In 1946, Reijer Hooykaas became the first scholar to hold a history of science chair in the Netherlands at VU Amsterdam. He introduced a course, mandatory for all students in the natural sciences, that highlighted science's broader cultural contours. Traditionally, historians of science were often inwardly focused, hardly reflecting on science’s relationship to other domains. Hooykaas demonstrated that the connections and tensions between science and religious worldviews had in fact been much more productive. Hooykaas' programme was very fitting, as VU Amsterdam had always studied the interconnectedness of worldview and science. Hooykaas would shape generations of students, becoming one of the international founding fathers of contemporary history of science. Even though not all of his views are still shared by the newer generation of scholars that stood on his shoulders, he left an indelible mark on the field.
The research will result in a comprehensive academic overview of the work and meaning of this VU Amsterdam icon, as it relates to his place the historiography of science-and-religion.
More about this researchproject
Start/end Date
February 2021 – October 2027
Team
Leader: Gijsbert van den Brink
Team: Jelmer Heeren, Ab Flipse, Matthias Smalbrugge
Fund
VU Vereniging