Lisa Jardine
Encyclopedia
Lisa Anne Jardine CBE
(born 12 April 1944), née Lisa Anne Bronowski, is a British
historian
of the early modern period
. She is professor of Renaissance
Studies and Director of the Centre for Editing Lives and Letters at Queen Mary, University of London
, and is Chair of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority
(HFEA). She was a Member of Council of the Royal Institution
, but resigned from that post in September 2009.
Jardine is the eldest child of the late Jacob Bronowski
and the sculptor Rita Coblentz and is married to the architect John Hare. She has two sons and a daughter. Her professional name is taken from the surname of her first husband, Nicholas Jardine. She is cousin to television director Laurence Moody
and actress Clare Lawrence
Moody.
Jardine was educated at Cheltenham Ladies' College
and Newnham College, Cambridge
. For two years she took the Cambridge Mathematical Tripos
before, in her final year and under the influence of Raymond Williams
, she read English.
She is the author of many books, including The Curious Life of Robert Hooke
: The Man Who Measured London, Ingenious Pursuits: Building the Scientific Revolution and On a Grander Scale: the Outstanding Career of Sir Christopher Wren
. Her 2008 book Going Dutch won the 2009 Cundill Prize in History at McGill University, the largest history book prize in the world worth $75,000.
On 26 January 2011 Jardine appeared in a BBC documentary in which she refers to an "unknown chapter" in her father's life and states: "recently I made a disturbing discovery about the science that he did. During the second world war he used his mathematical brilliance to maximize the destructive force of aerial bombardment. Were people wrong about Jacob Bronowski?"
In the very first episode of The Ascent of Man
, Bronowski had this to say: "Here I, Jacob Bronowski, am a man who helped pioneer operations research [as the theory of efficient bombing] for the Royal Air Force during the war". Bronowski was not, of course, the only one to find himself in that position; Freeman Dyson had also been in the Operational Research Section of the RAF and wrote (for example, in "Disturbing the Universe") of how their efforts tended to save lives rather than increase destructive force. Examples ranged from maximising the survival of aircrew exiting a doomed bomber, to halting area bombardment in favour of precision attacks affecting civilians less. That puts "efficient bombing" in a different light.
Bronowski observed that such research had dual application; "I had not been long back from Hiroshima when I heard someone say, in Szilard's presence, that it was the tragedy of scientists that their discoveries were used for destruction. Szilard
, replied, as he more than anyone else had the right to reply, that it was not the tragedy of scientists: 'it is the tragedy of mankind'."
Jardine is a former Chairman of the Governing Body at Westminster City School
for Boys, London.
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
(born 12 April 1944), née Lisa Anne Bronowski, is a British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
historian
Historian
A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the study of all history in time. If the individual is...
of the early modern period
Early modern period
In history, the early modern period of modern history follows the late Middle Ages. Although the chronological limits of the period are open to debate, the timeframe spans the period after the late portion of the Middle Ages through the beginning of the Age of Revolutions...
. She is professor of Renaissance
Renaissance
The Renaissance was a cultural movement that spanned roughly the 14th to the 17th century, beginning in Italy in the Late Middle Ages and later spreading to the rest of Europe. The term is also used more loosely to refer to the historical era, but since the changes of the Renaissance were not...
Studies and Director of the Centre for Editing Lives and Letters at Queen Mary, University of London
Queen Mary, University of London
Queen Mary, University of London is a public research university located in London, United Kingdom and a constituent college of the federal University of London...
, and is Chair of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority
Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority
The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority is a statutory body in the United Kingdom that regulates and inspects all UK clinics providing in vitro fertilisation, artificial insemination and the storage of human eggs, sperm or embryos. It also regulates Human Embryo research...
(HFEA). She was a Member of Council of the Royal Institution
Royal Institution
The Royal Institution of Great Britain is an organization devoted to scientific education and research, based in London.-Overview:...
, but resigned from that post in September 2009.
Jardine is the eldest child of the late Jacob Bronowski
Jacob Bronowski
Jacob Bronowski was a Polish-Jewish British mathematician, biologist, historian of science, theatre author, poet and inventor...
and the sculptor Rita Coblentz and is married to the architect John Hare. She has two sons and a daughter. Her professional name is taken from the surname of her first husband, Nicholas Jardine. She is cousin to television director Laurence Moody
Laurence Moody
Laurence Moody is an English television director who, after reading English at Cambridge University, worked as a trainee at Granada Television, at this time directing a number of episodes of their top rated ITV1 soap opera, Coronation Street.Subsequently, he has originated and worked such...
and actress Clare Lawrence
Clare Lawrence
Clare Lawrence Moody is an English television and stage actor and producer. She is the daughter of English television director Laurence Moody...
Moody.
Jardine was educated at Cheltenham Ladies' College
Cheltenham Ladies' College
The Cheltenham Ladies' College is an independent boarding and day school for girls aged 11 to 18 in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England.-History:The school was founded in 1853...
and Newnham College, Cambridge
Newnham College, Cambridge
Newnham College is a women-only constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England.The college was founded in 1871 by Henry Sidgwick, and was the second Cambridge college to admit women after Girton College...
. For two years she took the Cambridge Mathematical Tripos
Cambridge Mathematical Tripos
The Mathematical Tripos is the taught mathematics course at the University of Cambridge. It is the oldest Tripos that is examined in Cambridge.-Origin:...
before, in her final year and under the influence of Raymond Williams
Raymond Williams
Raymond Henry Williams was a Welsh academic, novelist and critic. He was an influential figure within the New Left and in wider culture. His writings on politics, culture, the mass media and literature are a significant contribution to the Marxist critique of culture and the arts...
, she read English.
She is the author of many books, including The Curious Life of Robert Hooke
Robert Hooke
Robert Hooke FRS was an English natural philosopher, architect and polymath.His adult life comprised three distinct periods: as a scientific inquirer lacking money; achieving great wealth and standing through his reputation for hard work and scrupulous honesty following the great fire of 1666, but...
: The Man Who Measured London, Ingenious Pursuits: Building the Scientific Revolution and On a Grander Scale: the Outstanding Career of Sir Christopher Wren
Christopher Wren
Sir Christopher Wren FRS is one of the most highly acclaimed English architects in history.He used to be accorded responsibility for rebuilding 51 churches in the City of London after the Great Fire in 1666, including his masterpiece, St. Paul's Cathedral, on Ludgate Hill, completed in 1710...
. Her 2008 book Going Dutch won the 2009 Cundill Prize in History at McGill University, the largest history book prize in the world worth $75,000.
On 26 January 2011 Jardine appeared in a BBC documentary in which she refers to an "unknown chapter" in her father's life and states: "recently I made a disturbing discovery about the science that he did. During the second world war he used his mathematical brilliance to maximize the destructive force of aerial bombardment. Were people wrong about Jacob Bronowski?"
In the very first episode of The Ascent of Man
The Ascent of Man
The Ascent of Man is a thirteen-part documentary television series produced by the BBC and Time-Life Films first transmitted in 1973, written and presented by Jacob Bronowski...
, Bronowski had this to say: "Here I, Jacob Bronowski, am a man who helped pioneer operations research [as the theory of efficient bombing] for the Royal Air Force during the war". Bronowski was not, of course, the only one to find himself in that position; Freeman Dyson had also been in the Operational Research Section of the RAF and wrote (for example, in "Disturbing the Universe") of how their efforts tended to save lives rather than increase destructive force. Examples ranged from maximising the survival of aircrew exiting a doomed bomber, to halting area bombardment in favour of precision attacks affecting civilians less. That puts "efficient bombing" in a different light.
Bronowski observed that such research had dual application; "I had not been long back from Hiroshima when I heard someone say, in Szilard's presence, that it was the tragedy of scientists that their discoveries were used for destruction. Szilard
Leó Szilárd
Leó Szilárd was an Austro-Hungarian physicist and inventor who conceived the nuclear chain reaction in 1933, patented the idea of a nuclear reactor with Enrico Fermi, and in late 1939 wrote the letter for Albert Einstein's signature that resulted in the Manhattan Project that built the atomic bomb...
, replied, as he more than anyone else had the right to reply, that it was not the tragedy of scientists: 'it is the tragedy of mankind'."
Jardine is a former Chairman of the Governing Body at Westminster City School
Westminster City School
Westminster City School is a voluntary aided Christian school for boys in Westminster, London. The school has 800 students on its roll, and it offers 105 of 130 places each year to boys practising the Christian faith in the Anglican dioceses of London and Southwark. The other 25 spaces are...
for Boys, London.
Books
- Francis BaconFrancis BaconFrancis Bacon, 1st Viscount St Albans, KC was an English philosopher, statesman, scientist, lawyer, jurist, author and pioneer of the scientific method. He served both as Attorney General and Lord Chancellor of England...
: Discovery and the Art of Discourse (1974) - Still Harping on Daughters: Women and Drama in the Age of Shakespeare (1983)
- From Humanism to the Humanities (1986) with Anthony GraftonAnthony GraftonAnthony Grafton is a historian and the current Henry Putnam University Professor at Princeton University. He is also a corresponding fellow of the British Academy and a recipient of the Balzan Prize...
- What's Left?: Women in Culture and the Labour Movement (1989) with Julia Swindells
- Erasmus, Man of Letters: The Construction of Charisma in Print (1993)
- Reading Shakespeare Historically (1996)
- Worldly Goods: A New History of the Renaissance (1996)
- Erasmus: The Education of a Christian prince with the Panegyric for Archduke Philip of Austria (1997) editor
- Hostage to Fortune: The Troubled Life of Francis BaconFrancis BaconFrancis Bacon, 1st Viscount St Albans, KC was an English philosopher, statesman, scientist, lawyer, jurist, author and pioneer of the scientific method. He served both as Attorney General and Lord Chancellor of England...
(1998) with Alan Stewart - Ingenious Pursuits: Building the Scientific Revolution (1999)
- Francis BaconFrancis BaconFrancis Bacon, 1st Viscount St Albans, KC was an English philosopher, statesman, scientist, lawyer, jurist, author and pioneer of the scientific method. He served both as Attorney General and Lord Chancellor of England...
: The New Organon (2000) editor with Michael Silverthorne - Global Interests: Renaissance Art Between East and West (2000) with Jerry Brotton
- On a Grander Scale: The Outstanding Career of Sir Christopher Wren (2002)
- For the Sake of Argument (2003)
- The Curious Life of Robert HookeRobert HookeRobert Hooke FRS was an English natural philosopher, architect and polymath.His adult life comprised three distinct periods: as a scientific inquirer lacking money; achieving great wealth and standing through his reputation for hard work and scrupulous honesty following the great fire of 1666, but...
: The Man Who Measured London (2003) - London's Leonardo: The Life and Work of Robert HookeRobert HookeRobert Hooke FRS was an English natural philosopher, architect and polymath.His adult life comprised three distinct periods: as a scientific inquirer lacking money; achieving great wealth and standing through his reputation for hard work and scrupulous honesty following the great fire of 1666, but...
(2003) with Jim Bennett, Michael Cooper and Michael Hunter - Grayson PerryGrayson PerryGrayson Perry is an English artist, known mainly for his ceramic vases and cross-dressing. Perry's vases have classical forms and are decorated in bright colours, depicting subjects at odds with their attractive appearance. There is a strong autobiographical element in his work, in which images of...
(2004) - The Awful End of Prince William the SilentWilliam the SilentWilliam I, Prince of Orange , also widely known as William the Silent , or simply William of Orange , was the main leader of the Dutch revolt against the Spanish that set off the Eighty Years' War and resulted in the formal independence of the United Provinces in 1648. He was born in the House of...
: The First Assassination of a Head of State with a Hand-Gun (2005) - Going Dutch: How England Plundered Holland's Glory (2008)
Broadcasting
- A Point of View. BBC Radio 4 series (2008, 2010)
- My Father, the Bomb and Me. BBC Four (26 January 2011)