Judith Ronnie Goodstein (née Koral, born 1939)[1] is an American historian of science, historian of mathematics, archivist, and book author. She worked for many years at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech), where she is University Archivist Emeritus.[2]
Judith R. Goodstein | |
|---|---|
| Born | Judith Ronnie Koral July 8, 1939 Brooklyn, New York City, New York, US |
| Alma mater | Brooklyn College University of Washington |
| Spouse | David Goodstein |
| Relatives | Bill T. Gross (son-in-law) |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | History of science History of mathematics |
| Institutions | |
| Thesis | Sir Humphry Davy: chemical theory and the nature of matter (1969) |
| Doctoral advisor | Thomas Hankins |
| Website | www |
Education and career
editGoodstein was born on July 8, 1939, in Brooklyn;[3] both of her parents were college-educated children of Jewish immigrants from eastern Europe, and worked for the city. She went to Erasmus Hall High School in Brooklyn, but left at age 16 to escape its cliquish and competitive atmosphere, and graduated from Brooklyn College in 1960 with a bachelor's degree in history. Her interest in the history of science began at this time, with a graduate-level class she took from Carl Benjamin Boyer, as the only undergraduate in the class. Another faculty mentor at Brooklyn College was John Hope Franklin.[1]
She became a junior high school teacher in Borough Park, Brooklyn before applying with her fiancé, David Goodstein, to graduate schools (she in history, he in physics). On the suggestion of Boyer, she went to the University of Washington, where Harry Woolf was at the time. She was not admitted with financial aid, but Woolf hired her as an assistant. However, he soon moved to another university. She worked with a succession of other professors there, including one who promised to block her graduation because she refused to babysit his children, and successfully defended her Ph.D. in 1968. Her dissertation, Chemical Theory and the Nature of Matter, concerned chemist Humphry Davy, a topic suggested by Satish Kapoor, who also left Washington before she could finish. Her eventual doctoral advisor was Thomas Hankins.[1]
She and her husband moved to Caltech in 1966, where she worked as a teacher again while completing her dissertation, with a year in Rome for her husband's postdoctorate. She was hired as Institute Archivist by Daniel Kevles in 1968,[1] also teaching the history of science at California State University, Dominguez Hills from 1969 to 1973 and later at the University of California, Los Angeles.[1][4] She became University Archivist in 1995, and retired as University Archivist Emeritus in 2009. She has also worked at Caltech as a faculty associate and lecturer, and was registrar from 1989 to 2003.[2]
Writing
editGoodstein is the author of:
- Guide to the Robert Andrews Millikan Collection at the California Institute of Technology (with Albert F. Gunns, American Institute of Physics, 1975)[5]
- The Frank J. Malina Collection at the California Institute of Technology: Guide to a Microfiche Edition (with Carol H. Bugé, California Institute of Technology, 1986)[6]
- Millikan's School: A History of the California Institute of Technology (W.W. Norton, 1991)[7]
- Feynman's Lost Lecture: The Motion of the Planets around the Sun (with David Goodstein, W.W. Norton, 1996)[8]
- The Volterra Chronicles: The Life and Times of an Extraordinary Mathematician, 1860–1940 (American Mathematical Society and London Mathematical Society, 2007)[9]
- Einstein's Italian Mathematicians: Ricci, Levi-Civita, and the Birth of General Relativity (American Mathematical Society, 2018)[10]
She also wrote the screenplays for two episodes of Caltech's television series The Mechanical Universe.[4]
Personal life
editGoodstein was married to Caltech physicist David Goodstein. Their son-in-law, Bill T. Gross, is a businessman.[11]
References
edit- ^ a b c d e Lippincott, Sara (2012), Interview with Judith R. Goodstein, California Institute of Technology Archives, retrieved November 10, 2018
- ^ a b "Judith R. Goodstein", Faculty directory, California Institute of Technology, retrieved November 10, 2018
- ^ "Goodstein, Judith R. 1939– (Judith Ronnie Goodstein)", Gale Contemporary Authors, 2009, retrieved November 10, 2018
- ^ a b The Archivist: Judith R. Goodstein, California Institute of Technology, retrieved November 10, 2018
- ^ Reviews of Guide to the Robert Andrews Millikan Collection:
- ^ Review of The Frank J. Malina Collection:
- ^ Reviews of Millikan's School:
- Rothman, Tony (November 22, 1991), "A Center for Science", Science, 254 (5035): 1234–1235, doi:10.1126/science.254.5035.1234, JSTOR 2879344, PMID 17776418
- Leslie, Stuart W. (April 1992), "California dreaming pays off with Nobel prizes", Physics World, 5 (4): 51–52, doi:10.1088/2058-7058/5/4/33
- Lowen, Rebecca S. (January 1993), Technology and Culture, 34 (1): 188–189, doi:10.2307/3106490, JSTOR 3106490
{{citation}}: CS1 maint: untitled periodical (link) - Geiger, Roger (March 1993), Isis, 84 (1): 170–171, doi:10.1086/356427, JSTOR 235607
{{citation}}: CS1 maint: untitled periodical (link) - Morrell, Jack (March 1993), "Review", History of Science, 31 (1): 65–82, doi:10.1177/007327539303100103, PMID 11612944, S2CID 165187724
- Pursell, Carroll (Summer 1993), History of Education Quarterly, 33 (2): 245–246, doi:10.2307/368346, JSTOR 368346
{{citation}}: CS1 maint: untitled periodical (link) - Rolle, Andrew (Summer 1993), Southern California Quarterly, 75 (2): 198–199, doi:10.2307/41171676, JSTOR 41171676
{{citation}}: CS1 maint: untitled periodical (link)
- ^ Reviews of Feynman's Lost Lecture:
- "Review", Publishers Weekly
- Stewart, Albert B. (Fall 1996), The Antioch Review, 54 (4): 490, JSTOR 4613419
{{citation}}: CS1 maint: untitled periodical (link) - Shapiro, Alan E. (November 1996), Physics Today, 49 (11): 81–82, Bibcode:1996PhT....49T..81S
{{citation}}: CS1 maint: untitled periodical (link) - Thompson, William J. (March–April 1997), American Scientist, 85 (2): 184–185, JSTOR 27856744
{{citation}}: CS1 maint: untitled periodical (link) - Weinstock, Robert (January 1999), The Mathematical Intelligencer, 21 (3): 71–73, doi:10.1007/bf03025419
{{citation}}: CS1 maint: untitled periodical (link)
- ^ Reviews of The Volterra Chronicles:
- Ruane, Peter N. (May 2007), "Review", MAA Reviews
- Hayes, Brian (July–August 2007), "A Mathematician's Trajectory", American Scientist, 95 (4): 362–364, doi:10.1511/2007.66.3762, JSTOR 27859004
- Coen, Salvatore (September 2007), "Ups and downs of a senator scientist", Nature, 449 (7161): 406–407, Bibcode:2007Natur.449..406C, doi:10.1038/449406b
- Boyd, James N. (March 2008), The Mathematics Teacher, 101 (7): 560, JSTOR 20876210
{{citation}}: CS1 maint: untitled periodical (link) - Martini, Laura (March 2008), Isis, 99 (1): 197–198, doi:10.1086/589374
{{citation}}: CS1 maint: untitled periodical (link) - Sandberg, Irwin W. (March 2008), "Review" (PDF), Notices of the American Mathematical Society, 55 (3): 377–380
- Israel, Giorgio (June 2008), The Mathematical Intelligencer, 30 (3): 75–77, doi:10.1007/bf02985386, S2CID 153973134
{{citation}}: CS1 maint: untitled periodical (link)
- ^ Review of Einstein's Italian Mathematicians:
- Stenger, Allen (November 2018), "Review", MAA Reviews
- ^ Clavin, Whitney (April 30, 2024), Caltech remembers David Goodstein, Caltech Applied Physics, retrieved June 2, 2024