1 CBC interview] —Ideas: How to Think about Science
* [https://www.sms.cam.ac.uk/media/1130259 Interviewed by Alan Macfarlane 27 June, continued 1 and 2 July 2008 (video)]
* [https://www.sms.cam.ac.uk/media/1130259 Interviewed by Alan Macfarlane 27 June, continued 1 and 2 July 2008 (video)]
* [http://www.trin.cam.ac.uk/index.php?pageid=243 Simon Schaffer's 2010 Tarner Lectures] "When the stars threw down their spears": Histories of Astronomy and Empire
* [http://www.trin.cam.ac.uk/index.php?pageid=243 Simon Schaffer's 2010 Tarner Lectures] "When the stars threw down their spears": Histories of Astronomy and Empire
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20130105031914/http://www2.imperial.ac.uk/blog/videoarchive/2013/01/01/videos-for-schools/ Simon Schaffer's Videos at Imperial College ]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20130105031914/http://www2.imperial.ac.uk/blog/videoarchive/2013/01/01/videos-for-schools/ Simon Schaffer's Videos at Imperial College ]
*[https://www.lrb.co.uk/contributors/simon-schaffer Simon Schaffer's contributor page for the ''London Review of Books'']
* [https://www.lrb.co.uk/contributors/simon-schaffer Simon Schaffer's contributor page for the ''London Review of Books'']
* {{IMDb name|nm2406693}}
* {{IMDb name|nm2406693}}


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{{DEFAULTSORT:Schaffer, Simon}}
[[Category:British historians]]
[[Category:British philosophers]]
[[Category:British Jews]]
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[[Category:Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge]]
[[Category:Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge]]
[[Category:Fellows of Darwin College, Cambridge]]
[[Category:Fellows of Darwin College, Cambridge]]
[[Category:Historians of science]]
[[Category:Fellows of St John's College, Cambridge]]
[[Category:Philosophers of science]]
[[Category:British historians of science]]
[[Category:Contestants on University Challenge]]
[[Category:British philosophers of science]]
[[Category:History journal editors]]
[[Category:History journal editors]]

Latest revision as of 00:06, 18 September 2024

Simon Schaffer
Schaffer at a pub in Cambridge, UK, 2015
Born (1955-01-01) 1 January 1955 (age 70)
Southampton
EducationVarndean Grammar School for Boys
Alma materUniversity of Cambridge (BA, PhD)
Harvard University
Awards
Scientific career
InstitutionsUniversity of Cambridge
Darwin College, Cambridge
Imperial College London
University of California, Los Angeles
ThesisNewtonian cosmology and the steady state (1980)
Websitewww.hps.cam.ac.uk/directory/schaffer

Simon J. Schaffer (born 1 January 1955)[1] 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 and was editor of The British Journal for the History of Science from 2004 to 2009.[2]

Early life and education

[edit]

Schaffer was born in Southampton in 1955. His family moved to Brisbane, Australia that same year, returning to the UK in 1965 to live in Brighton.[3] His father, Bernard, was an academic social scientist who was a professorial fellow at the Institute of Development Studies at the University of Sussex from 1966 until his death in 1984.[4] Simon's mother, Sheila, who died in 2010, was a university librarian and Labour councillor who was Mayor of Brighton in 1995.[5]

Schaffer attended Varndean Grammar School for Boys in Brighton before studying Natural Sciences at Trinity College, Cambridge, specialising in the history and philosophy of science in his final year.[3] While at Trinity, he captained the winning college team in the 1974 University Challenge. After completing his undergraduate degree, Schaffer went to Harvard University 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,[3][6][7] while Fellow of St John's College, Cambridge.[8]

Career

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During the early 1980s, Schaffer taught at Imperial College London.[9] Since 1985, he has been a Fellow of Darwin College, Cambridge. He has also taught at the University of California, Los Angeles.[10] He has authored or co-authored numerous books, including Leviathan and the Air-Pump: Hobbes, Boyle, and the Experimental Life with Steven Shapin.[11] In addition to his work at Cambridge, he has been a presenter on the BBC,[12] in particular the series Light Fantastic broadcast on BBC Four in 2004.[13][14][15] He has been a regular contributor and reviewer for the London Review of Books.[16] Schaffer has made multiple appearances on the BBC radio discussion series In Our Time.[17][18][19][20][21][22]

Awards and honours

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In 2005, Schaffer shared the Erasmus Prize with Steven Shapin for Leviathan and the Air-Pump.[23] In 2013, he received the George Sarton Medal, the most prestigious honor 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".[24][25] In 2018 he received the Dan David Prize.[26] Schaffer was elected a Fellow of the British Academy in 2012.[27]

Selected bibliography

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  • Shapin, Steven; Schaffer, Simon (1985). Leviathan and the air-pump: Hobbes, Boyle, and the experimental life. Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press. ISBN 9780691178165.[28]
  • Schaffer, Simon; Pinch, Trevor; Gooding, David (1989). The uses of experiment: studies in the natural sciences. Cambridge, England & New York: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9780521337687.
  • Schaffer, Simon (1995). 'Accurate Measurement is an English Science,' The Values of Precision. Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press. ISBN 0-691-03759-0.
  • Schaffer, Simon (2009). The brokered world : go-betweens and global intelligence, 1770–1820. Sagamore Beach, MA: Science History Publications. ISBN 978-0881353747.

References

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  1. ^ "Schaffer, Simon, 1955-". Library of Congress Name Authority File. Retrieved 12 June 2014.
  2. ^ "Past editors' favourite papers published during their time in office". The British Journal for the History of Science. 50 (2): 173–179. June 2017. doi:10.1017/S0007087417000061. ISSN 0007-0874. PMID 28438228.
  3. ^ a b c Macfarlane, Alan (17 November 2008), Harrison, Sarah (ed.), Interview of Simon Schaffer, University of Cambridge
  4. ^ "Bernard Schaffer Collection". University of Bath. Retrieved 12 June 2014.
  5. ^ Avis, Peter (18 March 2010). "Sheila Schaffer obituary". The Guardian.
  6. ^ Schaffer, Simon (1980). Newtonian cosmology and the steady state. cam.ac.uk (PhD thesis). University of Cambridge. OCLC 216242434. EThOS uk.bl.ethos.281053.
  7. ^ "Simon Schaffer". www.alanmacfarlane.com. Retrieved 2 November 2016.
  8. ^ "New Johnian Fellows of the British Academy". www.joh.cam.ac.uk. 2012.
  9. ^ Gay, Hannah (2007). The History of Imperial College London, 1907–2007: Higher Education and Research in Science, Technology and Medicine. London: Imperial College Press. p. 588. ISBN 978-1-86094-708-7.
  10. ^ Béteille, Radha, ed. (2022). Creative Lives and Works: Science and Culture. New York: Routledge. p. 69. ISBN 9781032198545.
  11. ^ Schaffer, Simon; Shapin, Steven (2011). Leviathan and the Air-Pump: Hobbes, Boyle, and the Experimental Life (New in Paper). Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press. ISBN 978-0-691-15020-8.
  12. ^ "BBC Four – Mechanical Marvels: Clockwork Dreams".
  13. ^ "BBC – Press Office – Light Fantastic Simon Schaffer interview". Archived from the original on 28 December 2009.
  14. ^ Light Fantastic at IMDb
  15. ^ Simon Schaffer at IMDb
  16. ^ "Simon Schaffer". www.lrb.co.uk. Retrieved 26 September 2019.
  17. ^ "Our Time, Calculus". BBC Radio 4. Retrieved 5 September 2023.
  18. ^ "In Our Time, The Scientific Method". BBC Radio 4. Retrieved 5 September 2023.
  19. ^ "The Invention of Radio". BBC. Retrieved 5 September 2023.
  20. ^ "In Our Time, Automata". BBC Radio 4. Retrieved 5 September 2023.
  21. ^ "In Our Time, Absolute Zero". BBC Radio 4. Retrieved 5 September 2023.
  22. ^ "In Our Time, Longitude". BBC Radio – 4. Retrieved 5 September 2023.
  23. ^ "Erasmusprijswinnaars". Praemium Erasmianum Foundation. Retrieved 5 September 2023.
  24. ^ "HSS 2013 Prize Citations". Isis. 105 (2): 394–397. June 2014. doi:10.1086/677205 – via The University of Chicago Press Journals.
  25. ^ Thompson, David (19 July 2017). "Sarton Medal awarded to Simon Schaffer". www.hps.cam.ac.uk. Retrieved 5 September 2023.
  26. ^ Thompson, David (12 February 2018). "Simon Schaffer wins the 2018 Dan David Prize". www.hps.cam.ac.uk. Retrieved 5 September 2023.
  27. ^ "Professor Simon Schaffer FBA". The British Academy. Retrieved 5 September 2023.
  28. ^ Hankins, Thomas L. (1986). "Review of Leviathan and the Air-Pump". Science. 232 (4753): 1040–1042. doi:10.1126/science.232.4753.1040. PMID 17759318.
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