The greatness of Ludwik Fleck, an Israeli Story

"He developed the vaccine for typhus in war-torn Lvov, and was ordered by the Nazis to produce it in Buchenwald. But Ludwik Fleck was best known for theorizing that modern medical discoveries are not isolated events, but occur in historical and social... There is no Nobel Prize in philosophy, but if there were it's possible that an Israeli scholar would have received it more than 40 years ago. True, he lived in Israel for only four years, didn't know a word of Hebrew and was spurned by the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Today, however, almost 45 years after his death, he is taught at universities around the world. His name is Ludwik Fleck, and he is widely considered to be the father of the modern philosophy of science. He was born in Poland, survived Auschwitz and Buchenwald, and was laid to rest in Nes Tziona, near Rehovot. This is, as it were, a classic Jewish story - and it is also an Israeli story..."

Source: Meron Rapoport. The greatness of Ludwik Fleck. Haaretz.com Friday Magazine (10 February 2005) [FullText]