William Herbert Newton-Smith (May 25, 1943 – April 8, 2023) was a Canadian philosopher of science.

Biography

Newton-Smith's undergraduate degree from Queen's University was in Mathematics and Philosophy, in 1966. He took an MA from Cornell University in Philosophy, in 1968, and a DPhil in philosophy from Balliol College, Oxford, in 1974. His working life before retirement was mainly as a Fellow of Balliol. Newton-Smith's 1980 book The Structure of Time focuses on the philosophy of time. In the 1980s he led a small team of British philosophers, including Kathy Wilkes and Roger Scruton, who travelled to Czechoslovakia to give unauthorized philosophy lectures. Newton-Smith led Central European University from its foundation in 1991 until Alfred Stepan was elected rector in 1993. Newton-Smith had two daughters with his first wife Dorris Heffron. His daughter Rain Newton-Smith is an economist who became the Director General of the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) in April 2023. In 2003, Newton-Smith and his second wife Nancy Durham were the first to grow lavender on a field scale in Wales. They became the sole distillers of lavender oil in Wales. Their company, Welsh Lavender Ltd, produces face and body creams. Newton-Smith died of throat cancer on April 8, 2023, at the age of 79.

Works