J. W. N. Sullivan
Encyclopedia
John William Navin Sullivan (1886-1937), was a popular science writer and literary journalist, and the author of a study of Beethoven. He wrote some of the earliest non-technical accounts of Einstein’s General Theory of Relativity
, and was known personally to many important writers in London in the 1920s, including Aldous Huxley
, John Middleton Murry
, Wyndham Lewis
and T. S. Eliot
.
. In fact he was born on 22 January 1886 in Poplar
, in the East End of London
, where his father ran a mission to seamen. Facts about his early years are few, but he appears to have left school at a young age and worked from 1900 onwards at a Telegraph company; the directors recognised his outstanding mathematical abilities and paid for him to study part-time at the Northern Polytechnic Institute. By 1907 he and his parents were living at Grosvenor Road, Canonbury
, London
. From 1908 to 1910 he studied and did research work at University College London
, but he left without taking a degree. In 1910, he moved to America, where he worked for an electrical company for a year, before becoming a journalist.
In 1913 he returned to Britain, working as a journalist. Early in the First World War
, he worked in the ambulance service in Serbia
, and he spent Christmas 1914 in a Serbian war hospital. In May 1915 he resumed his career as a journalist, writing for The New Witness about his Serbian experiences, as well as writing about literature and science. Through the publisher Grant Richards he was recommended to work at “Watergate House”, the Department of Information. There he worked with the literary journalist John Middleton Murry, who was to become a close friend and valuable contact over the following years. Late in 1917 he married his first wife, (Violet) Sylvia Mannooch, with whom he had a daughter, Navina, born in November, 1921. Through Murry he was introduced to Ottoline Morrell’s salon at Garsington Manor in Oxfordshire, and it was through this network that he became known to many literary figures, including T. S. Eliot and Aldous Huxley.
After the war, Murry took on the editorship of The Athenaeum
, and appointed Sullivan as his deputy editor. From April 1919 to February 1921 Sullivan contributed several articles per week on literary and scientific matters, helping to make The Athenaeum one of the most important and influential literary reviews of the 1920s.
Sullivan's mathematical ability (said to be comparable to that of a Senior Wrangler at the University of Cambridge) allowed him to fully understand Einstein's general theory of relativity as few in England were able to do. This enabled him to explain the theory in non-technical language and his articles on Einstein’s general theory of relativity in April and May 1919 were among the first to appear in English. He was also quick to recognize the larger philosophical implications of the new spirit in the physical sciences, and to see that the creativity of the physical sciences and their supposed idealistic philosophical basis allowed for reconciliation between the arts and the sciences. Some of his articles on such topics, along with other non-technical scientific articles, were gathered in Aspects of Science (1923) and Aspects of Science: Second Series (1926). He wrote Beethoven: His Spiritual Development, a well received study of the artist, in 1927. Along with other leading figures of the day, he contributed to An Outline of Modern Knowledge
(1931).
Sullivan continued to write for the Athenaeum following its incorporation into The Nation in 1921, but also found outlets in other journals and newspapers, including the Times Literary Supplement (TLS), and, from 1923 onwards, Murray’s journal The Adelphi
. In the late 1920s and early 1930s his main journalistic outlets were more populist journals such as The Outlook, John O’London’s Weekly, and Everyman. He also wrote a number of books, including Beethoven (1927), The Bases of Modern Science (1928), and Limitations of Science (1933). Contemporary Mind (1934) reprinted interviews with contemporary scientists and thinkers that had first appeared in The Observer
in 1930-31.
Sullivan separated from his first wife in 1921, and married Vere Bartrick Baker in October, 1928, with whom he had a son, Navin (born in 1929). Other sources believe Sullivan married Nursing Sister Jessie McNoegh at around the same period, with whom he had a son Patrick Evelyn John Sullivan (born in 1929). In the early 1930s he was increasingly troubled by bad health, and in 1934 was diagnosed as suffering from disseminated sclerosis, a form of creeping paralysis. He died in Chobham, Surrey
, on 11 August 1937. In the following year his widow was awarded a Civil List pension.
General relativity
General relativity or the general theory of relativity is the geometric theory of gravitation published by Albert Einstein in 1916. It is the current description of gravitation in modern physics...
, and was known personally to many important writers in London in the 1920s, including Aldous Huxley
Aldous Huxley
Aldous Leonard Huxley was an English writer and one of the most prominent members of the famous Huxley family. Best known for his novels including Brave New World and a wide-ranging output of essays, Huxley also edited the magazine Oxford Poetry, and published short stories, poetry, travel...
, John Middleton Murry
John Middleton Murry
John Middleton Murry was an English writer. He was prolific, producing more than 60 books and thousands of essays and reviews on literature, social issues, politics, and religion during his lifetime...
, Wyndham Lewis
Wyndham Lewis
Percy Wyndham Lewis was an English painter and author . He was a co-founder of the Vorticist movement in art, and edited the literary magazine of the Vorticists, BLAST...
and T. S. Eliot
T. S. Eliot
Thomas Stearns "T. S." Eliot OM was a playwright, literary critic, and arguably the most important English-language poet of the 20th century. Although he was born an American he moved to the United Kingdom in 1914 and was naturalised as a British subject in 1927 at age 39.The poem that made his...
.
Life and Works
Sullivan fictionalized his origins, and at one point persuaded Aldous Huxley that he was born in Ireland and had attended Maynooth with James JoyceJames Joyce
James Augustine Aloysius Joyce was an Irish novelist and poet, considered to be one of the most influential writers in the modernist avant-garde of the early 20th century...
. In fact he was born on 22 January 1886 in Poplar
Poplar, London
Poplar is a historic, mainly residential area of the East End of London in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It is about east of Charing Cross. Historically a hamlet in the parish of Stepney, Middlesex, in 1817 Poplar became a civil parish. In 1855 the Poplar District of the Metropolis was...
, in the East End of London
East End of London
The East End of London, also known simply as the East End, is the area of London, England, United Kingdom, east of the medieval walled City of London and north of the River Thames. Although not defined by universally accepted formal boundaries, the River Lea can be considered another boundary...
, where his father ran a mission to seamen. Facts about his early years are few, but he appears to have left school at a young age and worked from 1900 onwards at a Telegraph company; the directors recognised his outstanding mathematical abilities and paid for him to study part-time at the Northern Polytechnic Institute. By 1907 he and his parents were living at Grosvenor Road, Canonbury
Canonbury
Canonbury is a residential district in the London Borough of Islington in the north of London. It is roughly in the area between Essex Road, Upper Street and Cross Street and either side of St Paul's Road....
, London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
. From 1908 to 1910 he studied and did research work at University College London
University College London
University College London is a public research university located in London, United Kingdom and the oldest and largest constituent college of the federal University of London...
, but he left without taking a degree. In 1910, he moved to America, where he worked for an electrical company for a year, before becoming a journalist.
In 1913 he returned to Britain, working as a journalist. Early in the First World War
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, he worked in the ambulance service in Serbia
Serbia
Serbia , officially the Republic of Serbia , is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeast Europe, covering the southern part of the Carpathian basin and the central part of the Balkans...
, and he spent Christmas 1914 in a Serbian war hospital. In May 1915 he resumed his career as a journalist, writing for The New Witness about his Serbian experiences, as well as writing about literature and science. Through the publisher Grant Richards he was recommended to work at “Watergate House”, the Department of Information. There he worked with the literary journalist John Middleton Murry, who was to become a close friend and valuable contact over the following years. Late in 1917 he married his first wife, (Violet) Sylvia Mannooch, with whom he had a daughter, Navina, born in November, 1921. Through Murry he was introduced to Ottoline Morrell’s salon at Garsington Manor in Oxfordshire, and it was through this network that he became known to many literary figures, including T. S. Eliot and Aldous Huxley.
After the war, Murry took on the editorship of The Athenaeum
Athenaeum (magazine)
The Athenaeum was a literary magazine published in London from 1828 to 1921. It had a reputation for publishing the very best writers of the age....
, and appointed Sullivan as his deputy editor. From April 1919 to February 1921 Sullivan contributed several articles per week on literary and scientific matters, helping to make The Athenaeum one of the most important and influential literary reviews of the 1920s.
Sullivan's mathematical ability (said to be comparable to that of a Senior Wrangler at the University of Cambridge) allowed him to fully understand Einstein's general theory of relativity as few in England were able to do. This enabled him to explain the theory in non-technical language and his articles on Einstein’s general theory of relativity in April and May 1919 were among the first to appear in English. He was also quick to recognize the larger philosophical implications of the new spirit in the physical sciences, and to see that the creativity of the physical sciences and their supposed idealistic philosophical basis allowed for reconciliation between the arts and the sciences. Some of his articles on such topics, along with other non-technical scientific articles, were gathered in Aspects of Science (1923) and Aspects of Science: Second Series (1926). He wrote Beethoven: His Spiritual Development, a well received study of the artist, in 1927. Along with other leading figures of the day, he contributed to An Outline of Modern Knowledge
An Outline of Modern Knowledge
An Outline of Modern Knowledge, published by Victor Gollancz in 1931, was an “omnibus” volume intended to survey the full range of human knowledge....
(1931).
Sullivan continued to write for the Athenaeum following its incorporation into The Nation in 1921, but also found outlets in other journals and newspapers, including the Times Literary Supplement (TLS), and, from 1923 onwards, Murray’s journal The Adelphi
Adelphi (magazine)
The Adelphi or New Adelphi was an English literary journal published between 1923 and 1955.founded by John Middleton Murry. The first issue appeared in June 1922, with issues published monthly thereafter. Between August 1927 and September 1930 it was renamed the New Adelphi and issued quarterly...
. In the late 1920s and early 1930s his main journalistic outlets were more populist journals such as The Outlook, John O’London’s Weekly, and Everyman. He also wrote a number of books, including Beethoven (1927), The Bases of Modern Science (1928), and Limitations of Science (1933). Contemporary Mind (1934) reprinted interviews with contemporary scientists and thinkers that had first appeared in The Observer
The Observer
The Observer is a British newspaper, published on Sundays. In the same place on the political spectrum as its daily sister paper The Guardian, which acquired it in 1993, it takes a liberal or social democratic line on most issues. It is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper.-Origins:The first issue,...
in 1930-31.
Sullivan separated from his first wife in 1921, and married Vere Bartrick Baker in October, 1928, with whom he had a son, Navin (born in 1929). Other sources believe Sullivan married Nursing Sister Jessie McNoegh at around the same period, with whom he had a son Patrick Evelyn John Sullivan (born in 1929). In the early 1930s he was increasingly troubled by bad health, and in 1934 was diagnosed as suffering from disseminated sclerosis, a form of creeping paralysis. He died in Chobham, Surrey
Chobham, Surrey
Chobham is a village and civil parish in the Borough of Surrey Heath in Surrey, England, about 15 minutes drive from the London railway line stations at Woking to the south and Sunningdale to the north...
, on 11 August 1937. In the following year his widow was awarded a Civil List pension.