Introduction: I met Robert S. Cohen (“Bob”) sometime in 1971 through a series of open lectures that he sponsored as part of the work of the Boston Studies in the Philosophy of Science. Bob was also the chairman of the Physics Department and he knew many of the key scholars within universities around the world. He especially cultivated the key scholars in the universities of the Boston area.
Boston Colloquium for the Philosophy of Science. The weekly colloquiums during the school’s terms ranged in topics, but were always focused on first principles. As it happened, Bob Cohen became a major influence on my life.
Bob Cohen was a friend to everyone. He was a relation builder. I had been asking questions about the edges of physics, particularly about the universality of quantum physics. “Could there be exceptions to quantum indeterminacy? Could there be perfected states in spacetime?” After one of the lectures, he asked, “Would you do me a favor?” Of course, being grateful for the lectures and the dinners before the lectures, I was anxious to help. “Would you go over to the School of Theology and extend my personal greetings and invitation to Harry Oliver to come back to our lectures. He just returned from a Cambridge sabbatical with Fred Hoyle. And, Fred just retired so Harry might have his latest thinking.” My first time at the school, I carried his message and had a healthy discussion with Harry.
I generally had a negative feeling about theologians. They seems to believe more in Newton’s commonsense logic than be bold and ask, “What kind of logic am I asking people to believe?” Bob was a Marxist. He had a formalism to his beliefs. I was a platonist. We respectfully disagreed, but he was open, argumentative, and kind.
To be continued…
Thomas P. Hugues, Einstein, Inventors, and Invention in R. S. (Robert Sonne) Cohen, Mara Beller, Jürgen Renn, Einstein in Context: A Special Issue of Science in Context, Cambridge University Press, 1993, page 25, ISBN 0-521-44834-4
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