Jim Bennett (historian)

James A. Bennett PhD (born 1947) is a museum curator and historian of science.

Jim Bennett is Director of the Museum of the History of Science at Oxford University. He is also a member of the Faculty of History and Linacre College. Previously he was a fellow of Churchill College and curator of the Whipple Museum of the History of Science, both part of Cambridge University.

Bennett's interests lie in the history of practical mathematics from the 16th century to the 18th century, scientific instruments and astronomy. His work in Cambridge included hands-on use of scientific and navigational instruments, using the Whipple collection to teach undergraduates how instruments worked, and gaining insight into the difficulties faced by the historical teachers of those instruments.

Selected publications

* "The Divided Circle: A History of Instruments for Astronomy, Navigation and Surveying", Jim Bennett. Oxford, 1987.
* "Church, State and Astronomy in Ireland, 200 Years of Armagh Observatory", Jim Bennett. Belfast, 1990.
* "The Garden, the Ark, the Tower, the Temple. Biblical Metaphors of Knowledge in Early Modern Europe", Jim Bennett and S. Mandelbrote. Oxford, 1998.
* "Practical Geometry and Operative Knowledge", Jim Bennett. "Configurations", 6, 1998.
* "London's Leonardo: The Life and Work of Robert Hooke", Jim Bennett, Michael Cooper, Michael Hunter and Lisa Jardine. Oxford University Press, 2003. ISBN 0-19-852579-6.

As editor

* "The Oxford Companion to the History of Modern Science", John L. Heilbron (ed-in-chief), Jim Bennett, Frederic L. Holmes, Rachel Laudan and Giuliano Pancaldi (eds). Oxford University Press, 2003. ISBN 0-19-511229-6.

External links

* [http://www.history.ox.ac.uk/staff/faculty/bennett_ja.htm Oxford University Faculty of History information]
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