William Herbert Newton-Smith (born May 25, 1943) is a Canadian

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 ...

Biography

Newton-Smith's undergraduate degree from Queen's University was in Mathematics and Philosophy, in 1966. He took an MA from

Cornell University Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to teach an ...

in Philosophy, in 1968, and a

DPhil A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is a ...

in philosophy from

Balliol College Balliol College () is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. One of Oxford's oldest colleges, it was founded around 1263 by John I de Balliol, a landowner from Barnard Castle in County Durham, who provided the f ...

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

, in 1974. His working life before retirement was mainly as a Fellow of Balliol. Newton-Smith's 1980 book ''The Structure of Time'' is on the

philosophy of time Philosophy (from , ) is the systematized study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about existence, reason, knowledge, values, mind, and language. Such questions are often posed as problems to be studied or resolved. Some ...

. He led

Central European University Central European University (CEU) is a private research university accredited in Austria, Hungary, and the United States, with campuses in Vienna and Budapest. The university is known for its highly intensive programs in the social sciences and ...

from its foundation in 1991 until

Alfred Stepan Alfred C. Stepan (July 22, 1936 – September 27, 2017) was an American political scientist specializing in comparative politics. He was the Wallace S. Sayre Professor of Government at Columbia University, where he was also director of the Cente ...

was elected rector in 1993. In 2003, Newton-Smith and his wife

Nancy Durham Nancy Durham is a Canadian journalist. Career Durham was born and educated in Canada at the University of Western Ontario and York University. She began her career in journalism at the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) in Toronto in the s ...

became the first to grow

lavender ''Lavandula'' (common name lavender) is a genus of 47 known species of flowering plants in the mint family, Lamiaceae. It is native to the Old World and is found in Cape Verde and the Canary Islands, and from Europe across to northern and easte ...

on a field scale in

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

. They are now the sole distillers of

lavender oil Lavender oil is an essential oil obtained by distillation from the flower spikes of certain species of lavender. There are over 400 types of lavender worldwide with different scents and qualities. Two forms of lavender oil are distinguished, '' ...

in Wales. Their company, Welsh Lavender Ltd, produces face and body creams.

Works

*''The Structure of Time'' (1980) *''The Rationality of Science'' (1981) *''Logic'' (1984) *''Modelling the Mind'' (1990) editor with K. V. Wilkes *''Popper in China'' (1992) editor with J. Tianji *Chapter 1 - Popper, ciência e racionalidade. In

Karl Popper Sir Karl Raimund Popper (28 July 1902 – 17 September 1994) was an Austrian-British philosopher, academic and social commentator. One of the 20th century's most influential philosophers of science, Popper is known for his rejection of the cl ...

: ''Filosofia e problemas'' (1997), organized by

Anthony O'Hear Anthony O'Hear (born 1942 in Cleethorpes) is a British philosopher. He is Professor of Philosophy at the University of Buckingham and Head of the Department of Education. He is Honorary Director of the Royal Institute of Philosophy and editor of ...

, translated to Portuguese by Luiz Paulo Rouanet. Editora Unesp. Cambridge University Press. *''The Companion to the Philosophy of Science'' (2000)

References

External links

Welsh Lavender
{{DEFAULTSORT:Newton-Smith, William 1943 births Living people Central European University Cornell University alumni Fellows of Balliol College, Oxford Philosophers of science Philosophers of time