Kenneth L. Taylor

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Kenneth L. Taylor (born May 16, 1941) is an American historian of geology.

Contents

Education and career

At Harvard University, Taylor graduated in the specialty "History and Science" with three degrees: A.B. in 1962, A.M. in 1965, and Ph.D. in 1968. [1] His doctoral advisors were I. Bernard Cohen and Everett Mendelsohn. [2] In the department of the history of science at the University of Oklahoma, Taylor was an assistant professor from 1967 to 1972, an associate professor from 1972 to 1986, and a full professor from 1986 to 2006, [1] when he retired as professor emeritus. [2] He chaired his department for 14 years, [3] from 1979 to 1992, and acted as interim chair in autumn 1978 and spring 1999. [1]

Taylor was for the academic year 1973–1974 a postdoctoral fellow, supported by the CNRS and the NSF, at the Centre Alexandre Koyré in Paris. He was from 1990 to 1991 a Dibner Visiting Historian of Science. In 2001 he held the position Directeur d’Études Associé at the École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales in Paris. [1]

He has written numerous articles and essay reviews. [1] Several of his papers on the history of French geology and science during the Age of Enlightenment are recognized as classics. [4] Taylor's essay The Beginnings of a French Geological Identity (1980) presents evidence that, in the years from 1750 to 1800, naturalists tended to reject large syntheses or theoretical systems of natural history and geology and to strongly favor field observations. [5] His essay Before volcanoes became ordinary (2016) points out that ancient Greek and Latin literature had no generic terms for volcanoes and gives an overview of how perceptions about volcanoes have changed over the past two millennia. [6]

Taylor has served in various capacities in several organizations. From 1990 to 1993 he chaired the U.S. National Committee on the History of Geology [1] of the National Academy of Sciences. [7] From 2005 to 2007 he was a consulting editor for the New Dictionary of Scientific Biography . [1] From 2012 to 2016 he was the president of the International Commission on the History of Geological Sciences (INHIGEO). [3]

He was elected in 1997 a Fellow of the Geological Society of America. He received in 1998 the Sue Tyler Friedman Medal from the Geological Society of London, [1] in 2007 the Mary C. Rabbitt History of Geology Award from the Geological Society of America, [2] and in 2018 the Prix Wegmann from the Société Géologique de France . [4]

Selected publications

Articles

Books

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References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "Curriculum Vitae — Kenneth L. Taylor, Professor Emeritus of the History of Science" (PDF). University of Oklahoma. (with comprehensive publication list)
  2. 1 2 3 "2007 Mary C. Rabbitt History of Geology Award, presented to Kenneth L. Taylor". GSA Honors & Awards, Geological Society of America (GSA). (Citation by Kennard B. Bork; Response by K. L. Taylor)
  3. 1 2 "Kenneth L. Taylor". Department of History of Science, Technology, and Medicine, University of Oklahoma.
  4. 1 2 "History of Science Collections Receives Kenneth L. Taylor Papers". University Libraries, University of Oklahoma.
  5. "Chapter 18. Earth Sciences by Rhoda Rappaport". The Cambridge History of Science: Volume 4, Eighteenth-Century Science. Cambridge University Press. 17 March 2003. p. 418. ISBN   9780521572439.
  6. "Introduction". History of Geoscience: Celebrating 50 Years of INHIGEO. 6 June 2017. p. 3. ISBN   9781786202697.
  7. Organization and Members. National Academy of Sciences (U.S.). 1994. p. 180.