Lynn Thorndike

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Lynn Thorndike, 1938

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

Among other things, he translated the medieval astronomical textbook De sphaera mundi by Johannes de Sacrobosco . He is best known for his eight-volume history of science, A History of Magic and Experimental Science , which appeared from 1923 and extends from the early days of Christianity to the early modern period. It also covers the history of alchemy . In contrast to Jacob Burckhardt , he saw no decisive break between the Middle Ages and the Renaissance in Italy.

In 1928 he was one of the founding members of the Académie internationale d'histoire des sciences . Since 1939 he was a member of the American Philosophical Society . 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).

Publications (selection)

  • A History of Magic and Experimental Science. 8 volumes. 1923-1958.
  • Invention of the mechanical clock about 1271 AD In: Speculum. Volume 16, 1941, p. 242 f.
  • The History of Medieval Europe. 1917 '; 3rd edition 1949.
  • Science and Thought in the 15th Century. 1929.
  • as ed. with Francis S. Benjamin Jr .: The herbal of Rufinus [= Liber De virtutibus herbarum ...], edited from the unique manuscript. Chicago 1945; anastatic reprints ibid in 1946 and 1949 (= [only the reprints] Corpus of mediaeval scientific texts. Volume 1).
  • 'Unde versus'. In: Traditio. Volume 11, 1955, pp. 163-193.
  • with Pearl Kibre: A catalog of incipits of mediaeval scientific writings in Latin. 2nd Edition. Cambridge (Massachusetts) 1963 (= The mediaeval academy of America. Volume 29).

literature

  • Michael H. Shank: Lynn Thorndike (1882–1965) , in: Helen Damico, Joseph B. Zavadil (eds.): Medieval Scholarship. Biographical Studies on the Formation of a Discipline, Volume 1: History (= Garland Reference Library of the Humanities, Volume 1350), Garland Publishing, New York 1995, ISBN 0-8240-6894-7 , pp. 185-204.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Entry in the Academy's directory of members.
  2. ^ Member History: Lynn Thorndike. American Philosophical Society, accessed January 29, 2019 .


personal data
SURNAME Thorndike, Lynn
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American historian of science
DATE OF BIRTH July 24, 1882
PLACE OF BIRTH Lynn , Massachusetts , USA
DATE OF DEATH December 28, 1965
Place of death New York City