Richard S. ("Sam") Westfall
Richard S. Westfall (1924-1996), one of the foremost Newton
scholars of his generation, was Professor of History and of History and
Philosophy of Science at Indiana University. His publications include:
Science and Religion in Seventeenth-Century England (1958, 1973),
The Construction of Modern Science: Mechanism and Mechanics (1971),
Force in Newton's Physics: the Science of Dynamics in the Seventeenth
Century (1971), Never at Rest: A Biography of Isaac Newton
(1980), Essays on the Trial of Galileo (1989), and The Life of
Isaac Newton (1993). In 1983 the History of Science Society (which he
served as president in 1977 and 1978), honored him with its Pfizer Award
for Never at Rest, which will be the standard biography of Isaac
Newton for many years.
During the last years of his life, Professor Westfall was engaged in a
research project on patronage in the early-modern scientific community. As
part of this project, he prepared a data base containing information on
the careers of more than 600 scientists, his Catalog
of the Scientific Community in the 16th and 17th Centuries. With
his customary generosity, he made this catalog available on disk, free of
charge, to colleagues for their private use. In 1994, he gave permission
for the catalog to be included in the Galileo Project.
[AVH, 8/28/96]
galileo@rice.edu