Global InformationMarcel Boll information
Marcel Boll (15 September 1886, Paris – 12 August 1971, Paris) was a French scientist, sociologist, philosopher, educator, scientific journalist (journalist specializing in scientific topics), and a founding member (1930) of the Rationalist Union (French: Union rationaliste). Boll was one of the most prolific contributors of articles to Les Cahiers Rationalistes (The Rationalist Notebooks) and Raison Présente (Reason Present), two journals published by the Rationalist Union. He was one of the main popularizers of the theory of relativity, the quantum theory, and other aspects of the physical sciences during the interwar period (1918-1939) and in the early 1950s. An advocate of neopositivism,[1] his numerous works on physics, philosophy, sociology, education, and other subjects all reflect his neopositivist perspective. He was the first person to draw the French public's attention to the Vienna Circle (German: der Wiener Kreis).[2] Louis Rougier (1889-1982) and Général Charles-Ernest Vouillemin[3] (1865-1954) later joined Boll in being among the first to introduce and promote the Vienna Circle and its overall philosophical outlook (logical positivism) in France.
- ^ The term neopositivism is a generic, umbrella term, used to designate a wide variety of modern forms of positivism. Neopositivist perspectives have been developed and applied in many fields of knowledge, including philosophy, various branches of science (especially physics), mathematics, sociology, psychology, education, jurisprudence, and history. Logical positivism and logical empiricism are two forms of neopositivism that have been developed and applied in the field of philosophy, particularly in sub-fields of philosophy such as philosophy of science, philosophy of physics, philosophy of mind, logic and philosophy of logic, philosophy of mathematics, philosophy of education, epistemology, and metaphysics. Logical positivism and logical empiricism were originally developed by various members of the Vienna and Berlin Circles, as well as by other individuals and groups outside Austria and Germany. The formal name of the Berlin Circle (which met in Berlin, Germany) was Die Gesellschaft für Empirische Philosophie (The Society for Empirical Philosophy). The Berlin Circle was founded in 1928 by philosophers Hans Reichenbach (1891-1953), Kurt Grelling (1886-1942), and Walter Dubislav (1895-1937). The mathematician David Hilbert (1862-1943), mathematician and philosopher Richard von Mises (1883-1953), and philosopher Carl Gustav Hempel (1905-1997) were also prominent members of the Berlin Circle.
- ^ Schöttler, Peter (25 April 2015). "From Comte to Carnap. Marcel Boll and the Introduction of the Vienna Circle". Revue de Synthèse. 136 (1–2): 207–36. doi:10.1007/s11873-014-0260-4. PMID 25914078. S2CID 44259535.
- ^ Général Charles-Ernest Vouillemin (July 31, 1865 - September 30, 1954) - Born in Bourmont, Haute-Marne, Champagne, France. His parents were Charles Vouillemin (April 15, 1833 - January 18, 1920) and Isabelle Marie Guillaumot (January 28, 1839 - April 9, 1869), who were married on September 26, 1864, in Bologne, Haute-Marne, France. Charles Vouillemin (Général Vouillemin's father), a physician and pharmacist in Bourmont, was a member of the Conseil d'hygiene de la Haute-Marne (Health Council of Haute-Marne), and also served as mayor of Bourmont. His son Charles-Ernest Vouillemin (1865-1954) began his higher education when he entered the École polytechnique (Polytechnic University) in 1885. The École polytechnique is a French military science and engineering graduate school. Founded in 1794, in 1830 the school was put under control of the French Ministry of War by Louis Philippe I (1773-1850), King of France. At the time Vouillemin was a student there, the École polytechnique was located in the Latin Quarter of central Paris. After graduating from the École polytechnique, Vouillemin attended the École d'application de l'artillerie et du génie (School of Artillery and Engineering Applications), a French military school located in Fontainebleau, Seine-et-Marne, Île-de-France, in northern France. In 1887 he attained the rank of Second Lieutenant, in October 1889 the rank of Lieutenant in the 8th Artillery Regiment, and in December 1896 the rank of Captain in the 17th Artillery Regiment, while holding a teaching position at the École supérieure de guerre (Superior School of Warfare). The École supérieure de guerre forms part of the École militaire (Military School) complex of buildings, located at 22 rue du Champ-de-Mars in Paris. Meanwhile, on October 25, 1892 he had married Jeanne Fleury (April 22, 1869 - October 6, 1937) in Châlons-en-Champagne (known as Châlons-sur-Marne at the time Charles-Ernest and Jeanne were married there), Champagne-Ardenne, France. Jeanne was a daughter of Paul Louis Félix Fleury (January 10, 1831 - April 19, 1915) and Marie Catelie Bost (September 8, 1832 - September 14, 1905), who had been married in Paris on July 1, 1868. Paul L. F. Fleury attained the rank of Général de Brigade (Brigadier General) in the French Army on October 21, 1887, when he was appointed Commandant du Génie Militaire (Commander of Military Engineers) of the 6th (Metz) Military Region of the French Army (see Military district). Jeanne was born in Belfort, Franche-Comté, Alsace, France, and died in Gstaad, Bern, Switzerland. Jeanne and Charles-Ernest Vouillemin had a son named Claude Vouillemin (May 4, 1898 - February 9, 1953). In 1907 Charles-Ernest Vouillemin served on a French military assignment in Algeria and Tunisia. In 1912 he held a position on the French Army's Special Staff of the Artillery, and served as Assistant Professor of Geology and Geography at the École supérieure de guerre. In February 1915, during World War I, he was assigned to the 39th Artillery Regiment, with the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel. In October 1916 he left the 39th Artillery Regiment and joined the French Military Mission to Romania (1916-1918) (aka the Berthelot Mission), under the command of General Henri Mathias Berthelot (1861-1931). In Romania, Berthelot held Vouillemin in very high regard, and he appointed him (Vouillemin held the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel at the time) to serve as the French Inspector General of Artillery. In this position, Vouillemin's main responsibility was the reorganization, re-supply, and successful deployment of the Romanian Army's Field Artillery division, while he also served as an artillery instructor. Berthelot appointed Lieutenant-Colonel Leon Steghens to serve as the French Inspector General of Heavy Artillery, his main responsibility being the reorganization, re-supply, and successful deployment of the Romanian Army's Heavy Artillery division. After the French Military Mission to Romania was expelled from Romania by Germany on March 12, 1918, Vouillemin served as Commander of the 20th Artillery Regiment on the Western Front - see Western Front (World War I). From April 1919 to December 1920 Vouillemin served in the French Military Mission to Poland, under the command of General Paul Prosper Henrys (1862-1943). In December 1919 Vouillemin was promoted to the rank of Général de Brigade (brigadier general), while serving as a member of the General Staff of the French Military Mission to Poland. He was also an officer in the Legion of Honour. Vouillemin retired from the French Army in 1924, but even before retiring from the Army he had begun to write and publish books on topics in the philosophy of science from a neopositivist perspective. He also translated several works of other neopositivist philosophers into French. On his publications Vouillemin usually listed himself as Général Vouillemin or as Ernest Vouillemin, but sometimes he used other variations of his name (such as Charles Vouillemin, C. E. Vouillemin, C.-E. Vouillemin, Charles Ernest Vouillemin, or Charles-Ernest Vouillemin), and these variations were also sometimes used by others in reference to him. Charles-Ernest Vouillemin died on September 30, 1954 in the Maritime Hospital of Toulon (l'Hôpital Maritime de Toulon) in Toulon, Var, Provence, France.