Robert F. Rothschild, Friend and Benefactor to History of Science, Dies at 97.
Robert F. Rothschild was an enthusiastic and engaged member of the History of Science community and will be missed. He died peacefully on October 7, 2015 in his native New York City. The eldest child of Herbert and Nannette Rothschild, he is survived by his daughter, Katherine, son, Peter, and sister, Barbara Michaels. .Bob graduated from Harvard College in 1939 with a degree in biochemistry. During World War II, he worked on the development of radar at the Sperry Gyroscope Company. He served for many years as vice president and then president of the family furniture business, John Stuart, Inc. His lifelong passion for science led him to write "Two Brides for Apollo," a scholarly book on the 18th-century astronomer Samuel Williams, which he published at age 90. Born in 1918, he grew up in the Bronx.
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Emeritus Professor Owen Gingerinch, who knew Bob well, writes:."Bob became fascinated with history of science on account of having a summer home on Islesboro (Maine) and learning that Harvard had mounted an eclipse expedition there in 1780 during the Revolutionary War. In 1980, the bicentennial, on Islesboro, the original instruments were taken back to Islesboro for a reenactment (without an eclipse!). The original team marginally missed the path of totality, and later I proposed that the reason lay in an imperfection in some copies of the Mitchell map. Bob was intrigued by my explanation, but never fully satisfied with it. In any event, we became firm friends as a consequence, and on various times stayed with him and his wife on Islesboro. When I was briefly department chair, I played a key role in arranging for the Rothschild Lectures. Bob was keen to have the lectures published, which happened with the first lecture by Thomas Kuhn (which appeared in the Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society), but we were unable to continue this part. The Rothschilds were serious art collectors, with original paintings by Picasso and Seurat among others, and were important patrons of the Fogg Art Museum."
.Besides founding and supporting the History of Science Rothschild Lecture (a series of events that brought distinguished speakers in the history of science to Harvard), and the Senior Thesis Prize, Bob and his wife Maurine also supported the Maurine and Robert Rothschild Lecture at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study. Bob attended the commencement week activities in 2014 as the most senior graduate of the college, celebrating his seventy-fifth class reunion.
The most recent Robert and Maurine Rothschild lecture in the History of Science was delivered by Walter Isaacson in 2013..Find a complete list of Rothschild Distinguished Lectures here..Obituary from The New York Times, 10/11/2015.
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Emeritus Professor Owen Gingerinch, who knew Bob well, writes:."Bob became fascinated with history of science on account of having a summer home on Islesboro (Maine) and learning that Harvard had mounted an eclipse expedition there in 1780 during the Revolutionary War. In 1980, the bicentennial, on Islesboro, the original instruments were taken back to Islesboro for a reenactment (without an eclipse!). The original team marginally missed the path of totality, and later I proposed that the reason lay in an imperfection in some copies of the Mitchell map. Bob was intrigued by my explanation, but never fully satisfied with it. In any event, we became firm friends as a consequence, and on various times stayed with him and his wife on Islesboro. When I was briefly department chair, I played a key role in arranging for the Rothschild Lectures. Bob was keen to have the lectures published, which happened with the first lecture by Thomas Kuhn (which appeared in the Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society), but we were unable to continue this part. The Rothschilds were serious art collectors, with original paintings by Picasso and Seurat among others, and were important patrons of the Fogg Art Museum."
.Besides founding and supporting the History of Science Rothschild Lecture (a series of events that brought distinguished speakers in the history of science to Harvard), and the Senior Thesis Prize, Bob and his wife Maurine also supported the Maurine and Robert Rothschild Lecture at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study. Bob attended the commencement week activities in 2014 as the most senior graduate of the college, celebrating his seventy-fifth class reunion.
The most recent Robert and Maurine Rothschild lecture in the History of Science was delivered by Walter Isaacson in 2013..Find a complete list of Rothschild Distinguished Lectures here..Obituary from The New York Times, 10/11/2015.
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