Person
Rickles, Dean (1977 - )
- Born
- 17 July 1977
Hull, Yorkshire, United Kingdom - Occupation
- Science historian
Summary
Dean Rickles is Professor of the History and Philosophy of Modern Physics at the University of Sydney. His principal research interests are in string theory, quantum gravity and symmetries. Between 2012 and 2014 he was President of the Australasian Association for the History, Philosophy and Social Studies of Science and Society. In 2012 he received the History and Philosophy of Science Award from the Royal Society of New South Wales.
Details
"Professor Rickles has made seminal contributions to both the history and the philosophy of modern physics, creating two-way traffic from conceptual and philosophical issues to historical ones. His work has been used and praised by philosophers, historians, and physicists alike. In particular, he has been a central figure in the emerging field of history and philosophy of quantum gravity (the as yet unknown theory that would treat our two great fundamental theories of physics, general relativity and quantum theory, in a single framework), and has driven much of the current research landscape. He has been responsible for many firsts, including the first detailed histories of string theory, praised by its chief architect (John Schwarz), and of quantum gravity, and the first philosophical papers on dualities and loop quantum gravity." [from https://www.royalsoc.org.au/history-and-philosophy-of-science-medal/ 2026-01-29]
Chronology
- 1999
- Education - MA, University of Sheffield, United Kingdom
- 2004
- Education - PhD, University of Leeds, United Kingdom
- 2005 - 2006
- Career position - Postdoctoral Fellow, University of Calgary, Alberta, Canada
- 2007 -
- Career position - Lecturer, Department of History and Philosophy of Science, University of Sydney
- 2009 - 2014
- Award - ARC Australian Research Fellowship
- 2012 - 2014
- Career position - President, Australasian Association for the History, Philosophy and Social Studies of Science and Society (AAHPSSS)
- 2014 - 2018
- Award - ARC Future Fellowship
- 2021
- Award - History and Philosophy of Science Award, Royal Society of New South Wales
Related entries
Published resources
Books
- Rickles, Dean, Covered in deep mist: the development of quantum gravity (1916-1956) (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2020), 297 pp. Details
Book Sections
- Rickles, D., 'The development of quantum gravity: from feelings to phenomena' in The Routledge companion to philosophy of physics, Knox, Eleanor and Wilson, Alastair, eds (London: Routledge, 2021), pp. 339-50. Details
Journal Articles
- Rickles, D., 'Behind the scenes of the 1957 Chapel Hill Conference on the role of gravitation in physics', Journal and proceedings of the Royal Society of New South Wales, 154 (483/4) (2022), 224-8, https://search.informit.org/doi/pdf/10.3316/informit.307978714363106. Details
Resources
- The RSNSW History and Philosophy of Science Medal, Royal Society of New South Wales, Sydney, 2022. https://www.royalsoc.org.au/awards/history-and-philosophy-of-science-medal. Details
Helen Cohn
Created: 29 January 2026