George Starkey and American Science in the Scientific Revolution

乔治·斯塔基和科学革命中的美国科学

• 批准号: 8808685
• 负责人: William Newman
• 金额: $ 3万
• 依托单位: Stonehill College
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 1988
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 1988-07-01 至 1989-09-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=8808685&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: George; Starkey; American; Science; Scientific

"I can see so far because I have stood on the shoulders of giants." Attributed to Isaac Newton though it probably originated in the Middle Ages, this statement has almost become a cliche in science. While not denigrating the role of genius in the advance of science, it is certainly true that science is a collective activity in which many persons contribute, some more, some less. It is important to understand the social organization of science and how scientists interact, drawing on and reacting to each others ideas. Dr. Newman, in his study of George Starkey, will be examining an especially interesting case of the interaction of scientists because Starkey, an American-educated alchemist, contributed to the advance of the Scientific Revolution. For, though we now consider alchemy a "pseudo- science" like astrology, alchemy in fact played an enormously important role in the development of Isaac Newton's thought and in the development of the new science of chemistry coming out of the work of Robert Boyle. Starkey, significantly, influenced Newton through his writings and actually worked with Boyle. In short, Starkey, born in the American colonies, was one of the "giants" on whose shoulders both Newton and Boyle stood. George Starkey (1627-65) was born in Bermuda, at the time part of the "American Colonies," and was educated at Harvard between 1643-6. He learned alchemy there under the instruction of John Winthrop the Younger. In 1650, he moved to London where he joined Hartlib's "Invisible College," an informal gathering in which those who expressed interest in scientific matters could exchange ideas. He performed extensive experiments for Robert Boyle. One of Dr. Newman's hypotheses which he will set out to prove in this research is that Starkey was actually the pseudonymous writer "Eirenaeus Philalethes" whose alchemical works flooded Europe in the late 17th century. Isaac Newton was an avid collector of Philalethan manuscripts and it now appears that his corpuscular "nutshell theory of matter" may owe more to Starkey than to any other author. Starkey's historical importance was that he was the first American scientist of great repute in Europe, and Starkey's works played a major role in the approximately one million words that Isaac Newton devoted to alchemy. Dr. Newman, under this grant will examine the major events of Starkey's life, his relationship to Boyle and influence on Newton, and the scope of his ideas -- especially their relevance to the natural philosophy and chemistry of his time. This research will entail close examination of manuscripts available only in British libraries and will lead to the first full-scale treatment of this seminal figure in the history of American science and the Scientific Revolution.

“我能看得这么远，是因为我站在巨人的肩膀上。” 尽管这句话可能起源于中世纪，但归因于艾萨克·牛顿，这种说法几乎成为科学界的陈词滥调。 虽然我没有贬低天才在科学进步中的作用，但科学确实是一项集体活动，许多人在其中做出了贡献，有些人多一些，有些人少一些。 了解科学的社会组织以及科学家如何互动、借鉴彼此的想法并对其做出反应非常重要。 纽曼博士在对乔治·斯塔基的研究中，将研究一个特别有趣的科学家互动案例，因为斯塔基是一位受过美国教育的炼金术士，为科学革命的进步做出了贡献。 因为，尽管我们现在认为炼金术像占星术一样是“伪科学”，但炼金术实际上在艾萨克·牛顿思想的发展和罗伯特·博伊尔工作中产生的新化学科学的发展中发挥了极其重要的作用。 斯塔基通过牛顿的著作对牛顿产生了重大影响，并且实际上与波义耳一起工作。 简而言之，出生于美洲殖民地的斯塔基是牛顿和波义耳所站在的“巨人”之一。 乔治·斯塔基（George Starkey，1627-65 年）出生于百慕大，当时是“美国殖民地”的一部分，1643-6 年间在哈佛大学接受教育。他在那里在小约翰·温思罗普的指导下学习炼金术。 1650 年，他搬到伦敦，加入了哈特利布的“隐形学院”，这是一个非正式聚会，那些对科学问题感兴趣的人可以在其中交流思想。 他为罗伯特·博伊尔进行了大量的实验。 纽曼博士将在这项研究中证明的假设之一是，斯塔基实际上是笔名作家“Eirenaeus Philalethes”，他的炼金术著作在 17 世纪末席卷了欧洲。 艾萨克·牛顿是费拉勒坦手稿的狂热收藏家，现在看来，他的微粒“物质的简而言之理论”可能更多地归功于斯塔基，而不是任何其他作者。 斯塔基的历史重要性在于，他是第一位在欧洲享有盛誉的美国科学家，而斯塔基的著作在艾萨克·牛顿致力于炼金术的大约一百万字中发挥了重要作用。 纽曼博士在这笔资助下将研究斯塔基一生中的重大事件、他与波义耳的关系以及对牛顿的影响，以及他的思想的范围——特别是它们与他那个时代的自然哲学和化学的相关性。 这项研究将需要仔细检查仅在英国图书馆提供的手稿，并将导致对美国科学史上和科学革命史上的这位开创性人物的首次全面处理。