Stephen George Brush (born February 12, 1935) is an American historian of science known particularly for his work on statistical mechanics and geophysics. He was a professor at the University of Maryland, College Park from 1968 to 2007. His research resulted in hundreds of journal articles and over a dozen books, one book of which, The Kind of Motion We Call Heat, won the 1977 Pfizer Award of the History of Science Society. He is a fellow of the American Physical Society (1977) and the American Association for the Advancement of Science (1981). He founded the American Physical Society's History of Physics Newsletter and served as president of the History of Science Society 1990–1991.
Early life and education Brush was born on February 12, 1935 in Bangor, Maine, United States. He studied physics and chemistry at Harvard University, earning a Bachelor of Science in physics at the age of 20 in 1955. He was selected as a Rhodes Scholar and he earned his Doctor of Philosophy (D.Phil.) in theoretical physics from the University of Oxford in England in 1958. He was a National Science Foundation Postdoctoral Fellow at Imperial College London from 1958 to 1959.
Career Brush worked as a physicist at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California in the area of statistical mechanics and plasma physics for six years, 1959–1965. In 1965 he returned to New England to be a lecturer in physics at Harvard University. There he was involved in the development of a high school physics curriculum called Harvard Project Physics, which used stories from the history of physics to engage students. In 1968 Brush accepted a tenure track faculty appointment in the history of science at the University of Maryland, College Park. He held a unique joint appointment in the History department and in the Institute for Physical Science and Technology, and he received recognition as a Distinguished Scholar-Teacher (1980–1981) and Distinguished University Professor (1995). During his time at the University of Maryland, Brush worked to eliminate discriminatory practices, recognize cultural diversity, and improve undergraduate education. Brush retired from the University of Maryland in 2007 after 39 years. At retirement he held the rank of tenured full professor, with the title Distinguished Professor of the History of Science. In his role as Distinguished Professor, Dr. Brush was selected as a guest speaker for a special Mathematics lecture held on the College Park campus on November 7, 2003, which can be viewed on YouTube. Brush was active in university service during his career at the University of Maryland, including serving as president of the campus chapter of the American Association of University Professors (1979–1980), chair of the Faculty Council (1982–1983), elected to represent the History Department of College Park campus' University Senate (1991). He also chaired the Human Relations committee of the Senate (1991–1992, 1993–1994, 2004–2005). Brush had a particular interest in the history of physics, and was the founder and former co-editor of the American Physical Society's History of Physics Newsletter. He was very active in professional organizations for physics and history of science, and served a term as president of the international History of Science Society from 1990 to 1991. Since 2013, Brush has been listed on the Advisory Council of the National Center for Science Education.
Honors and awards In 1977 Brush became a Fellow of the American Physical Society, and in 1981 he was elected a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Brush received the 1977 Pfizer Award from the History of Science Society for an outstanding book on the history of science in English in the past three years for his 1976 book, The Kind of Motion We Call Heat. In 2009, he received the Abraham Pais Prize from the American Physical Society and the John Frederick Lewis Award for his 2009 book, Choosing Selection: The Revival of Natural Selection in Anglo-American Evolutionary Biology, 1930-1970. Brush was a commencement speaker at the 2015 University of the Sciences commencement, at which he also received an honorary degree.
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