Arnold Thackray

Science historian Arnold Thackray was born and educated in England, receiving his B.S. degree at Bristol University and his doctorate in the history and philosophy of science at Cambridge University. After receiving his doctorate in 1965, Thackray served as a research fellow at Churchill College, Cambridge University, until 1968, when he joined the faculty of the University of Pennsylvania as a professor of history and of the history of science. In 1973 he became chair of the department of the history and sociology of science at Pennsylvania. A leading authority in the history of science, Thackray has studied the development of modern science and the sociological and intellectual nexus of science and society. He focuses much of his attention on the field of chemistry, where his research has highlighted the role that Isaac Newton's theory of matter and John Dalton's atomic theory have had on developments in chemistry. A member of the Institute of Advanced Study at Princeton, Thackray has served as visiting lecturer at Harvard University and Bryn Mawr College as well as visiting professor at the London School of Economics and Political Science.