| Uneasy Genius: The Life and Work of Pierre Duhem Softcover Repri Edition Contributor(s): Jaki, St L. (Author) |
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ISBN: 9024735327 ISBN-13: 9789024735327 Publisher: Springer OUR PRICE: $52.24 Product Type: Paperback Published: June 1987 |
| Additional Information |
| BISAC Categories: - Political Science | History & Theory - General - Philosophy | History & Surveys - Modern - Social Science | Reference |
| Dewey: B |
| Series: International Archives of the History of Ideas Archives Inte |
| Physical Information: 0.99" H x 6.14" W x 9.21" (1.50 lbs) 480 pages |
| Themes: - Chronological Period - Modern |
| Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
| Publisher Description: A hundred years have now gone by since in the midsummer of 1882 Pierre Duhem, a graduate of College Stanislas, completed with brilliant success his entrance exams to the Ecole Normale Superieure and embarked on his career as a theoretical physicist. His father, a textile salesman, hoped that Hierre would pursue a career in business, one of the few professional fields where perhaps he would not have succeeded. Not that young Duhem lacked sense for the practical. He could have easily made a name for himself as an artist had he developed professionally his skill to draw portraits and landscapes. His ability to make a point and his readiness to join in a debate, could have earned him fame as a lawyer. A potential actor was in sight when he entertained friends with mimicry. That as a student of physics he entered and stayed first in his class at the Ecole Normale, did not thwart his talents for the life sciences. No less a biologist than Pasteur tried to obtain Duhem for assistant. His command of Greek and Latin would have secured him a career as a classicist. He was a Frenchman, not to be met too often, whose rightful ad- miration for and mastery of his native tongue, did not prove a barrier to the major modern languages. As one who taught himself the complex art of medieval paleo- graphy, he could easily have mastered the many auxiliary sciences needed by a consummate historian. |