Reijer Hooykaas (1 August 1906 in

Schoonhoven Schoonhoven () is a city and former municipality in the western Netherlands, in the province of South Holland. Since 2015 it has been a part of the municipality of Krimpenerwaard, before it had been an independent municipality. The former municipa ...

– 4 January 1994 in

Zeist Zeist () is the capital and largest town of the municipality of Zeist. The town is located in the Utrecht province of the Netherlands, east of the city of Utrecht. History The town of "Seist" was first mentioned in a charter in the year 83 ...

) was a Dutch historian of science. He along with

Eduard Jan Dijksterhuis Eduard Jan Dijksterhuis (28 October 1892, in Tilburg – 18 May 1965, in De Bilt) was a Dutch historian of science. Career Dijksterhuis studied mathematics at the University of Groningen from 1911 to 1918. His Ph.d. thesis was entitled "A Contrib ...

were pioneers in professionalizing the

history of science The history of science covers the development of science from ancient times to the present. It encompasses all three major branches of science: natural, social, and formal. Science's earliest roots can be traced to Ancient Egypt and Meso ...

in the Netherlands. Hooykaas gave the prestigious Gifford Lectures at St. Andrews in 1975-77.

H. Floris Cohen Hendrik Floris Cohen (born Haarlem, Netherlands, 1 July 1946) is a historian of science. Life Cohen studied history at the University of Leiden, receiving a Ph.D. in 1974. He is a professor in the Comparative History of Science at the Universi ...

dedicated his historiographical text ''The Scientific Revolution'' (

University of Chicago Press The University of Chicago Press is the largest and one of the oldest university presses in the United States. It is operated by the University of Chicago and publishes a wide variety of academic titles, including ''The Chicago Manual of Style'', ...

, 1994) to Hooykaas; its section on

religion Religion is usually defined as a social- cultural system of designated behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics, or organizations, that generally relates humanity to supernatural, ...

deals primarily with Hooykaas.

Life

He was born into a

Calvinist Calvinism (also called the Reformed Tradition, Reformed Protestantism, Reformed Christianity, or simply Reformed) is a major branch of Protestantism that follows the theological tradition and forms of Christian practice set down by John Ca ...

family of silversmiths. Hooykaas studied chemistry and physics at the University of Utrecht graduating in 1933. While teaching high school chemistry and working on his Ph.D., he published articles on the history of science and religion, which brought his abilities to the attention of other scholars. Malcolm Oster ( The Open University), Sep. 1999, ''

The British Journal for the History of Science ''The British Journal for the History of Science'' (a.k.a. ''BJHS'') is an international academic journal published quarterly by Cambridge University Press in association with the British Society for the History of Science. It was founded under ...

'', Vol. 32, No. 3, pp. 366–368 In 1946 he became the first to hold a history of science chair at a Dutch university. From 1946 to 1972 he was a professor at the Free University of Amsterdam ( Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam). In 1959 he became member of the

Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences The Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences ( nl, Koninklijke Nederlandse Akademie van Wetenschappen, abbreviated: KNAW) is an organization dedicated to the advancement of science and literature in the Netherlands. The academy is housed ...

. In 1976—1984 he was president of the

International Commission on the History of Geological Sciences The International Commission on the History of Geological Sciences (INHIGEO) promotes ongoing research into the history of the earth sciences, particularly the history of geology. It has 20 Honorary Senior Members and 301 members (2018) worldwide. ...

(INHIGEO).

Impatience

Hooykaas's impatience with certain modern historical attitudes has been the object of respect and praise. Fellow historian Malcolm Oster noted that Hooykaas was "personally irritated" by historians who conclude that early modern scientists with strong religious views must have had "some mental disorder." Examples of such scientists for Hooykaas are

Blaise Pascal Blaise Pascal ( , , ; ; 19 June 1623 – 19 August 1662) was a French mathematician, physicist, inventor, philosopher, and Catholic Church, Catholic writer. He was a child prodigy who was educated by his father, a tax collector in Rouen. Pa ...

Robert Boyle Robert Boyle (; 25 January 1627 – 31 December 1691) was an Anglo-Irish natural philosopher, chemist, physicist, alchemist and inventor. Boyle is largely regarded today as the first modern chemist, and therefore one of the founders of ...

, and

Isaac Newton Sir Isaac Newton (25 December 1642 – 20 March 1726/27) was an English mathematician, physicist, astronomer, alchemist, theologian, and author (described in his time as a "natural philosopher"), widely recognised as one of the grea ...

Work

*"Pascal: His Science and His Religion" ''Tractrix'' 1, 1989, pp. 115–139. (Translation of "Pascal: Zijn wetenschap en zijn religie", 1939 ) *"Science and Reformation"
''Cahiers d'histoire mondiale / Journal of World History''
3(1956): pp. 109–139. :

In this once-important article defending the Protestantism thesis, Hooykaas shows "how the religious attitude of so-called 'ascetic' Protestantism, which more or less stood under Calvin's influence, furthered the development of science." This article is an acknowledged summary of (and thus has been superseded by) 'Religion and the Rise of Modern Science'' (1972)ref name=brooks/>

*"Answer to Dr. Bainton's Comment on 'Science and Reformation'", Journal of World History, 3 (1957), pages 781-784. :

Hooykaas defends the connection between Protestantism and the rise of science while distinguishing his position from Weber and Merton regarding economic activity. This short essay has been superseded by is book ''Robert Boyle'' (1997)''Science and Religion in the English Speaking World, 1600-1727 A Bibliographic Guide to the Secondary Literature'', Richard S. Brooks & David K. Himrod,
Scarecrow Press Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group is an independent publishing house founded in 1949. Under several imprints, the company offers scholarly books for the academic market, as well as trade books. The company also owns the book distributing compa ...
, 2001, , pp. 201-203

*"Science and Theology in the Middle Ages" ''Free University Quarterly'' 3, 1954, pp. 77–163.
''Natural Law and Divine Miracle: The Principle of Uniformity in Geology, Biology, and Theology''
Leiden:

EJ Brill Brill Academic Publishers (known as E. J. Brill, Koninklijke Brill, Brill ()) is a Dutch international academic publisher founded in 1683 in Leiden, Netherlands. With offices in Leiden, Boston, Paderborn and Singapore, Brill today publishes 275 ...

, 1963 ::

Though primarily focusing on discussions in the nineteenth century, the chapter on theology (outlining four different metaphysical positions) is also relevant to earlier debates.

* "Teilhardism, a pseudoscientific delusion" ''Free University Quarterly'' 9, 1963, pp. 1–57 * "Teilhardism, its predecessors, adherents and critics" ''Free University Quarterly'' 9, 1963, pp. 58–83
''Religion and the Rise of Modern Science''
Regent College Publishing, 2000 (Other edition Edinburgh:

Scottish Academic Press Scottish Academic Press is an old Scottish publishing company. It is based in Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the ...

, 1973 st Pub. 1972. :

This book is a systematic and articulate attempt to show the philosophical as well as sociological connections between science and Protestantism in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Hooykaas tends to oversimplify when he categorizes "types" of Christianity and of philosophy. His own theological biases sometimes intrude. But the book remains important for anyone doing work in our field. It is excellent for an introductory discussion of the philosophical issues--and especially as regards the relation of the "voluntaristic doctrine of God" to early modern natural philosophy. Hooykaas examines continental as well as English Calvinists and considers why and how they believed science should be cultivated: (1) to the glory of God and to the benefit of humankind; (2) empirically, in spite of human authorities; and (3) by using our hands. The book is a veritable mine of relevant biblical texts.

* ''Humanism and the Voyages of Discovery in 16th Century Portuguese Science and Letters'', North-Holland Publishing Company, 1979, 67 pages *"The Rise of Modern Science: When and Why?" ''British Journal for History of Science'' 20, 4, 1987, pp. 453–473. * ''Robert Boyle: a study in science and Christian belief'',

University Press of America University Press of America is an academic publisher based in the United States. Part of the independent Rowman & Littlefield Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group is an independent publishing house founded in 1949. Under several imprints, the ...

, 1997 :

This work is important but riginallyin Dutch. It has been used as evidence by some scholars advancing the Protestantism-and-the-rise-of-science thesis. Hooykaas describes well Boyle's voluntaristic doctrine of God, his religious motivation and his justification for doing natural philosophy.

''Fact, Faith, and Fiction in the Development of Science''
Volume 205 in the

Boston Studies in the Philosophy of Science Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- most po ...

, Kluwer Academic Publishers, 1999,

Works compared

The historian and theologian John Hedley Brooke has said that British chemist and historian

Colin A. Russell Colin Archibald Russell ( – ) was Emeritus Professor of History of Science and Technology at the Open University and was a research scholar affiliated to the History and Philosophy of Science Department, Cambridge University. His chief research ...

'
''Cross-currents: interactions between science and faith''
(

Leicester Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands. The city l ...

, 1985) shares some of Hooykaas's views. John Hedley Brooke, ''Science and Religion: Some Historical Perspectives'', 1991,

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 ...

, , page 350

Notes

External links