UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN-MADISON ARCHIVES
ORAL HISTORY PROJECT

Interview #1035
SIEGEL, DANIEL

SIEGEL, Daniel (1939- )
Emeritus Professor of the History of Science and former director of the Integrated Liberal Studies Program
At UW: 1970-2000

Interviewed: 	2009 (5 sessions)			
Interviewer: 	Robert Lange
Indexed by: 	Stephen A. Pierce
Length: 	11 hours, 3 minutes

Abstract: In his five July 2009 interviews with Robert Lange, Daniel Siegel discusses growing up in the Chicago area, his education at the University of Chicago, Berkeley, and Yale, and his career at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.  He outlines his early interest in physics and how he decided to later pursue a PhD in the history of science. He compares his research and teaching philosophies to those of others in his fields, and overviews some of the academic politics involved. He offers critiques of historians of science, teachers of science, and university administration, based upon 30 years of service, research, and excellence in teaching. This interview was conducted for inclusion into the UW-Madison Oral History Program.

Key Words: Gary, IN; Jewish heritage and Judaism; anti-Semitism; Chicago IL; University of Chicago; physics; Integrated Liberal Studies (ILS); Robert Hutchins & Hutchins College; University of California-Berkeley; the 1960s; student demonstrations; San Francisco State University; high-energy physics; Hebrew University of Jerusalem; Yale University; Martin Klein; history of science; Asger Aaboe; William Zachariason; Irving Kaplansky; University of Wisconsin-Madison; Irwin Heibert; E. David Cronon; Gustav Robert Kirchhoff; Isis; tenure; Thomas S. Kuhn; Michael Hinden; students; Meiklejohn House; teaching; Donna Shalala; James Clerk Maxwell; electromagnetic theory; National Science Foundation; National Endowment for the Humanities; pedagogy; faculty compensation; Phil Certain; David Ward.