John Lewis Heilbron, born 17 March 1934, is an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 historian of science

History of science

The history of science is the study of the historical development of human understandings of the natural world and the domains of the social sciences....

 best known for his work in the history of physics

History of physics

As forms of science historically developed out of philosophy, physics was originally referred to as natural philosophy, a term describing a field of study concerned with "the workings of nature".-Early history:...

 and the history of astronomy

History of astronomy

Astronomy is the oldest of the natural sciences, dating back to antiquity, with its origins in the religious, mythological, and astrological practices of pre-history: vestiges of these are still found in astrology, a discipline long interwoven with public and governmental astronomy, and not...

. He is Professor of History and Vice-Chancellor Emeritus (Vice-Chancellor 1990-1994) at the University of California, Berkeley

University of California, Berkeley

The University of California, Berkeley , is a teaching and research university established in 1868 and located in Berkeley, California, USA...

, senior research fellow at Worcester College, Oxford

Worcester College, Oxford

Worcester College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. The college was founded in the eighteenth century, but its predecessor on the same site had been an institution of learning since the late thirteenth century...

, and visiting professor at Yale University

Yale University

Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...

 and the California Institute of Technology

California Institute of Technology

The California Institute of Technology is a private research university located in Pasadena, California, United States. Caltech has six academic divisions with strong emphases on science and engineering...

. He edited the academic journal Historical Studies in the Physical and Biological Sciences

Historical Studies in the Physical and Biological Sciences

Historical Studies in the Physical and Biological Sciences was an academic journal published by the Office for History of Science and Technology at University of California, Berkeley devoted to the study of the intellectual and social history of the physical sciences and the biological sciences...

for twenty-five years.

Heilbron attended Lowell High School

Lowell High School (San Francisco)

Lowell High School is a public magnet school in San Francisco, California. The school opened in 1856 as the Union Grammar School and attained its current name in 1896. Lowell moved to its current location in the Merced Manor neighborhood in 1962....

 in San Francisco, California

San Francisco, California

San Francisco , officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the financial, cultural, and transportation center of the San Francisco Bay Area, a region of 7.15 million people which includes San Jose and Oakland...

, and was a member of the Lowell Forensic Society

Lowell Forensic Society

The Lowell Forensic Society, founded in 1892, is the oldest high school speech and debate team in the United States and also the largest organization at Lowell High School in San Francisco, California. The society occupies Room 135, also known as "Leland Room," named after former Deputy Under...

.