Summary
Karl Popper was a prolific writer during his time. Einstein had high regard for Popper's published work in 1934, 'Logik der Forschung'. His other works include 'The Poverty of Historicism' and the 'Open Society'. He was very popular during his stay in London and a sought-after scholar in college symposia.
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Extract
Karl Popper: a memoir.
Karl Popper was born in Vienna on July 28, 1902, and died on September 17, 1994. His Logik der Forschung, published in 1934, was brought to the attention of Einstein, who thought highly of it. Popper visited England in 1936 and took up a post in Christchurch, New Zealand, in 1937. From 1938 on he was working on "The Poverty of Historicism" and The Open Society. In 1943, "Fritz" Hayek organized an invitation to him to a readership at The London School of Economics. When Popper arrived in London in January 1946, he was much sought after. For instance, he was almost immediately slotted into a symposium at the annual Joint Session in July 1946 with Casimir Lewy, and with Gilbert Ryle, who gave Popper's The Open Society a glowing review in the April 1947 issue of Mind. Popper had sent a complimentary copy of his book to Bertrand Russell, recently reinstalled in Trinity College, Cambridge, and in July 1946 he asked him to recommend it to the American publishers of Russell's A History of Western Philosophy, then on the American best-seller list. Russell presumably hadn't read it, for he replied that, having no house at present, his books were inaccessible, so could he be lent a copy? This time he did read it - and he was bowled over. He recommended it strongly to his publisher, and gave Popper a testimonial, calling the book a work of first-class importance.
I went to a lecture by Russell, "Philosophy and Politics," in London in October 1946, in the course of which he said that the case against Plato "has been brilliantly advocated in a recent book by Dr. K. R. Popper." He invited Popper to tea on the afternoon of October 25 before the famous meeting of the Moral Science Club that Wittgenstein was to preside over, poker in hand. Russell wrote afterwards to Popper: "I was entirely on your side throughout, but I did not take a larger part in the debate because you were so fully competent to fight your own battle." I cam...See the full content of this document
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