Mathematician, writer, science popularizer, radio journalist, film director, with a universal spirit. Also co-founder of the Salk Institute for Biological Studies (La Jolla, California). After visiting Nagasaki in 1945, he gave up military research and was led to reflect on the foundations of science in terms of human values.
Biography:
Jacob Bronowski was born in Lutzen (now Lodz, Poland) in 1908. When he was twelve, his family emigrated from Germany to London. Although he spoke no English on arrival, he won a mathematics scholarship to Jesus College, Cambridge. As he was as interested in the sciences as in the arts, he co-edited a student literary magazine there (tellingly titled Experiment). In 1933, Bronowski received his doctorate in mathematics, as well as British citizenship. His first book, published in 1939, was ... The poet's defense.
During the war, he worked for the army, using mathematical theory to increase the impact of aerial bombardments. His visit to Nagasaki in 1945, to assess the effects of the atomic bomb, led him to abandon military research, and completely changed his life (he describes this experience in Science and Human Values, first published in 1956). He went on to work for various government agencies, including UNESCO. But Bronowski is best known for his talent as a popularizer, beginning with the BBC program The Brains Trust in the 1950s.
His last major project was to write and present the TV series The Ascent of Man for the BBC. This 13-part series was broadcast in 1973 and also published in book form the same year. In 1960, his interest in biology also led him to help found the famous Salk Institute for Biological Studies in La Jolla, California. He became its Director of the Council for Biology in 1970. Jacob Bronowski died in 1974, in Long Island, New York.
