Bronowski, Jacob (1908–1974)

Polish-born British scientist, broadcaster, and writer, who enthusiastically popularized scientific knowledge in several books and in the 13-part television documentary The Ascent of Man, issued as a book in 1973.

Bronowski fled with his family to Germany when, in World War I, Russia occupied his native Poland. Moving to the UK in 1920, he studied mathematics at Cambridge. He lectured at University College, Hull, 1934–42, and then did military research during World War II, remaining a government official until 1963. His last appointment was at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies in California, from 1964.

His book The Common Sense of Science (1951) displayed the history and workings of science around three central notions: cause, chance, and order. Science and Human Values (1958) collected newspaper articles written for the New York Times about nuclear science and the morality of nuclear weapons. The Western Intellectual Tradition (1960) is an illuminating survey of the growth of political, philosophical, and scientific knowledge from the Renaissance to the 19th century, written with Bruce Mazlish. Bronowski also wrote about literature; for example, William Blake and the Age of Revolution (1965).