U. of C professor who won a MacArthur ‘genius grant’
During 42 years as a University of Chicago history and astronomy professor, Noel Swerdlow wove together the humanities and the sciences through his study of the history of science.
Known both for his sometimes-pointed criticism of other academics’ work and for his warm and hospitable persona, Swerdlow was a familiar figure on campus, often joined by his dogs. For his scholarly work, Swerdlow won a MacArthur Fellowship, also known as a “genius grant,” in 1988.
“Noel was the most generous teacher I have ever known — and I’ve been in universities since 1967 and known many master teachers,” said Princeton University history professor Tony Grafton, who earned his bachelor’s and doctoral degrees at the U. of C. “He suggested the subject for my dissertation, which required me to learn some astronomy, and to help me with that he spent two three-hour sessions a week with me, from fall 1971 to spring 1973, reading primary sources and improving what I wrote. He was equally generous to later students — and to early career scholars around the world. When they sent him work he thought was serious, he would spend hours commenting on it and improving it, and help them publish.”
Swerdlow, 79, died of complications from leukemia on July 24 at his home, said his wife of 32 years, Nadia. He was a resident of Sierra Madre, Calif., and previously had resided in Lincoln Park.
Born and raised in Los Angeles, Swerdlow earned a bachelor’s degree in history from UCLA in 1964. He then earned a Ph.D. in medieval studies from Yale University in 1968. An avid music enthusiast, Swerdlow originally had intended to focus his graduate studies on medieval music, but he eventually was drawn to studying the history of science.
The U. of C.’s history department hired Swerdlow as an assistant professor in 1968. Early on, he taught a course in medieval history, and Grafton was one of his undergraduate students.
“What I remember most vividly is a remark he wrote on my paper for the course,” Grafton said. “I had described something as ‘paradigmatic’ — a term I knew from the grammars of Greek and Latin that I had learned in high school. ‘Avoid fashionable cliches,’ he wrote. It was also typical of Noel: the last thing he ever wanted to be was fashionable, in his interests, his teaching or his writing. Noel was always resolutely his own person.”
Swerdlow’s area of scholarship was on the history of mathematics and astronomy from their origins through the 17th century. He worked painstakingly to comprehend ancient scholars’ work from the perspective of their own times by understanding the mathematics, instruments, observations and data that they would have used.
Two of Swerdlow’s major works involved 16th-century mathematician and astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus. In a 1973 journal article, Swerdlow authored a translation and exploration of Copernicus’ early astronomical work, “The Commentariolus,” and with famed science historian Otto Neugebauer, he co-wrote the two-volume treatise “Mathematical Astronomy in Copernicus’s De Revolutionibus,” which was published in 1984.
Swerdlow’s research made him the world’s leading authority on the technical aspects of Copernicus’ work and astronomical mathematics during the Renaissance.
“He excelled at close reading and careful analysis of the most intricate material from hundreds of years past, and I don’t think there is anyone working today on the history of Renaissance astronomy who can hold a candle to Noel’s knowledge and scholarly acumen,” said Caltech history professor Jed Buchwald, a longtime friend. “Noel was uncompromisingly precise in his work — he could not countenance sloppy thinking or inadequately supported claims, of which he found all too many years ago and in the present.”
University of California at Berkeley professor Francesca Rochberg, a historian of science who first met Swerdlow while earning her Ph.D. at the U. of C. in 1977, called Swerdlow “the consummate scholar” and a major influence throughout her career.
“Noel’s command of the entire history of mathematical astronomy was astounding,” she said. “His translations and analyses displayed an uncommon rigor, both philologically and mathematically. His commitment was to the texts, what they actually said, and only from there did he make historical inferences.”
In 1982, Swerdlow transferred from the U. of C.’s history department to its astronomy department, where he was the department’s only historian.
“Noel was very approachable and I enjoyed the occasional visit to his office to ask a question about some aspect of the history of astronomy,” said U. of C. astronomy professor Rich Kron. “He gave me more than just an answer to the question, but also entertaining commentary and context for how ideas about the nature of stars and planets evolved over the centuries. What distinguished his scholarship was that he was the authority of not just a small niche area of study, but of a large — and absolutely fascinating — field of research that brought the humanities and the sciences together.”
In recognition of his scholarship, the Chicago-based John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation awarded Swerdlow a $285,000 “genius grant,” or MacArthur Fellowship, in 1988.
“The science of the past is a significant part of our whole cultural and historical heritage,” he told the Tribune in 1988, upon receiving the honor. “It’s as valuable to us as the art, music and literature of the past. When you study astronomers like Ptolemy and Kepler and you know their work well, they become almost like colleagues — colleagues you never measure up to.”
In 1998, Swerdlow published another book, “The Babylonian Theory of the Planets.”
In 2010, Buchwald invited Swerdlow to teach at Caltech. So Swerdlow retired from the U. of C. and moved to southern California. He was a visiting associate professor at Caltech until retiring in 2018, and as in Chicago, he became famous on Caltech’s campus for bringing his dogs with him everywhere.
Outside of work, Swerdlow was a music enthusiast who played piano at home and loved to “listen to music and read the scores and analyze what was happening,” his wife said. He also taught music classes periodically during his career, including on the works of Richard Wagner.
A first marriage ended in divorce. In addition to his wife, Swerdlow is survived by a son, Dorian; a granddaughter; and a brother, Lanny.
A small celebration of life will take place in the fall. Future academic conferences honoring him will be announced.