Lynn Thorndike

Lynn Thorndike ( born July 24, 1882 in Lynn, Massachusetts, USA, † December 28, 1965 in New York City ) was an American historian of science.

Thorndike taught from 1907 Medieval History at Northwestern University. From 1909 to 1924 he was a professor at Case Western Reserve University and from 1924 to 1950 at Columbia University.

He has translated the medieval astronomical textbook sphaera De mundi of Johannes de Sacrobosco. He is known especially for his eight-volume History of Science A History of Magic and Experimental Science, which appeared from 1923 and ranging from the early days of Christianity to the early modern period. It also covers the history of alchemy. Unlike Jacob Burckhardt saw no decisive break from the Middle Ages to the Renaissance in Italy.

In 1957 he was awarded the George Sarton Medal of the History of Science Society.

His brother was the Shakespeare expert Ashley Horace Thorndike ( 1871-1933 ).

Works

  • A History of Magic and Experimental Science ( 8 vols, 1923-58 )
  • The History of Medieval Europe (1917, 3rd edition 1949)
  • Science and Thought in the 15th Century, 1929
536589
de