Robert Nola Explained

Robert Nola
Birth Date:25 June 1940
Death Place:Auckland, New Zealand
Fields:Philosophy of science
Workplaces:University of Auckland
Alma Mater:University of Auckland
Australian National University
Thesis1 Title:Theoretical change in the physical sciences: a study of theory reduction and theory replacement in science
Thesis1 Url:https://openresearch-repository.anu.edu.au/handle/1885/139404
Thesis1 Year:1968
Spouse:Jan Crosthwaite

Robert Nola (25 June 1940 – 23 October 2022) was a New Zealand philosophy academic, and was an Emeritus Professor in the Department of Philosophy at the University of Auckland.[1] [2] His work focussed on the philosophy and history of science, on epistemology and on metaphysics.

Early life

Nola's mother was New Zealand-born and his father was an immigrant from Dalmatia in Croatia. His family were nominally Catholic, his mother becoming a Catholic to marry his father. Nola attended a state school, rather than a Catholic school. He studied mathematics and philosophy at the University of Auckland.[3]

Academic career

After a 1968 PhD titled Theoretical change in the physical sciences: a study of theory reduction and theory replacement in science at the Australian National University, Nola moved to the University of Auckland, rising to full professor.[1]

Nola was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of New Zealand in 2009 and was a Fellow of the New Zealand Academy of the Humanities.[4]

In July 2021, in the context of a review of the NCEA (New Zealand's National Curriculum), Nola, along with six other University of Auckland Professors and Emeritus Professors published a controversial letter "In Defence of Science" in the New Zealand Listener.[5] Along with Professor Garth Cooper, Nola resigned from the Royal Society Te Āparangi in March 2022 regarding the controversy.[6]

Selected works

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Emeritus Professor Robert Nola . University of Auckland . 28 November 2021.
  2. Web site: Robert NOLA Obituary (2022) The New Zealand Herald . 2022-10-26 . Legacy.com.
  3. Web site: Interview with Robert Nola – Member and Honorary Associate of the New Zealand Association of Rationalists & Humanists (Inc.) (NZARH) . Scott Douglas . Jacobsen . 31 March 2019 . Canadian Atheist . 28 November 2021.
  4. Web site: Fellows: M–O. 2021-09-26. Royal Society Te Apārangi.
  5. [Kendall Clements]
  6. Web site: 2022-03-28 . New Zealand professors in Māori science row quit Royal Society . 2022-10-26 . Times Higher Education (THE) . en.