George Basalla
American historian (1928–2025)
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George Basalla (1928 – September 5, 2025) was an American historian of science and professor at the University of Delaware.[1]
Life and career
Basalla was born in 1928.[2] He completed his Ph.D. in the history of science at Harvard University in 1963. His dissertation, Science and Government in England 1800–1870, was supervised by I. Bernard Cohen.[3] He became an assistant professor of history at the University of Texas at Austin in 1964,[4] and was appointed an associate professor at the University of Delaware in 1971.[5] He retired to become a professor emeritus in 1999.[6]
Basalla died on September 5, 2025, at the age of 97.[7]
Books
Basalla's books include:
- Civilized Life in the Universe: Scientists on Intelligent Extraterrestrials (Oxford University Press, 2006)[8]
- The Evolution of Technology (Cambridge University Press, 1989)[9]
- Victorian Science: a self-portrait from the presidential addresses of the British Association for the Advancement of Science (edited with William Coleman and Robert H. Kargon, Doubleday, 1970)[10]
- The Rise of Modern Science: Internal or External Factors? (edited, D. C. Heath, 1968)[11]
- The Annus Mirabilis of Sir Isaac Newton: An Exhibit of Books & Manuscripts from the History of Science Collection (edited, special issue of The Texas Quarterly, 1967)[12]
