Jim Bennett (historian)

James Arthur Bennett (born 1947) is a retired museum curator and historian of science.

Jim Bennett was the Director of the Museum of the History of Science, Oxford (above).

Career

Jim Bennett was educated at Grosvenor High School, Belfast, and Clare College, Cambridge, where he graduated with BA and PhD degrees in 1969 and 1974 respectively.[1] He was Director of the Museum of the History of Science at Oxford University (since renamed the History of Science Museum).[2] He was appointed on 1 October 1994, on the retirement of the previous director, Francis Maddison,[3] and retired on 30 September 2012. He is also a fellow of the Faculty of History[4] and Linacre College. In 2010, the University of Oxford gave him the title Professor of the History of Science. Previously he was a fellow and senior tutor of Churchill College and curator of the Whipple Museum of the History of Science, both part of Cambridge University. Since 2016, he's been the president of the Hakluyt Society. He also holds the position of Keeper Emeritus at the Science Museum, London[5]

Bennett's interests lie in the history of practical mathematics from the 16th century to the 18th century, scientific instruments and astronomy. His work in Cambridge included hands-on use of scientific and navigational instruments, using the Whipple collection to teach undergraduates how instruments worked, and gaining insight into the difficulties faced by the historical teachers of those instruments.

Jim Bennett has been President of the British Society for the History of Science and President of the Scientific Instrument Commission of the International Union of History and Philosophy of Science.[6][7] He has also appeared in television documentaries.[8]

Selected publications
  • The Divided Circle: A History of Instruments for Astronomy, Navigation and Surveying, Jim Bennett. Oxford, 1987.
  • Church, State and Astronomy in Ireland, 200 Years of Armagh Observatory, Jim Bennett. Belfast, 1990.
  • The Garden, the Ark, the Tower, the Temple. Biblical Metaphors of Knowledge in Early Modern Europe, Jim Bennett and S. Mandelbrote. Oxford, 1998.
  • Practical Geometry and Operative Knowledge, Jim Bennett. Configurations, 6, 1998.
  • London's Leonardo: The Life and Work of Robert Hooke, Jim Bennett, Michael Cooper, Michael Hunter and Lisa Jardine. Oxford University Press, 2003. ISBN 0-19-852579-6.[9]
  • Catalogue of Surveying and Related Instruments, Jim Bennett, Sillabe Srl, Livorno, Italy, 2022. ISBN 978-88-3340-322-9
As editor

References
  1. "BENNETT, Prof. James Arthur". Who's Who. Vol. 2019 (online ed.). A & C Black. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  2. "Staff". UK. Archived from the original on 7 July 2011. Retrieved 17 December 2012.
  3. "Staff Changes". Annual Report of the Museum of History of Science 1994–5. Vol. Supplement (2) to Gazette No. 4401. Oxford University Gazette. 20 May 1996. Archived from the original on 27 February 2018. Retrieved 23 February 2010.
  4. "Dr Jim Bennett". UK. Archived from the original on 16 July 2011. Retrieved 17 December 2012.
  5. "BBC In Our Time: Longitude". Retrieved 5 May 2021.
  6. "Museum of the History of Science Annual Report". UK: Museum of the History of Science, Oxford. March 2002. Retrieved 17 December 2012.
  7. "Professor Jim Bennett". cafesci.org. Archived from the original on 3 March 2012. Retrieved 17 December 2012.
  8. Jim Bennett at IMDb.
  9. "London's Leonardo: The Life and Work of Robert Hooke". USA: Oxford University Press. Archived from the original on 30 January 2013. Retrieved 17 December 2012.
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