Richard H. Beyler
Department of History, Portland State University

SELECTED REFERENCE AND RESEARCH TOOLS IN THE HISTORY OF SCIENCE

General bibliography

Two excellent on-line databases are:

IsisCB, published by the History of Science Society.

The History of Science, Technology, and Medicine (HSTM) database, accessible through PSU Millar Library's the Library's electronic databases list. (PSU/Odin username and password is required.)

The PSU Library's history research guide, though not specifically directed towards history of science, includes many sources that may be useful for research in this field.

Handbooks and encyclopedias

The Cambridge History of Science series contains essays by leading authorities surveying a wide variety of fields.  The PSU Library subscribes to this series of encyclopedias through the Cambridge Histories Online database; some volumes are also available on the shelf [Q125 .C32].  Six out of eight planned volumes have appeared so far.  
II, Medieval Science, ed. D. C. Lindberg & M. H. Shank
III, Early Modern Science, ed. K. Park & L. Daston
IV, Eighteenth-Century Science, ed. R. Porter
V, The Modern Physical and Mathematical Sciences, ed. M. J. Nye
VI, The Modern Life and Earth Sciences, ed. P. J. Bowler and J. V. Pickstone
VII, The Modern Social Sciences, ed. T. M. Porter & D. Ross.  

Dictionary of Scientific Biography (DSB) is the standard biographical reference work, in multiple volumes, with entries written by leading scholars in the field. Entries on some major figures approach monograph length.  [Q141.D5]  An set of update volumes is entitled The New Dictionary of Scientific Biography (NDSB) (PSU does not have a print copy.)  A combined version is available as an e-book, The Complete Dictionary of Scientific Biography.

Biographical Dictionary of Scientists, ed. R. Porter. One volume; shorter entries than the DSB.  [Q141.B526]

Oxford Companion to the History of Modern Science, ed. J. L. Heilbron et al. Essays surveying various subdivisions of the history of science. More compact than the Cambridge History of Science volumes.  [Q125.O86] An electronic version is also available through Oxford Reference Online.

Companion to the History of Modern Science, ed. R. C. Olby et al. Similar in concept and scope to the above. [Q125.C565]

The History of Modern Science:  A Guide to the Second Scientific Revolution, 1800-1950, ed. S. G. Brush. Shorter essays but longer bibliographies than the two entries above.  [Q125.B88]

Biographical Memoirs of the National Academy of Scientists. Article-length obituaries of members of the (U.S.) National Academy of Sciences, usually with an extensive bibliography. [Q141.N2; before 1989 in off-site storage]

In the Cambridge Companions series:
Cambridge Companion to Darwin, ed. J. Hodge & G. Radick [QH31.D2C185]
Cambridge Companion to Early Greek Philosophy, ed. A. A. Long [B188.C35]
Cambridge Companion to Early Modern Philosophy, ed. D. Rutherford [B801.C345]
Cambridge Companion to Freud, ed. J. Neu [BF109.F74C36]
Cambridge Companion to Galen, ed. R. J. Harkinson [B577.G24C36]
Cambridge Companion to Logical Empiricism, ed. A. Richardson & T. Uebel [B824.6.C36]
Cambridge Companion to "The Origin of Species," ed. M. Ruse & R. J. Richards [QH365.O8R865]
Cambridge Companion to the Philosophy of Biology, ed. D. L. Hull & M. Ruse [QH331.C285]

Dictionary of the History of Ideas. Many entries on topics relevant to the history of science.  [CB5.D52]

Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Ditto. [B41.E5]

International Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences. Ditto. [off-site storage, H40.A2I5]

Websites for history of science and STS (science and technology studies)

Center for History of Physics (American Institute of Physics)
ECHO (Exploring and Collecting History Online):  Science, Technology, and Industry (George Mason Univ.)
H-Net (Humanities On-Line) discussion network:  H-Sci-Tech-Med
Max Planck Institute for History of Science, Berlin
Voice of the Shuttle: Science, Technology, and Culture Page (Univ. of California-Santa Barbara)

More and more archives of unpublished historical material are cultivating an on-line presence.  Excellent examples include:
Darwin Correspondence Project (Univ. of Cambridge)  -- letters
Darwin Online (Univ. of Cambridge) -- unpublished manuscripts, notebooks, etc., as well as electronic versions of complete published works
Einstein Archives Online (Hebrew Univ.)

Professional organizations for history of science and STS

History of Science Society (HSS)
International Society for the History of Philosophy of Science (HOPOS)
Philosophy of Science Association (PSA)

Society for History of Technology (SHOT)
Society for Social Studies of Science (4S)

Key journals

The official journal of the History of Science Society (HSS) is Isis.  The PSU Library has electronic access to issues from 1913 up till three years previous through J-Stor, and to volumes from 2006 to present through University of Chicago Press Journals.  Hard-copy volumes are available for 1953-2009 [Q1.I7].

HSS also publishes annually a companion volume on a selected topic, Osiris.  The PSU Library has electronic access to volumes from 1936 up till three years ago through J-Stor, and to volumes from 2006 to the present through University of Chicago Press Journals.  Hard-copy volumes are available for 2002-09 [Q1 .O7].

Comparable to Isis for the history of technology, and published by the Society of the History of Technology (SHOT)  is Technology and Culture; electronic subscription access via Project Muse (1998-present) or J-Stor (1959 till six years ago).

Analogous for history of medicine: Bulletin of the History of Medicine (electronic subscription via Project Muse, 1996-present).

Among other academic journals relevant to the history of science, some key titles include:
Annals of Science
Berichte zur Wissenschaftsgeschichte (a German publication, but includes some articles in English)
British Journal for the History of Science
Configurations (on science and literature)
Critical Inquiry
Historical Studies in the Natural Sciences (formerly entitled Historical Studies in the Physical and Biological Sciences, before that Historical Studies in the Physical Sciences)
History and Technology
History of Science
Journal of the History of Biology
Journal of the History of Ideas
Journal of the History of the Behavioral Sciences
Minerva
(on the history of science policy and education policy)
Notes and Records of the Royal Society
NTM: Zeitschrift für Geschichte der Naturwissenschaften, Technik und Medizin
(a German publication, but includes some articles in English)
Studies in History and Philosophy of Science (in three sections:  A; B: Studies in History and Philosophy of Modern Physics; C: Studies in History and Philosophy of Biology and Biomedical Sciences)
Zygon (on science and religion)


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(Last updated Jul. 2017)