Mary Brenda Hesse FBA (15 October 1924 – 2 October 2016) was an English

philosopher of science 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 ...

, latterly a professor in the subject at the

University of Cambridge , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

Biography

Mary Hesse was born in

Reigate Reigate ( ) is a town status in the United Kingdom, town in Surrey, England, around south of central London. The settlement is recorded in Domesday Book in 1086 as ''Cherchefelle'' and first appears with its modern name in the 1190s. The earlie ...

, Surrey, to Ethelbert (Bertie) Thomas Hesse and Brenda Hesse (née Pelling). From 1949, she studied at

Imperial College London Imperial College London (legally Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine) is a public research university in London, United Kingdom. Its history began with Prince Albert, consort of Queen Victoria, who developed his vision for a cu ...

, where she received a bachelor's degree in mathematics in 1945, followed by a PhD in electron microscopy in 1948. She earned a master's degree in 1949 from

University College London , mottoeng = Let all come who by merit deserve the most reward , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £143 million (2020) , budget = ...

. Hesse lectured on mathematics at

Royal Holloway College Royal Holloway, University of London (RHUL), formally incorporated as Royal Holloway and Bedford New College, is a public research university and a constituent college of the federal University of London. It has six schools, 21 academic departm ...

from 1947 to 1951, and at the

University of Leeds , mottoeng = And knowledge will be increased , established = 1831 – Leeds School of Medicine1874 – Yorkshire College of Science1884 - Yorkshire College1887 – affiliated to the federal Victoria University1904 – University of Leeds , ...

from 1951 to 1955. From 1955 to 1959 she taught philosophy and history of science at the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree ...

(the subject of her 1949 UCL master's degree). In 1960 she was appointed to a lectureship in the same subject at the University of Cambridge, and in 1968 to a readership. Hesse was a Fellow of Wolfson College from its beginning in 1965, and served as its vice-president from 1976 to 1980. From 1975 until her early retirement in 1985, she remained at Cambridge as Professor of Philosophy of Science. She viewed metaphors as conceptual tools that shaped scientific discovery. Hesse was elected a Fellow of the

British Academy The British Academy is the United Kingdom's national academy for the humanities and the social sciences. It was established in 1902 and received its royal charter in the same year. It is now a fellowship of more than 1,000 leading scholars span ...

in 1971, as president of the

Philosophy of Science Association The Philosophy of Science Association (PSA) is an international academic organization founded in 1933 that promotes research, teaching, and free discussion of issues in the philosophy of science from diverse standpoints. The PSA engages in activit ...

in 1979, and awarded a Cambridge honorary ScD in 2002. Retiring in 1985, she remained living in Cambridge until her death on 2 October 2016.

Publications

Monographs *(1954) ''Science and the Human Imagination: Aspects of the History and Logic of Physical Science''; London, England: SCM Press *(1961) '' Forces and Fields: A Study of Action at a Distance in the History of Physics''; London, England: Thomas Nelson and Sons *(1963) ''Models and Analogies in Science''; London, England: Sheed and Ward **(1966) revised ed.; Notre Dame, Indiana: Notre Dame University Press *(1974) '' The Structure of Scientific Inference''; London, England: Macmillan, and Berkeley, California: University of California Press *(1986) with Michael A. Arbib, '' The Construction of Reality''; Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press Essay collections * (1980) '' Revolutions and Reconstructions in the Philosophy of Science''; Brighton, England: The Harvester Press, and Bloomington, Indiana: Indiana University Press Academic papers/book chapters, a selection * "Gilbert and the Historians (I)", ''

The British Journal for the Philosophy of Science ''British Journal for the Philosophy of Science'' (''BJPS'') is a peer-reviewed, academic journal of philosophy, owned by the British Society for the Philosophy of Science (BSPS) and published by University of Chicago Press. The journal publish ...

'', 11: 41 (May 1960), 1-10 ** "Gilbert and the Historians (II)", ''The British Journal for the Philosophy of Science'', 11: 42 (August 1960), 130-142 * "Models and Matter" in '' Quanta and Reality: A Symposium,'' S. E. Toulmin (ed.), Hutchinson: London 1962, pp. 49–57. * "Action at a Distance" in '' The Concept of Matter'', E. McMullin (ed.), University of Notre Dame Press: Notre Dame (IN) 1963, pp. 372-39
Analogy and Confirmation Theory"
''

Philosophy of Science Philosophy of science is a branch of philosophy concerned with the foundations, methods, and implications of science. The central questions of this study concern what qualifies as science, the reliability of scientific theories, and the ultim ...

,'' vol. 31, no. 4, 1964, pp. 319–327 * "Confirmation of Laws" in '' Philosophy, Science and Method: Essays in Honor of Ernest Nagel'', S. Morgenbesser, P. Suppes and M. White (eds), St. Martin’s Press: New York 1969, pp. 74-79.
"An Inductive Logic of Theories"
in '' Analyses of Theories and Methods of Physics and Psychology'', Minnesota Studies in the Philosophy of Science, Vol. IV, M. Radner and S. Winokur (eds), University of Minnesota Press: Minneapolis 1970, pp. 164–80 * "Is There an Independent Observation Language?" in '' The Nature and Function of Scientific Theories'', Robert G. Colodny (ed.), University of Pittsburgh Press: Pittsburgh 1970, pp. 35-77.
"Hermeticism and Historiography: An Apology for the Internal History of Science"
in '' Historical and Philosophical Perspective of Science'', Minnesota Studies in the Philosophy of Science, Vol. V, R. H. Stuewer (ed.), University of Minnesota Press: Minneapolis 1970, pp. 134-160.
"In Defence of Objectivity"
''Proceedings of the British Academy,'' Volume 58, 1974 * "Theory and Value in the Social Sciences" in '' Action and Interpretation: Studies in the Philosophy of the Social Sciences'', C. Hookway and P. Pettit (eds), Cambridge University Press: Cambridge and New York 1978, pp. 1-16. * "Cosmology as Myth", '' Concilium'', 166. 1983/6: Project X - ''Theology and Cosmology'' (1983), 49-54. * "Tropical talk: The Myth of the Literal", ''Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society Supplementary Volumes'', 51 (1987), 297-311Paper delivered as Hesse's contribution to the symposium "Unfamiliar Noises" at the 1987 Joint Session of the Aristotelian Society and Mind Association. Co-symposiast

Richard Rorty Richard McKay Rorty (October 4, 1931 – June 8, 2007) was an American philosopher. Educated at the University of Chicago and Yale University, he had strong interests and training in both the history of philosophy and in contemporary analytic phi ...

's paper "Hesse and Davidson on Metaphor" is also available (with registration at

Internet Archive The Internet Archive is an American digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It provides free public access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, software applications/games, music, ...

) in the same volume. ( Susan Haack's address as chairman "Surprising Noises: Rorty and Hesse on Metaphor" being similarly available in ''Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society'', Volume 88, Issue 1 (1988). * "Is Science the New Religion?" in '' Science Meets Faith: Theology and Science in Conversation'', F. Watts (ed.), SPCK: London 1998, pp. 120-135. *For a complete list of publications see the online annotated and chronological bibliographies at Matteo Collodel'
website in her honour

References

External links

* *
Hesse, Mary Brenda, 1924-2016
' (2018) Nicholas Jardine, ''

Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the British Academy The ''Proceedings of the British Academy'' is a series of academic volumes on subjects in the humanities and social sciences. The first volume was published in 1905. Up to 1991, the volumes (appearing annually from 1927) mostly consisted of the te ...

'', XVII pp. 19–28 *Obituary of Mary Hesse i
'Whewell's Gazette'
(blog dedicated to the History and Philosophy of Science) *
Models and Meaning Change: A Brief Introduction to the Work of Mary Hesse
', (2017) Steven French (Open Access) [the opening to
special issue of works on and by Mary B. Hesse
for ''

''] *Ann-Sophie Barwich, Barwich, Ann-Sophie
"Why are women philosophers often erased from collective memory?"
''

Aeon The word aeon , also spelled eon (in American and Australian English), originally meant "life", "vital force" or "being", "generation" or "a period of time", though it tended to be translated as "age" in the sense of "ages", "forever", "timeles ...

''. (2022) {{DEFAULTSORT:Hesse, Mary 1924 births 2016 deaths Philosophers of science Alumni of University College London Fellows of Wolfson College, Cambridge English women philosophers Philosophy teachers Philosophy academics 20th-century British philosophers English philosophers 20th-century English women 20th-century English people