Robert Multhauf

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Robert Philip Multhauf (born June 8, 1919 in Sioux City , South Dakota , † May 8, 2004 in Raphael, California ) was an American chemist and science historian (especially history of chemistry , history of technology).

Life

Multhauf graduated from Iowa State University with a bachelor's degree in chemistry in 1941. He then worked for several years as a chemist before serving in the US Navy during World War II . After his release in 1946, he stayed in Japan for a while before continuing his studies at the University of California, Berkeley , with a master’s degree in Far Eastern studies in 1950 and a doctorate in chemical history in 1953 (The relationship between technology and natural philosophy, approx. 1250-1650. As illustrated by the technology of mineral acids). As a post-graduate student , he was at Johns Hopkins University in the Department of Medical History. In 1954 he became assistant curator and 1955 curator of the engineering department at the United States National Museum (Smithsonian) in Washington DC In 1957 he was chief curator of the engineering and technology departments. In the same year he became chief curator of the science and technology department at the newly founded Museum of History and Technology (from 1969 National Museum of History and Technology and from 1980 National Museum of American History ) and at the same time its curator for natural science. 1966 to 1969 he was its director. In 1987 he retired from the Smithsonian Institution. He died of a heart attack in 2004 at his home in San Raphael, California.

From 1964 to 1978 he was editor of Isis and from 1979 to 1980 he was president of the History of Science Society. In 1985 he received the Dexter Award and in 1987 the Leonardo da Vinci Medal of the Society for the History of Technology. In 1984 he was visiting professor at the Arizona Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies. He was on the NASA Historical Committee .

Fonts

  • A Catalog of Instruments and Models in the Possession of the American Philosophical Society 1961
  • The Origins of Chemistry, London: Oldbourne 1966, New York: The Watts 1967, 1993
  • Laurits Christian Eichner , Craftsman: 1894–1967, 1971
  • History of Chemical Technology: An Annotated Bibliography, 1983
  • with Gregory Good: A Brief History of Geomagnetism and a Catalog of the Collections of the National Museum of American History, 1987
  • Neptunes Gift: A History of Common Salt, Johns Hopkins University Press 1978, 1993, 1996, 2003
  • with John L. Dubois, Charles A. Ziegler: The Invention and Development of the Radios onde: With a Catalog of Upper-atmosphere Telemetering Probes in the National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution, 2002
  • John Rupescissa and the Origin of Medical Chemistry, Isis, Volume 45, 1954, pp. 359-367
  • The Beginnings of Mineralogical Chemistry, Isis, Vol. 49, 1958, pp. 50-53.
  • A Museum Case History: The Department of Science and Technology of the US National Museum of History and Technology, in: Technology and Culture, Volume 6, 1965, pp. 47-58
  • Sal Amoniac: a Case History of Industrialization, in: Technology and Culture, Volume 6, 1965, pp. 569-586

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Multhauf, Robert
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Multhauf, Robert Philip (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American historian of science
DATE OF BIRTH June 8, 1919
PLACE OF BIRTH near Sioux City , South Dakota
DATE OF DEATH May 8, 2004
Place of death Raphael (California)