Margaret J. "Maggie" Osler (November 27, 1942 – September 15, 2010) was a

historian A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the stu ...

and

philosopher A philosopher is a person who practices or investigates philosophy. The term ''philosopher'' comes from the grc, φιλόσοφος, , translit=philosophos, meaning 'lover of wisdom'. The coining of the term has been attributed to the Greek th ...

of early modern science and a professor of history at the

University of Calgary The University of Calgary (U of C or UCalgary) is a public research university located in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. The University of Calgary started in 1944 as the Calgary branch of the University of Alberta, founded in 1908, prior to being ins ...

Biography

Osler received a B.A. in philosophy from

Swarthmore College Swarthmore College ( , ) is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Swarthmore, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1864, with its first classes held in 1869, Swarthmore is one of the earliest coeduca ...

in 1963, and M.A. (1966) and Ph.D. (1968) degrees from

Indiana University Indiana University (IU) is a system of public universities in the U.S. state of Indiana. Campuses Indiana University has two core campuses, five regional campuses, and two regional centers under the administration of IUPUI. *Indiana Universit ...

in History and Philosophy of Science under the supervision of

Richard S. Westfall Richard S. Westfall (April 22, 1924 – August 21, 1996) was an American academic, biography, biographer and historian of science. He is best known for his biography of Isaac Newton and his work on the scientific revolution of the 17th century. ...

. The title of her dissertation was ''John Locke and Some Philosophical Problems in the Science of Boyle and Newton.'' She held teaching appointments at

Oregon State University Oregon State University (OSU) is a public land-grant, research university in Corvallis, Oregon. OSU offers more than 200 undergraduate-degree programs along with a variety of graduate and doctoral degrees. It has the 10th largest engineering co ...

Harvey Mudd College Harvey Mudd College (HMC) is a private college in Claremont, California, focused on science and engineering. It is part of the Claremont Colleges, which share adjoining campus grounds and resources. The college enrolls 902 undergraduate students ...

, and Wake Forest University before coming to the

in 1975. There, she rose through the ranks, being promoted to professor in 1995. In 1998, she was appointed adjunct professor in philosophy, and in 2002 adjunct professor of history at the

University of Alberta The University of Alberta, also known as U of A or UAlberta, is a public research university located in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. It was founded in 1908 by Alexander Cameron Rutherford,"A Gentleman of Strathcona – Alexander Cameron Rutherfor ...

. Osler's work concentrated on the history and context of the

scientific revolution The Scientific Revolution was a series of events that marked the emergence of modern science during the early modern period, when developments in mathematics, physics, astronomy, biology (including human anatomy) and chemistry transfo ...

and the relation of early modern science to religion. Her work includes writings on

Locke Locke may refer to: People *John Locke, English philosopher *Locke (given name) *Locke (surname), information about the surname and list of people Places in the United States *Locke, California, a town in Sacramento County *Locke, Indiana *Locke, ...

Galileo Galileo di Vincenzo Bonaiuti de' Galilei (15 February 1564 – 8 January 1642) was an Italian astronomer, physicist and engineer, sometimes described as a polymath. Commonly referred to as Galileo, his name was pronounced (, ). He was ...

, Descartes,

Boyle Boyle is an English, Irish and Scottish surname of Gaelic, Anglo-Saxon or Norman origin. In the northwest of Ireland it is one of the most common family names. Notable people with the surname include: Disambiguation *Adam Boyle (disambiguation), ...

Newton Newton most commonly refers to: * Isaac Newton (1642–1726/1727), English scientist * Newton (unit), SI unit of force named after Isaac Newton Newton may also refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Newton'' (film), a 2017 Indian film * Newton ( ...

, and Gassendi. She was active in a number of academic societies, especially the History of Science Society, for which she served as secretary from 2001 until her death. She was president of the

Canadian Society for the History and Philosophy of Science Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

from 1987 to 1990. Osler served as editor for the '' Journal of the History of Philosophy'', and was on the editorial board of a number of other journals.

Books

* * * * * *

Other works

*"The Intellectual Sources of Robert Boyle's Philosophy of Nature: Gassendi's Voluntarism and Boyle's Physico-Theological Project" (pages 178–198) i
''Philosophy, Science, and Religion in England, 1640-1700''
Richard W. F. Kroll, Richard Ashcraft, Perez Zagorin,

Cambridge University Press Cambridge University Press is the university press of the University of Cambridge. Granted letters patent by Henry VIII of England, King Henry VIII in 1534, it is the oldest university press A university press is an academic publishing hou ...

, 1991, , , 287 pages *"Certainty, Scepticism, and Scientific Optimism: The Roots of Eighteenth-Century Attitudes Toward Scientific Knowledge" (pp. 3–28) i
''Probability, Time, and Space in Eighteenth-century Literature''
Paula R. Backscheider,

Modern Language Association of America The Modern Language Association of America, often referred to as the Modern Language Association (MLA), is widely considered the principal professional association in the United States for scholars of language and literature. The MLA aims to "st ...

AMS Press The Augustan Reprint Society was a book publisher founded in 1946, based in Los Angeles, California. The Society has reprinted many rare works, drawn largely from the collections of the William Andrews Clark Library at University of California, Los ...

, 1979, , , 307 pages *"Descartes and Charleton on Nature and God" in '' J. Hist. Ideas'' Volume 40, 1979, pages 445–456.

References

External links

Eloge
from ISIS, A Journal of the History of Science Society
Notice
at the

Faculty of Arts website
Obituary

The Margaret Osler Papers
a
Oregon State University Libraries
{{DEFAULTSORT:Osler, Margaret J. 20th-century Canadian historians Canadian historians of philosophy Historians of science Academic staff of the University of Calgary 2010 deaths 1942 births Canadian women academics Canadian women historians 21st-century Canadian historians