Guide to the Hans Reichenbach Papers, 1884-1972 ASP.1973.01

Arrangement

Repository
ULS Archives & Special Collections
Title
Hans Reichenbach Papers
Creator
Reichenbach, Hans
Collection Number
ASP.1973.01
Extent
40.26 Linear Feet
Date
1884-1979
Date
1909-1953
Abstract
Hans Reichenbach (September 26, 1891–April 9, 1953) was an influential philosopher of science, educator, and proponent of logical empiricism. He founded the Gesellschaft für empirische Philosophie (Society for Empirical Philosophy) in Berlin in 1928, also known as the "Berlin Circle." Throughout his career Reichenbach made lasting contributions to the analysis of probabilistic reasoning; logic and the philosophy of mathematics; quantum mechanics; and space, time, and relativity theory. The Hans Reichenbach Papers comprise published and unpublished manuscripts, lectures, correspondence, photographs, drawings, and related materials from his early student days until his death.
Language
English .
Author
Special Collections Staff, revised by Brigitta Arden.
Publisher
ULS Archives & Special Collections
Address
University of Pittsburgh Library System
Archives & Special Collections
Website: library.pitt.edu/archives-special-collections
Business Number: 412-648-3232 (Thomas) | 412-648-8190 (Hillman)
Contact Us: www.library.pitt.edu/ask-archivist
URL: http://library.pitt.edu/archives-special-collections

Acquisition Information

The Hans Reichenbach Papers were acquired from Reichenbach's widow, Maria Reichenbach, in 1973.

Biography

Hans Reichenbach (September 26, 1891–April 9, 1953) was an influential philosopher of science, educator, and proponent of logical empiricism. He founded the Gesellschaft für empirische Philosophie (Society for Empirical Philosophy) in Berlin in 1928, also known as the "Berlin Circle." Carl Gustav Hempel, Richard von Mises, David Hilbert and Kurt Grelling all became members of the Berlin Circle. Reichenbach took on another major role in 1930 when, together with Carnap, he became the editor of the journal Erkenntnis (Knowledge). Throughout his career Hans Reichenbach made lasting contributions to the analysis of probabilistic reasoning; logic and the philosophy of mathematics; quantum mechanics; and space, time, and relativity theory. He was also concerned with elaborating a cogent and consistent empiricism based on a theory of probability.

Scope and Content Notes

The Hans Reichenbach Papers comprise published and unpublished manuscripts, lectures, correspondence, photographs, drawings, and related materials from his early student days until his death.

The correspondence contains about 9,000 pages to and from Reichenbach; it ranges over his entire career. Those with whom Reichenbach maintained lifelong contact include Rudolf Carnap, Ernst Cassirer, Herbert Feigl, Philip Frank, Carl Hempel, Sidney Hook, Paul Oppenheim and Wolfgang Pauli. In addition, there is significant correspondence with von Astor, Bergmann, Bertalanffy, Dingler, Dubislav, Einstein, Fraenkel, Frank, Freundlich, Grelling, Grünbaum, Paul Hertz, Hutten, Jordan, Landé, von Laue, Lewin, C.I. Lewis, Charles Morris, Nagel, Neurath, Northrop, Planck, Quine, Regener, Rougier, Salmon, Schillp, Schlick, Scholz, Schrödinger, Martin Strauss, Tarski, Vaihinger, Weiss, Williams, Zawarski, and Zilsel. The correspondence provides a valuable source of information about Reichenbach's personal and philosophical development. It also provides primary source material for research into one of the 20th century most influential philosophical movements.

Reichenbach's manuscripts include many of his own notes as a student. Some go as far back as his university days in science and mathematics. Some of the most significant of these notes are those taken by him as a student of Albert Einstein on the special and general theories of relativity. There are four such notebooks dating from 1918. In addition there are his student notes on astronomy, Planck and electricity, Hilbert's "Statistical Mechanics" and "Problems and Principles."

He also kept many of his lecture notes from Germany, Turkey, and the United States. The number of lectures runs to over 100 and provides a glimpse into the problems of philosophy and how he presented them to his students. Many of his lectures discussed principles of radio and issues in philosophy and modern science, often in form of popularizations of questions in relativity and quantum theory delivered on radio programs for a wider audiences. In addition to this there are an abundance of notes, calculations, and diagrams used to draft both published and unpublished papers.

Arrangement

During the initial processing of the Reichenbach Papers, an effort was made to preserve the order in which they were received, although since his death, Maria Reichenbach had still been working with them in order to keep publishing many unpublished manuscripts. As a result, there might have been some disturbance to Reichenbach's original order. Researchers should note that specific types of formats, such as manuscripts or correspondence, can be found throughout the series of the papers.

Arrangement:

Series I: Correspondence

Series II: Early Correspondence, Photos, and Probability Notes

Series III: Correspondence, Drawings, Manuscripts, Notebooks, and Photographs

Series IV: Name Index

Previous Citation

Hans Reichenbach Papers, 1884-1972, ASP.1973.01, Archives of Scientific Philosophy, Special Collections Department, University of Pittsburgh

Preferred Citation

Hans Reichenbach Papers, 1884-1972, ASP.1973.01, Archives of Scientific Philosophy, Archives & Special Collections, University of Pittsburgh Library System

Access Restrictions

No restrictions.

Existence and Location of Copies

A microfilm copy of the papers is available at the Philosophical Archive of Konstanz Univeristy in Konstanz, Germany: http://www.uni-konstanz.de/FuF/Philo/philarchiv/bestaende/Reichenbach.htm.

Subjects

    Personal Names

    • Reichenbach, Hans
    • Zilsel, Edgar
    • Russell, Bertrand
    • Neurath, Otto
    • Nagel, Ernest
    • Lewis, Clarence Irving
    • Lewin, Kurt
    • Cassirer, Ernst
    • Dubislav, Walter
    • Einstein, Albert
    • Feigl, Herbert
    • Frank, Philipp
    • Grelling, Kurt
    • Hertz, Paul
    • Hempel, Carl G. (Carl Gustav)
    • Hook, Sidney
    • Laue, Max von

    Other Subjects

    • Physics -- Philosophy
    • Science -- Philosophy -- History -- 20th century
    • Science -- Philosophy -- History -- Sources
    • Science -- Philosophy
    • Knowledge, Theory of
    • Space and time

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