Jacob Bronowski
| Jacob Bronowski | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born |
18 January 1908 Łódź, Congress Poland, Russian Empire |
| Died |
22 August 1974 (aged 66) East Hampton, New York, US |
| Resting place | Highgate Cemetery, London, UK |
| Residence | United Kingdom |
| Nationality | British |
| Fields | Mathematics, operations research, biology, history of science, |
| Institutions | Salk Institute |
| Alma mater | University of Cambridge |
| Doctoral advisor | H. F. Baker |
| Known for | Geometry, The Ascent of Man |
| Notable awards | senior wrangler (Cambridge) |
| Spouse | Rita Coblentz |
| Children | Lisa Jardine, Judith Bronowski, Nicole Bronowski, Clare Bronowski |
Jacob Bronowski (18 January 1908 – 22 August 1974) was a British mathematician, historian of science, theatre author, poet and inventor. Of Polish-Jewish origin, he is best remembered as the presenter and writer of the 1973 BBC television documentary series, The Ascent of Man, and the accompanying book.
Jacob Bronowski was born in Łódź, Congress Poland, Russian Empire, in 1908. His family moved to Germany during the First World War, and then to Britain in 1920, Bronowski's parents having been married in Britain in the London house of his maternal grandfather in 1907. Although, according to Bronowski, he knew only two English words on arriving in Great Britain, he gained admission to the Central Foundation Boys' School in London and went on to study at the University of Cambridge and graduated as a wrangler.
As a mathematics student at Jesus College, Cambridge, Bronowski co-edited—with William Empson—the literary periodical Experiment, which first appeared in 1928. Bronowski would pursue this sort of dual activity, in both the mathematical and literary worlds, throughout his professional life. He was also a strong chess player, earning a half-blue while at Cambridge and composing numerous chess problems for the British Chess Magazine between 1926 and 1970. He received a Ph.D. in mathematics in 1935, writing a dissertation in algebraic geometry. For a time in the 1930s he lived near Laura Riding and Robert Graves in Majorca. From 1934 to 1942 he taught mathematics at the University College of Hull. Beginning in this period, the British secret service MI5 kept Bronowski under surveillance believing he was a security risk, which is thought to have restricted his access to senior posts in the UK.
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