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The History of Science Society, The University of Chicago Press Isis
The History of Science Society, The University of Chicago Press Isis
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Alexandre Koyre (1892-1964)
COMMEMORATION
By I. Bernard Cohen *
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158 I. BERNARD COHEN
Each great scholar has certain special gifts, certain endowments of nature
which help us to define his particular genius. In the case of Alexandre
Koyre, we would first of all note a fluency in classical Greek and in classical
1 1 do not wish to imply that Alexandre 2 There were earlier publications on Par-
Koyr6 was the fons et origo of the method of acelsus (1933) and Copernicus (1933, 1
conceptual analysis in the history of science: they did not have the impact ofthe studi
certainly his predecessors include such thinkers Galleo; in retrospect they may be seen
as Lon
as Leon Brunschvicg,
Brunschvicg, Emile
Emile Meyerson,Ernst
Meyerson, Ernst3been
I do earnests of the
not include great work torefe
bibliographical co
Cassirer, and others. But Koyre applied him- since a bibliography of Alexandre Koyrs
self to problems in the history of science in a lications may be found in Melanges A
way and to a degree that these men did not, Koyre. Vol. 1: L'aventure de la scien
and he not only became the chief exponent of 2: L'aventure de l'esprit. Edited and
the new method, but by actual examples duced by I. Bernard Cohen and Ren6 Taton
showed us its power. (Paris: Hermann, 1964).
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ALEXANDRE KOYR1 (1892-1964) 159
and medieval Latin, dating back to his youth in the lycees of Tiflis and of
Rostoff-on-the-Don in Imperial Russia. He knew modern languages,, of
course, and had an easy familiarity in reading, writing, and speaking English,
Italian, German, Russian, and French. He had pursued higher studies in
mathematics and physics at the University of Gottingen and had studied
philosophy at Gottingen and at the Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes (Sor-
bonne) and at the College de France.4
Eventually Professor Koyre became "Directeur d'Etudes" of the fifth
section of the 1cole Pratique des Hautes 1tudes and a " staff member" of
the Institute for Advanced Study (Princeton). He was a "Visiting Pro-
fessor " at the universities of Cairo, Chicago, Johns Hopkins, and Wisconsin,
and lectured at many universities in Europe and in America (including
Harvard, Yale, Buffalo, and Brandeis). Those who heard him lecture and
reply to the questions of his audience were at once aware of his massive
erudition, his ability to cite texts from memory in the original ancient and
modem languages, his vast knowledge of scientific and philosophic ideas
from all periods, his ability to see antecedents and consequents of theories.
A particular gift was the ability to call at will upon this vast store of informa-
tion and to use it to show how a given topic was related at once to the main
streams of ideas and to the little-known directions of thought. He taught
us that to understand giants like Kepler, Galileo, Descartes, and Newton,
we must also study carefully their lesser contemporaries: Hooke, Barrow,
Roberval, Wallis, Hobbes, Seth Ward, Cavalieri, Riccioli, Gassendi, and
even Bonamico.
Well versed in the history of philosophy, Koyre was able to show
the central concepts of philosophy at any given time may be a det
element of the nature of the scientific thought of that age, and v
Some examples are the effect of the geometrization of space in th
sance, the concept of an infinite universe, matter and spirit. To
fessor Koyre's method in action, we may turn to his own statem
cerning his Studes Galileennes:
J'ai essaye d'analyser, dans ce dernier ouvrage, la revolution scient
xvIIe si&cle, a la fois source et resultat d'une profonde transformati
site de Paris, 1923 (No 4 de la bibliographie).
4 Koyr6 described his early career as follows:
Ne le 29 aofit 1892 a Taganrog (Russie).-
-Docteur As lettres, 1929 (Nos 10 et 11 de la
Etudes secondaires aux lycees de Tiflis et de
bibliographie).
Rostoff-sur-Don. - Etudes de mathematiques Charge de conferences a 1'Ecole Pratique
et de philosophie aux Universites de Goet-
des Hautes Etudes (Ve section) : 1922-1930. -
tingue et de Paris, a l'Ecole Pratique des
Charge de cours a 1'Institut d'Etudes Slaves :
Hautes-Etudes et au College de France: 1922-1925. -Suppleant de M. E. Gilson a
1908-1914. la Facult6 des Lettres : nov.-dec. 1928 et
Guerre 1914-1918: Engage volontaire pournov.-d6c. 1929. - Maitre de conferences a la
la duree de la guerre. Facult6 des Lettres de Montpellier : ler
Etudes a 1'Universite de Paris, a l'Ecole octobre 1930 -31 decembre 1931. -Direc-
Pratique des Hautes-Etudes, au College de teur d'Etudes a la Ve section de 1'Ecole Prati-
France : 1919-1922. que des Hautes Etudes (pour l'Histoire des
Diplome d'etudes superieures de philos- idees philosophiques et religieuses dans
ophie, 1913.--Dipl6me de l'Ecole Pratique 1'Europe moderne) depuis le ler janvier 1932.
des Hautes Etudes, Ve Section, 1922 (No 3 This is quoted from a privately printed
de la bibliographie). - Docteur de 1'Univer- pamphlet of "Titres et travaux " (1951).
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160 I. BERNARD COHEN
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ALEXANDRE KOYRI (1892-1964) 161
In the studies of Newton's Principia which occupied the last years of his
life, Alexandre Koyre constantly sought illumination and clarification in
Mme du Chatellet's French translation, and to some degree in Andrew
Motte's contemporaneous English version. Motte and Mme du Chatellet
preserved some of Newton's original ambiguity, where we today would
restrict him to the narrow confines of our own current technical expressions.
Professor Koyr6 was himself a skillful translator - and he rendered into
French great sections of the writings of Galileo and Kepler, as well as whole
books by St. Anselm, Spinoza, and Copernicus - yet he was always sensitive
to the needs of comprehending a text in its own terms and he liked to quote
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162 I. BERNARD COHEN
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ALEXANDRE KOYRE (1892-1964) 163
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164 I. BERNARD COHEN
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ALEXANDRE KOYRt (1892-1964) 165
COMMEMORATION
By Marshall Clagett *
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166 MARSHALL CLAGETT
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