Gerald Holton
| Gerald Holton | |
|---|---|
| Born |
May 22, 1922 Berlin, Germany |
| Residence | |
| Nationality |
Austrian American |
| Fields | |
| Institutions |
Wesleyan University Brown University Harvard University |
| Alma mater |
School of Technology, City of Oxford (Cert.) Wesleyan University (B.A., M.A.) Harvard University (A.M., Ph.D.) |
| Doctoral advisor | Percy Williams Bridgman |
Gerald James Holton (born May 23, 1922) is Mallinckrodt Professor of Physics and professor of the history of science, emeritus, at Harvard University.
Born 1922 in Berlin to Austrian parents, Holton grew up in Vienna, attending Humanistisches Gymnasium before emigrating to England in 1938 thanks to the Kindertransport. He received an electrical engineering certificate at the School of Technology, City of Oxford in 1940, and then a B.A. in 1941 and a M.A. in 1942 at Wesleyan University. As a student of Percy Williams Bridgman in physics, he obtained his A.M. and Ph.D. at Harvard University respectively in 1946 and 1948.
His chief interests are in the history and philosophy of science, in the physics of matter at high pressure, in education, and in the study of career paths of young scientists. Along with co-author Gerhard Sonnert he has studied and published works on the gender gap in science studies and careers. In 1952, he published Introduction to Concepts and Theories in Physical Sciences, a seminal work in the development of physics education, which led to Harvard Project Physics, the NSF sponsored national curriculum-development project that he co-directed.
Gerald Holton is a Fellow of the American Physical Society, the American Philosophical Society, and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (1956), as well as several American and European learned societies, including the German Academy of Sciences and the Austrian Academy of Sciences. He served as President of the History of Science Society from 1983-84 and served on a number of U.S. National Commissions, including those on UNESCO and Excellence on Education. He also served on the board of trustees of Science Service, now known as Society for Science & the Public, from 1972-1978, as well as of the Boston Museum of Science,the National Humanities Center, and Wesleyan University.
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