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Historical Studies in the Natural Sciences
Left Radicalism and the Milky Way
Connecting the Scientific and Socialist Virtues of Anton Pannekoek
Chaokang Tai
HIST STUD NAT SCI, Vol. 47 No. 2, April 2017; (pp. 200-254) DOI: 10.1525/hsns.2017.47.2.200
Chaokang Tai
Institute for Theoretical Physics Amsterdam, Anton Pannekoek Institute for Astronomy, and Vossius Center for History of Humanities and Sciences, University of Amsterdam, Science Park 904, PO Box 94485, 1090 GL Amsterdam, the Netherlands; Descartes Centre for the History and Philosophy of the Sciences and the Humanities, Utrecht University, the Netherlands; cktai@uva.nl
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Abstract

Anton Pannekoek (1873–60) was both an influential Marxist and an innovative astronomer. This paper will analyze the various innovative methods that he developed to represent the visual aspect of the Milky Way and the statistical distribution of stars in the galaxy through a framework of epistemic virtues. Doing so will not only emphasize the unique aspects of his astronomical research, but also reveal its connections to his left radical brand of Marxism. A crucial feature of Pannekoek’s astronomical method was the active role ascribed to astronomers. They were expected to use their intuitive ability to organize data according to the appearance of the Milky Way, even as they had to avoid the influence of personal experience and theoretical presuppositions about the shape of the system. With this method, Pannekoek produced results that went against the Kapteyn Universe and instead made him the first astronomer in the Netherlands to find supporting evidence for Harlow Shapley's extended galaxy. After exploring Pannekoek’s Marxist philosophy, it is argued that both his astronomical method and his interpretation of historical materialism can be seen as strategies developed to make optical use of his particular conception of the human mind.

Key Words:
  • Anton Pannekoek
  • epistemic virtues
  • scientific persona
  • statistical astronomy
  • Milky Way appearance
  • historical materialism
  • left radicalism
  • Jacobus Kapteyn
  • © 2017 by the Regents of the University of California

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Vol. 47 No. 2, April 2017

Historical Studies in the Natural Sciences: 47 (2)
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Left Radicalism and the Milky Way
Connecting the Scientific and Socialist Virtues of Anton Pannekoek
Chaokang Tai
HIST STUD NAT SCI, Vol. 47 No. 2, April 2017; (pp. 200-254) DOI: 10.1525/hsns.2017.47.2.200
Chaokang Tai
Institute for Theoretical Physics Amsterdam, Anton Pannekoek Institute for Astronomy, and Vossius Center for History of Humanities and Sciences, University of Amsterdam, Science Park 904, PO Box 94485, 1090 GL Amsterdam, the Netherlands; Descartes Centre for the History and Philosophy of the Sciences and the Humanities, Utrecht University, the Netherlands; cktai@uva.nl
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Left Radicalism and the Milky Way
Connecting the Scientific and Socialist Virtues of Anton Pannekoek
Chaokang Tai
HIST STUD NAT SCI, Vol. 47 No. 2, April 2017; (pp. 200-254) DOI: 10.1525/hsns.2017.47.2.200
Chaokang Tai
Institute for Theoretical Physics Amsterdam, Anton Pannekoek Institute for Astronomy, and Vossius Center for History of Humanities and Sciences, University of Amsterdam, Science Park 904, PO Box 94485, 1090 GL Amsterdam, the Netherlands; Descartes Centre for the History and Philosophy of the Sciences and the Humanities, Utrecht University, the Netherlands; cktai@uva.nl
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