Lawrence M. Principe

Lawrence M. Principe is the Drew Professor of the Humanities at Johns Hopkins University in the Department of History of Science and Technology and the Department of Chemistry.[1] He earned undergraduate degrees at the University of Delaware (B.A. Liberal Studies, 1983; B.S. Chemistry, 1983) and did his graduate work at Indiana University (Ph.D. Organic Chemistry, 1988) and at Johns Hopkins (Ph.D. History of Science, 1996). He is the first recipient of the Francis Bacon Medal for significant contributions to the history of science.[2]

Principe's studies concern the early history of chemistry, particularly the works of Robert Boyle, and their connection to the earlier study of alchemy.[3][4] His book The Aspiring Adept: Robert Boyle and His Alchemical Quest (Princeton, 1998) makes the case that Boyle was himself active as an alchemist.[5] His later book with William R. Newman, Alchemy Tried in the Fire: Starkey, Boyle, and the Fate of Helmontian Chymistry (University of Chicago Press, 2002) also promotes the continuity between alchemy and chemistry.[6]

References

  1. ^ Drew Professorship, Johns Hopkins University, retrieved 2011-06-23.
  2. ^ The Francis Bacon Award in the History and Philosophy of Science and Technology, California Institute of Technology, retrieved 2011-06-23.
  3. ^ Browne, Malcolm W. (April 10, 1990), "In Alchemists' Notes, Clues to Modern Chemistry", New York Times, http://www.nytimes.com/1990/04/10/science/in-alchemists-notes-clues-to-modern-chemistry.html .
  4. ^ Wilford, John Noble (August 1, 2006), "Transforming the Alchemists", New York Times, http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/01/science/01alch.html .
  5. ^ Keiger, Dale (February 1999), "All That Glitters...", Johns Hopkins Magazine, http://www.jhu.edu/jhumag/0299web/glitter.html .
  6. ^ Review of Alchemy Tried in the Fire by Rose-Mary Sargent (2004), Journal of the History of Philosophy 42 (1): 104–105.