Memorial Address

Abstract

On behalf of the Division of Logic, Methodology and Philosophy of Science of the International Union of History and Philosophy of Science I wish to take this opportunity to express our deep grief at the news of the premature death of Evert Willem Beth, Professor of Logic and Its History and of the Philosophy of the Exact Sciences in the University of Amsterdam. Both the Division and the Union owe Professor Beth an immense debt for their very existence. It was largely thanks to his devotion, energy, and skill that our organization acquired, not without difficulties and struggle, a recognized status as a member of the International Council of the Scientific Unions (ICSU). When the fusion of the two pre-existing unions of historians and logician-philosophers finally came about in 1955, Beth agreed to serve as the Treasurer of the DLMPS. This he did for two triennia, to 1960. At the same time as we pay tribute to him as one of the “founding fathers” of our organization, we honour the memory of one of the foremost representatives of logic and of the philosophy of science in post-war Europe.