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Washoe
07-26-2008, 07:23 PM
When my father passed away in 2001, I found among his possessions what appears to be an unpublished manuscript by Hans Reichenbach (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hans_Reichenbach). The manuscript is titled A Theory of the Origin and Development of Life. Googling this produces absolutely nothing. Here is an image of the manuscript’s flyleaf (http://www.hamiltonroots.com/flyleaf.jpg). The copyright is dated sixteen years after Reichenbach’s death, and the copyright holder is someone named Fil Cayetan. Googling this name produces one hit (http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/search-handle-url/202-0656016-3089466?%5Fencoding=UTF8&search-type=ss&index=books-uk&field-author=Fil%20Cayetan), which includes a reference to this manuscript. Other than that, I can find no explanation of who Fil Cayetan is or what this manuscript is. The only indication I have that Reichenbach is the actual author is the fact that on the title page, under Cayetan’s name, my father had penciled the words ‘Hans Reichenbach’ in parentheses. What, if anything, should I do with this manuscript? If it really is an unpublished work by Reichenbach, there must be someone in the academic world who would be interested in seeing it, but how would I bring it to their attention? Or does the fact that it was copyrighted but never distributed indicate that there is essentially no interest in this work? Should I just stick it back on the bookshelf and forget about it?

Dewey Finn
07-26-2008, 08:32 PM
The only indication I have that Reichenbach is the actual author is the fact that on the title page, under Cayetan’s name, my father had penciled the words ‘Hans Reichenbach’ in parentheses.
Don't you think it's a rather large leap to think that Hans Reichenbach is the actual author based on only that notation?

samclem
07-26-2008, 08:39 PM
The University of Pittsburgh may be the repository of his works. http://www.library.pitt.edu/libraries/special/asp/reichen.html

Don't ask me why the U of Pitt.

You should contact them and ask if they know about this.

Not that they are the official best repository of his papers. I was just trying to suggest somewhere that might have better knowledge.

Washoe
07-26-2008, 08:41 PM
Don't you think it's a rather large leap to think that Hans Reichenbach is the actual author based on only that notation?
No, because I have a vague memory of my father talking about it once or twice. It’s just that it was so long ago I can barely remember the conversation. Also, read the flyleaf. It says to contact Hans Reichenbach for additional copies if unable to reach Cayetan. Granted, it’s very strange. I’m at a complete loss to explain it.

Sophistry and Illusion
07-26-2008, 09:35 PM
The University of Pittsburgh may be the repository of his works. http://www.library.pitt.edu/libraries/special/asp/reichen.html

Don't ask me why the U of Pitt.
Logical positivists liked it there. Carl Hempel, in his senescence, took a position at Pitt. For a while, it was probably the best philosophy department in the US.

Washoe
07-28-2008, 12:51 PM
It appears to be a genuine work by Reichenbach. I found the following passage in a lengthy discussion by the author concerning why he chose not to publish the manuscript (all misspellings and typographical errors are left intact):

The high point in my campaign was when Albert Einstein made an appeal on my behalf to the Ford Foundation. At first he was reluctant, saying that he was too much an outsider of my field of science, to evaluate it properly. But other scientists assured him that my work was worth it, and that they knew of no other way to overcome the red tape of the foundations. They chose the Ford Foundation because it had announced a policy of promoting individualism.And so Einstein appealed to the Ford Foundation. The answer was that the Ford Foundation does not have funds available for a “permanently free lance scholar”. This answer, of course, is unimportant. The fact remains that there have been some strong forces on my side in this struggle.
This appears to reflect an actual event (http://www.alberteinstein.info/db/ViewDetails.do?DocumentID=35689):

I have e-mailed the correspondence librarian at the University of Pittsburgh, we’ll see what happens.