Professor
ms5100@nyu.edu
(212) 992-7752
507 - 1 Wash Pl
Office Hours
Tuesday 2:00-4:00
Wednesday 11:00-12:00
M.A., Astronomy, Harvard University
B.Sc. & B.A., Optical Engineering, University of Rochester, 1998
Ph.D., History of Science, Harvard University, 2004
Matthew Stanley teaches and researches the history and philosophy of science. He holds degrees in astronomy, religion, physics, and the history of science and is interested in the connections between science and the wider culture. He is the author of Einstein's War: How Relativity Triumphed Amid the Vicious Nationalism of World War I (Dutton, 2019), the story of how pacifism and friendship led to a scientific revolution. He has also written Practical Mystic: Religion, Science, and A. S. Eddington (Chicago 2007) and Huxley's Church and Maxwell's Demon (Chicago 2014), which explore the complex relationships between science and religion in history. His current project is a history of scientific predictions of the end of the world. Stanley has also worked with a nationwide National Science Foundation-funded effort to use the humanities to improve science education in the college classroom. He has held fellowships at the Institute for Advanced Study, the British Academy, and the Max Planck Institute. He currently runs the New York City History of Science Working Group. In his spare time, he co-hosts the science podcast What the If? Stanley was awarded the 2019 NYU Distinguished Teaching Award and the 2014-2015 Gallatin Dean's Award for Excellence in Teaching.
2021
Einstein’s War (Dutton, 2019) by Matthew Stanley was awarded the Watson Davis and Helen Miles Davis Prize from the History of Science Society for the best book intended for a general audience.
2019
Matthew Stanley’s Einstein’s War: How Relativity Triumphed Amid the Vicious Nationalism of World War I was published by Penguin Random House Dutton.
2014
Matthew Stanley's Huxley’s Church & Maxwell’s Demon: From Theistic Science to Naturalistic Science was published by University of Chicago Press.
2007
Matthew Stanley's Practical Mystic: Religion, Science, and A. S. Eddington was published by University of Chicago Press.
history of science and technology; science and religion; physics and astronomy; philosophy of science; history and philosophy of religion mind and consciousness; science education; peace and war
2023 January
Carl Sagan: From Cosmos to Nuclear Winter
2023 Spring
2023 Fall
First-Year Interdisciplinary Seminar: Predicting the Future
2022 Summer
Carl Sagan: From Cosmos to Nuclear Winter
2022 Spring