The life and career of George Sarton

The father of the history of science

Bibliographic Data

ID4004029
AuthorsEugene Garfield (All Russian Institute for Scientific and Technical Information, corresponding author)
Year1985
Volume21
Issue2
Pages107-117
Publication date1985-04-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of the History of the Behavioral Sciences (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0022-5061 • E-ISSN: 1520-6696
PublisherWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1002/1520-6696(198504)21:2<107::aid-jhbs2300210202>3.0.co;2-k
PMID11608761
OpenAlexW2092759210
LanguageEN
Citations received4
References cited3

The year 1984 marked the centennial of the birth of George Alfred Leon Sarton, the father of the history of science. Sarton was the author of numerous major works in the field, including the three-volume, 4,236-page opus Introduction to the History of Science, which many still consider one of the field's most definitive and ambitious works. Sarton also founded the field's primary journal, Isis, which he edited for forty years. But in spite of the importance Sarton placed on the history of science, he considered the discipline a means, not an end. Sarton's ultimate goal was an integrated philosophy of science that bridged the gap between the sciences and the humanities-an ideal he called “the new humanism.” The forces and ideas that molded this idealistic scholar were a unique confluence of his Old World bourgeois upbringing and the experiences under German occupation during World War I that forced him to seek refuge in the United States.

Art history · Bourgeoisie · Centennial · Epistemology · Eugenics · George (robot) · German · History of science · Humanism · Political science · Politics · Sociology · Theology · Australian Indigenous Culture and History · Classics · History · History of Science and Natural History · Law · Philosophy · Philosophy and History of Science

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