3 linear feet
Content Description
The Mary Jo Nye Papers are comprised of approximately 3 linear feet of books relating to the history of science and scientific thought in France and the United States, one series of bound reprints, one series of research materials transferred from microfilm, and one folder of miscellaneous pamphlets and reprints. Future donations are scheduled.
Biographical Note
Dr. Mary Jo Nye is an internationally recognized historian of science known for her analysis of the relationship between scientific discovery and social and political phenomena.
Dr. Nye came into academia as an undergraduate chemistry major at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee, which she left in 1964 in order to complete her B.A. degree at the University of Wisconsin in Madison. In 1965 she entered the History of Science doctoral program at the University of Wisconsin, receiving her Ph.D. in 1970. Later that year, she took a position as Visiting Assistant Professor at the University of Oklahoma, the base from which she would build her position as a historian of science.
Between 1970 and 1994, Dr. Nye contributed heavily to the study of the history of science at the University of Oklahoma, receiving widespread recognition and eventually promotion to George Lynn Cross Research Professor of the History of Science. During that time she produced three books, edited two more, published more than two dozen articles and essays, and participated in a number of academic organizations. With the publication of Science in the Provinces: Scientific Communities and Provincial Leadership in France she became recognized for her command of scientific history from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Visiting research position at the University of Pittsburgh, the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, Rutgers University, and the University of Cambridge, among others, helped to cement her position within the international community of historians of science.
In 1994, Dr. Nye accepted a position as the Thomas Hart and Mary Jones Horning Professor of the Humanities at Oregon State University. There, she edited a volume in The Cambridge History of Science series and authored two additional books, Before Big Science: The Pursuit of Modern Chemistry and Physics and Blackett: Physics, War, and Politics in the 20th Century, well-received accounts of the interplay of social, economic, and political factors in scientific discovery. At the time of her retirement she was completing her book Michael Polyani and His Generation: Origins of the Social Construction of Science, scheduled for publication in 2011.
In addition to her publishing and professorial duties, Nye also played an active role in the advancement of her field, serving as the 1988-1989 President of the History of Science Society, Second Vice-President of the Division of History of Science in the International Union of History and Philosophy of Science, and member of several international science and history organizations. She has also been recognized for achievements by the American Academy of Arts and Science, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and the Académie Internationale d’Histoire des Sciences, among others. In 2006 the History of Science Society awarded her the prestigious Sarton Medal for Lifetime Scholarly Achievement
Dr. Nye currently holds a position as professor emeritus of the Oregon State University History Department and continues to research and publish in her field.
Timeline for Mary Jo Nye
| 1944 | Mary Jo Nye is born on December 5 in Nashville, Tennessee. |
| 1962 | Enters Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee. |
| 1964 | Having completed two years of undergraduate studies at Vanderbilt, Nye transfers to the University of Wisconsin in Madison. |
| 1965 | Graduates from the University of Wisconsin with a Bachelor's Degree in Chemistry. Enters the History of Science doctoral program at the University of Wisconsin. The Vanderbilt chapter of Phi Beta Kappa elects Nye as a member. |
| 1969 | Begins a one-year term as National Science Foundation Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Oklahoma. |
| 1970 | Receives her Ph. D. from the University of Wisconsin History of Science program. The University of Oklahoma appoints Nye Visiting Assistant Professor of History of Science. |
| 1972 | Publishes Molecular Reality: A Perspective on the Scientific Work of Jean Perrin. |
| 1974 | Awarded a one-year Andrew Mellon Postdoctoral Fellowship by the University of Pittsburgh. |
| 1975 | The University of Oklahoma promotes Nye to Assistant Professor of History of Science. |
| 1977 | Nye is a Research Associate for the Office for the History of Science and Technology at the University of California, Berkeley. |
| 1978 | The University of Oklahoma promotes Nye to Associate Professor of History of Science. |
| 1979 | Nye serves as Visiting Scholar for the Office for the History of Science and Technology at the University of California, Berkeley.
This is the first of six such summer stints that she will serve in the coming years. |
| 1981 | In the Spring, the University of Oklahoma History of Science Department elects Nye to position of Acting Chair. Serves as a Member of the School of Historical Studies, and National Endowment for the Humanities Fellow at The Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey. |
| 1984 | Publishes The Question of the Atom: From the Karlsruhe Congress to the First Solvay Conference. 1860-1911. A Selection of Primary Sources. |
| 1985 | Promoted to Full Professor in the History of Science Department at the University of Oklahoma. |
| 1986 | Publishes Science in the Provinces: Scientific Communities and Provincial Leadership in France, 1860-1930. The History of Science Society elects Nye Vice-President and President-Elect. |
| 1987 | Nye is Co-Director of the Rockefeller Foundation Fellowship in the Humanities Postdoctoral Fellowship programs at the University
of Oklahoma. Nye serves as Vice-President of the History of Science Society. |
| 1988 | In the Spring, Nye accepts a position as Visiting Professor of the History of Science at Harvard University. Nye begins a two-year term as President of the History of Science Society. |
| 1989 | Nye is named Associate Fellow at Rutgers Center for Historical Analysis, Rutgers University. Nye completes her two-year term as President of the History of Science Society. |
| 1991 | Nye becomes the George Lynn Cross Research Professor of the History of Science at the University of Oklahoma. The Rockefeller Foundation renews the Rockefeller Foundation Fellowship in the Humanities Postdoctoral Fellowship Programs at the University of Oklahoma with Nye as Co-Director. |
| 1992 | Edits The Invention of Physical Science: Intersection of Mathematics, Theology, and Natural Philosophy Since the Seventeenth Century.
Essay in Honor of Erwin N. Hievbert. Boston Studies in the Philosophy of Science. |
| 1993 | Serves as Chair of the History of Science Department at the University of Oklahoma. Named Co-Director of the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation Postdoctoral Fellowship Program on Historical Intersections of the Biological and Social Sciences at the University of Oklahoma. The American Academy of Arts and Sciences elects Nye as a Fellow. Publishes From Chemical Philosophy to Theoretical Chemistry: Dynamics of Matter and Dynamics of Disciplines, 1800-1950. |
| 1994 | Nye and her husband Robert A. Nye (George Lynn Cross Research Professor of History at the University of Oklahoma) each accept
a position as Thomas Hart and Mary Jones Horning Professor of the Humanities and Professor of History at Oregon State University. Mary Jo Nye becomes a Co-Director of the Horning Endowment in the Humanities Committee. Elected Second Vice-President of the Division of History of Science of the International Union of History and Philosophy of Science. |
| 1995 | In the Spring, Nye is named By-Fellow of Churchill College and Visiting Scholar for the Department of History and Philosophy
of Science at the University of Cambridge. |
| 1996 | Acts as Past By-Fellow of Churchill College at the University of Cambridge.Before Big Science: The Pursuit of Modern Chemistry and Physics, 1800-1940 is published.Edits The Pauling Symposium: A Discourse on the Art of Biography. Proceedings of the Conference on the Life and Work of Linus Pauling (1901-1994). |
| 1998 | Elected a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. |
| 1999 | Acts as Visiting Scholar for the Max Planck Institut für Wissenschaftsgeschichte in Berlin where she returns in 200 and 2004. Named the History of Science Society's 1999 Sarton Memorial Award Lecturer. The American Chemical Society awards Nye the 1999 Dexter Award for Outstanding Achievement in the History of Chemistry. |
| 2000 | Named Senior Fellow at the Dibner Institute for the History of Science and Technology at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
and Visiting Scholar in the Department of History of Science at Harvard University. Honored by the History of Science Society as its 2000 Distinguished Lecturer. |
| 2001 | The Oregon State University College of Liberal Arts honors Nye with the 2001 CLA Excellence Award. |
| 2003 | Selected for the Herbert J. Reynolds Lectureship in the History and Philosophy of Science at Baylor University. Edits The Cambridge History of Science: The Modern Physical and Mathematical Sciences. Nye's edited volume Modern Physical and Mathematical Sciences appears as Volume 5 in The Cambridge History of Science series. |
| 2004 | Publishes Blackett: Physics, War, and Politics in the Twentieth Century. |
| 2005 | The Académie Internationale d’Histoire des Sciences elects Nye to the position of Corresponding Member. |
| 2006 | The History of Science Society awards Nye with the 2006 Sarton Medal for Lifetime Scholarly Achievement. |
| 2008 | Nye retires from Oregon State University and takes a position as Professor Emeritus of the OSU History Department. |
Books by Mary Jo Nye
- Nye, Mary Jo. Molecular Reality: A Perspective on the Scientific Work of Jean Perrin. London, England: Macdonald; New York, NY: American Elsevier 1972.
- Nye, Mary Jo. The Question of the Atom: From the Karlsruhe Congress to the First Solvay Conference. 1860-1911. A Selection of Primary Sources. Los Angeles, CA: Tomash Publishers; New York, NY: American Institute of Physics 1984.
- Nye, Mary Jo. Science in the Provinces: Scientific Communities and Provincial Leadership in France, 1860-1930. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press 1986.
- Nye, Mary Jo Richards, Joan L. and Stuewer, Roger H.. The Invention of Physical Science: Intersection of Mathematics, Theology, and Natural Philosophy Since the Seventeenth Century. Essay in Honor of Erwin N. Hievbert. Boston Studies in the Philosophy of Science. Volume 139. Dordrecht, Netherlands; Boston, MA: Kluwer Academic Publishers 1992.
- Nye, Mary Jo. From Chemical Philosophy to Theoretical Chemistry: Dynamics of Matter and Dynamics of Disciplines, 1800-1950. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press 1993.
- Nye, Mary Jo. Before Big Science: The Pursuit of Modern Chemistry and Physics, 1800-1940. New York, NY: Twayne Publishers, Simon-Schuster 1996; Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press 1999.
- Krishnamurthy, Ramesh S. and Nye, Mary Jo. The Pauling Symposium: A Discourse on the Art of Biography. Proceedings of the Conference on the Life and Work of Linus Pauling (1901-1994). Corvallis, OR: Oregon State University Libraries Special Collections 1996.
- Nye, Mary Jo. The Cambridge History of Science: The Modern Physical and Mathematical Sciences, Vol. 5 Cambridge, England; Melbourne, Australia; New York, NY: Cambridge University Press 2003.
- Nye, Mary Jo. Blackett: Physics, War, and Politics in the Twentieth Century. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press 2004.
Arrangement
This collection is unprocessed.
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Restrictions on Access
Permission to examine The Mary Jo Nye Papers will be granted to qualified researchers upon completion of an "Application for Use" form, and contingent upon the researcher's agreement to abide by the rules and policies governing collection use. See the Use of Collections page for more information
Restrictions on Use
Technical Access
All materials in good to very good condition.
Preferred Citation
Courtesy of The Mary Jo Nye Papers, Special Collections, Oregon State University Libraries
Processing Information
Unprocessed collection.
Acquisition Information
Approximately 25 books, one series of bound reprints, one series of manuscript notes, and one folder of assorted documents and reprints were accessioned from Mary Jo and Robert Nye by OSU Libraries Special Collections on July 7, 2008.
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