Papers of Arnold Thackray Addenda

Arnold Thackray (1939-) is a British-American historian of science and the founder of the present-day Science History Institute. Born in Manchester, England on July 30, 1939, Thackray attended Manchester Grammar School, then earned his B.S. in Chemistry from the University of Bristol in 1960. After earning his B.S., he worked as a Chemist at Robert Dempster and Sons Limited (1960-1961) and served as Senior Science Master at Rastrick Grammar School in Brighouse, England (1961-1963).

Thackray became interested in the history of science during early 1960s, which led him to enroll as a part-time student at the University of Leeds (1963-1964). In 1963, he became a full-time student in the history and philosophy of science at the University of Cambridge's Churchill College, where he earned his M.A. in History and Philosophy of Science (1965) and his Ph.D. in History and Philosophy of Science (1966). While still a graduate student, Thackray was appointed Research Fellow at Churchill College (1965-1969). After earning his Ph.D., he served as Visiting Lecturer in the History of Science at Harvard University (1967-1968).

Thackray became a faculty member at the University of Pennsylvania in 1968, where he enjoyed a long and distinguished career. At Penn, his research interests were in the historiography of science, and in understanding technology, medicine, and science as elements of modern culture. Thackray rose though Penn's faculty ranks, serving as Assistant Professor of the History of Science (1968-1969), Associate Professor of the History of Science (1969-1973), Professor of the History and Sociology of Science (1973-1996). He was the founder of Penn's Department of History and Sociology of Science, serving as its first Chairman (1970-1977). His tenure at Penn was briefly interrupted by a stint as Dean of Graduate Studies at the University of Maryland, College Park (1986). Thackray retired from Penn at the rank of Joseph Priestley Professor Emeritus in 1996.

Thackray was the founder of the Chemical Heritage Foundation (initially known as the Center for the History of Chemistry), serving as the organization's Founding President (1982-2007). He was also the founder of the Life Sciences Foundation, which was established in 2011. These two Thackray-founded entities merged in 2015 and the organization was renamed the Science History Institute in 2018. Thackray was also the founder and Senior Consultant of Science History Consultants, a private historical consulting firm.

Arnold Thackray authored, co-authored, and edited numerous books, from Atoms and Powers: An Essay on Newtonian Matter-Theory and the Development of Chemistry (1970) to Making Science History: A Personal Perspective from Alamogordo to AI (2026). He also authored and co-authored many journal articles and gave presentations and addresses at variagated professional conferences. Thackray was also an active member of several professional organizations, including the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the Royal Historical Society. He was also the recipient of several awards, including the American Chemical Society's Dexter Award (1983).

Sources

Papers of Arnold Thackray Addenda, Science History Institute Archives, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.