George Sarton
George Alfred Leon Sarton was born on the 31st of August 1884 in Ghent, Belgium. His mother died within a year of his birth. He attended school first in his hometown before later attending school for a period of four years in the town of Chimay. Sarton enrolled at the University of Ghent in 1902 to study philosophy. He found that the subject did not correspond with his interests and subsequently ceased his studies. In 1904 he re-enrolled in the university to study natural sciences. During his time at the University of Ghent Sarton received several honors. In 1908 the four Belgian universities gave him a gold medal for chemistry. The city of Ghent gave him a silver laurel for a memoir he wrote. He graduated with his doctorate in 1911 with a thesis in celestial mechanics.
During World War One in August 1914 the German army invaded Belgium. At this time Sarton was no longer an official member of Belgium's Civil Guard. Nevertheless when the invasion occurred he reported in and was assigned to patrol the nearby railroad intersection. He encountered no German soldiers that night. Under German occupation members of the Civil Guard were treated as spies. Sarton buried his Civil Guard coat in the garden so he would not be taken up and shot as a spy. During the occupation twenty-six German soldiers were billeted at his house. He was held responsible for the soldiers' safety. If any of the enlisted men staying at his house had not met curfew Sarton would have been shot. Soon after the Sarton family fled to England first traveling to the Netherlands then onward to London. They were not able to take many things with them. The notes for Sarton's History of Science were left buried with his coat.
Sarton edited Isis from 1913 to 1952. He founded both the society and its journals Isis and Osiris. The George Sarton Medal is the History of Science Society's most prestigious award given annually since 1955. It honors an outstanding historian of science for lifetime scholarly achievement. Sarton intended to complete an exhaustive nine-volume history of science entitled Introduction to the History of Science. His most influential works included this introduction which consists of three volumes and 4,296 pages. He also created the journal Isis. Sarton ultimately aimed to achieve an integrated philosophy of science that provided a connection between the sciences and the humanities. He referred to this concept as 'the new humanism'. He coined the term Medical Humanities in an obituary in 1948.
During the preparation of the second volume he learned Arabic and traveled around the Middle East for part of his research. He inspected original manuscripts of Islamic scientists during these travels. By the time of his death he had completed only the first three volumes. Volume one covered From Homer to Omar Khayyam. Volume two covered From Rabbi Ben Ezra to Roger Bacon parts one and two. Volume three covered Science and learning in the fourteenth-century parts one and two. Sarton had been inspired for his project by his study of Leonardo da Vinci. However he had not reached this period in history before dying. One series of lectures Sarton gave during his first year at Harvard discussed da Vinci. These lectures were entitled 'Science and Civilization in the Time of Leonardo da Vinci Scientist and Artist'.
Sarton began working with the school of Spanish Arabists in 1928. The school was then led by Julian Ribera y Tarrago and Miguel Asin Palacios. The Spanish Arabists contributed to Isis and Sarton had some of their articles published there. Sarton shared more views in common with the Spanish Arabists than he did with other historians of science. They had similar views on what constitutes science. Sarton and the Spanish also shared similar views on diffusion. He led a group of scholars who acted as patrons to the Spanish. Sarton acknowledged that Julian Ribera was the leading Spanish Arabist. Sarton also was interested and wrote articles on Ribera's research on the transition of Eastern music to the West. Sarton later associated his interest in scientific diffusion with Ribera's interest in the transmission of music because in medieval times music was commonly associated with mathematics and a part of the quadrivium.
He supervised just two PhD students in Harvard's history of science program to completion. These were Aydin M. Sayili and I. Bernard Cohen. They were the first such PhDs in America. His other two students Louise Diehl Patterson and Helen L. Thomas finished their PhDs at Harvard under Cohen. Sarton taught at Harvard University from 1940 until his retirement in 1951. He became an unpaid lecturer in 1920 in order to retain his rooms in Widener Library. After his death on the 22nd of March 1956 in Cambridge Massachusetts a representative selection of Sarton's papers was edited by Dorothy Stimson. It was published by Harvard University Press in 1962.
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Common questions
When and where was George Sarton born?
George Alfred Leon Sarton was born on the 31st of August 1884 in Ghent, Belgium. He attended school first in his hometown before later attending school for a period of four years in the town of Chimay.
What happened to George Sarton during World War One?
During World War One in August 1914 the German army invaded Belgium and George Sarton buried his Civil Guard coat in the garden so he would not be taken up and shot as a spy. Soon after the Sarton family fled to England first traveling to the Netherlands then onward to London.
How many volumes did George Sarton complete for his History of Science project?
By the time of his death on the 22nd of March 1956 in Cambridge Massachusetts George Sarton had completed only the first three volumes of his intended nine-volume history of science. Volume one covered From Homer to Omar Khayyam while volume two covered From Rabbi Ben Ezra to Roger Bacon parts one and two.
Who were the PhD students supervised by George Sarton at Harvard University?
He supervised just two PhD students in Harvard's history of science program to completion and these were Aydin M. Sayili and I. Bernard Cohen. They were the first such PhDs in America.
When did George Sarton edit Isis and what other journals did he found?
George Sarton edited Isis from 1913 to 1952 and he founded both the society and its journals Isis and Osiris. The George Sarton Medal is the History of Science Society's most prestigious award given annually since 1955.