-
Born
*Born Nov. 16, 1901 Nove Mesto, Bohemia (now part of Czechoslovakia)
*Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia. "Ernest Nagel". Encyclopedia Britannica, 12 Nov. 2022, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Ernest-Nagel. Accessed 5 August 2023. -
Immigration
*Nagel came to the United States in 1911 and received American citizenship in 1919.
*Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia. "Ernest Nagel". Encyclopedia Britannica, 12 Nov. 2022, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Ernest-Nagel. Accessed 5 August 2023. -
Period: to
Education 1923 - 1931:
*1923 he received a Bachelor of Science from the College of the City of New York, in 1925 a Master's Degree in philosophy from Columbia University, and in 1931, a Ph.D. in philosophy from Columbia.
*Suppes, Patrick. “Ernest Nagel 1901-1985 a Biographical Memoir by Patrick Suppes”. National Academy of Sciences, 1994, http://www.nasonline.org/publications/biographical-memoirs/memoir-pdfs/nagel-ernest.pdf. Accessed 5 August 2023. -
Foundations of Measurement
*In his dissertation Nagel built on the work of Helmholtz and Holder, as well as British physicist Norman Campbell critically examining the conceptual assumptions back of the formal developments.
*Suppes, Patrick. “Ernest Nagel 1901-1985 a Biographical Memoir by Patrick Suppes”. National Academy of Sciences, 1994, http://www.nasonline.org/publications/biographical-memoirs/memoir-pdfs/nagel-ernest.pdf. Accessed 5 August 2023. -
Period: to
Career at Columbia University
*1931 to 1967 Nagel was on the faculty of the Columbia University. During his tenure he passionately advocated for the “analysis of the scientific method, as it is practiced in many different sciences, and in the relation between science and perennial problems of philosophy such as those of causality and determinism. It is this critical spirit of analysis and reflection that he especially communicated to others.”
*See other citations for Patrick Suppes biography of Earnest Nagel -
An Introduction to Logic and Scientific Method
*"An Introduction to Logic and Scientific Method" (1934; with Morris R. Cohen) "illustrates the function of logical principles in scientific method in the natural and social sciences and in law and history."
*Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia. "Ernest Nagel". Encyclopedia Britannica, 12 Nov. 2022, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Ernest-Nagel. Accessed 5 August 2023. -
Period: to
Guggenheim Fellow
*1934-35 Nagel was a Guggenheim Fellow
*Suppes, Patrick. “Ernest Nagel 1901-1985 a Biographical Memoir by Patrick Suppes”. National Academy of Sciences, 1994, http://www.nasonline.org/publications/biographical-memoirs/memoir-pdfs/nagel-ernest.pdf. Accessed 5 August 2023. -
Family
*On January 20, 1935, he married Edith Alexandria Haggstrom, and they had two sons, Alexander Joseph, who is a professor of mathematics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and Sidney Robert, who is a professor of physics at the University of Chicago.
*Suppes, Patrick. “Ernest Nagel 1901-1985 a Biographical Memoir by Patrick Suppes”. National Academy of Sciences, 1994, http://www.nasonline.org/publications/biographical-memoirs/memoir-pdfs/nagel-ernest.pdf. Accessed 5 August 2023. -
Period: to
Guggenheim Fellow
*1950-51 Nagel was a Guggenheim Fellow
*Suppes, Patrick. “Ernest Nagel 1901-1985 a Biographical Memoir by Patrick Suppes”. National Academy of Sciences, 1994, http://www.nasonline.org/publications/biographical-memoirs/memoir-pdfs/nagel-ernest.pdf. Accessed 5 August 2023. -
American Academy of Arts and Sciences
*1954 - Nagel was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
*Suppes, Patrick. “Ernest Nagel 1901-1985 a Biographical Memoir by Patrick Suppes”. National Academy of Sciences, 1994, http://www.nasonline.org/publications/biographical-memoirs/memoir-pdfs/nagel-ernest.pdf. Accessed 5 August 2023. -
Logic Without Metaphysics
*"Logic Without Metaphysics" (1957) Nagel "defended a naturalistic interpretation of logic, denying the ontological necessity of logico-mathematical principles and arguing that they must be understood according to their function in specific inquiries."
*Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia. "Ernest Nagel". Encyclopedia Britannica, 12 Nov. 2022, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Ernest-Nagel. Accessed 5 August 2023. -
The Structure of Science
*Nagel's “The Structure of Science” explained “patterns of scientific explanation with an analysis of four kinds of explanation offered in science: the deductive model, the probabilistic model, the functional or ideological model, and the genetic model, where by "genetic" is meant the study of the historical roots of phenomena.
*See other citations of Patrick Suppes biography on Ernest Nagel -
American Philosophical Society
*1962 - Nagel was elected to the American Philosophical Society.
*Suppes, Patrick. “Ernest Nagel 1901-1985 a Biographical Memoir by Patrick Suppes”. National Academy of Sciences, 1994, http://www.nasonline.org/publications/biographical-memoirs/memoir-pdfs/nagel-ernest.pdf. Accessed 5 August 2023. -
Interview with Dr. Ernest Nagel
*"A few clips of Dr. Ernest Nagel in an interview discussing things in relation to logic, computers, minds and machines."
*YouTube Video: Ernest Nagel on Computers, Logic, & Mind (1962) -
Period: to
Professor at Rockefeller University
*1967 to 1970 Nagel held the position of university professor at Rockefeller University.
*Suppes, Patrick. “Ernest Nagel 1901-1985 a Biographical Memoir by Patrick Suppes”. National Academy of Sciences, 1994, http://www.nasonline.org/publications/biographical-memoirs/memoir-pdfs/nagel-ernest.pdf. Accessed 5 August 2023. -
National Academy of Sciences
*1977 - Nagel was elected to the National Academy of Sciences.
*Suppes, Patrick. “Ernest Nagel 1901-1985 a Biographical Memoir by Patrick Suppes”. National Academy of Sciences, 1994, http://www.nasonline.org/publications/biographical-memoirs/memoir-pdfs/nagel-ernest.pdf. Accessed 5 August 2023. -
Died
*Died Sept. 20, 1985, Ney York
*Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia. "Ernest Nagel". Encyclopedia Britannica, 12 Nov. 2022, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Ernest-Nagel. Accessed 5 August 2023.