The PSU Library now subscribes to one of the best on-line bibliographies in the field, the History of Science, Technology, and Medicine (HSTM) database, accessible through the library's electronic databases list. The bibliography uses the WorldCat FirstSearch interface.  A PSU/Odin username and password is required to use this database off campus.

The HSTM database includes, in electronic format, recent editions of the Isis Cumulative Bibliography / Critical Bibliography / Current Bibliography (CB). The journal Isis publishes annually a Current Bibliography or, as it was previously called, Critical Bibliography. The CB covers books, articles, essays, dissertations, and reviews on the history of science published in that year, and has a thorough coverage of the field. For the period before 1985, there are cumulative volumes. Entries are arranged by topic and indexed by author. There are two copies in the PSU library: one bound with the journal Isis itself [call number Q1 .I7] , and the other shelved separately in the reference section [Q1 .I713].  In addition to the print copy, back issues of Isis up through 2001 are available on-line through J-Stor, and after 2001 through the University of Chicago Press on-line edition.

The new Cambridge History of Science series contains essays by leading authorities surveying a wide variety of fields.  Four out of eight planned volumes have appeared so far:  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; VII, The Modern Social Sciences, ed. T. M. Porter & D. Ross.  [Q125 .C32]

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.  [Ref. Q141 .D5]  An set of update volumes, The New Dictionary of Scientific Biography (NDSB) has recently been published; unfortunately, PSU's library does not yet have a copy.

Biographical Dictionary of Scientists, ed. R. Porter. One volume; shorter entries than the DSB.  [Ref. Q141 .D526]

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 (PSU/Odin username and password required).

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, ed. S. G. Brush. Shorter essays but longer bibliographies than the two entries above.  [Q125 .B88]

Biographical Memoirs of the National Academy of Scientists. Obituaries of members of the (U.S.) National Academy of Sciences, usually with an extensive bibliography of the scientist’s work. [Q141 .N2]

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

Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Ditto. [Ref. B41 .E5]

International Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences. Ditto. [H40 .A2I5]

The journal Configurations publishes each year a bibliography on the relations of science and literature. PSU has an online subscription (follow the links after pulling up the title in the on-line catalog).

Comparable to Isis for the history of technology is the journal Technology and Culture (print subscription up to 2002 [T1 .T27]; thereafter, electronically via the on-line catalog).

For the history of medicine, Bulletin of the History of Medicine (electronic subscription via on-line catalog).

PSU Library Research Guide

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.)
History of Science on the World Wide Web (Oklahoma Univ.)
Internet Resources for Science Studies (Univ. of California-San Diego)
Max Planck Institute for History of Science, Berlin
Voice of the Shuttle: Science, Technology, and Culture Page (Univ. of California-Santa Barbara)

Professional organizations for history of science and STS

History of Science Society (HSS)
Philosophy of Science Association (PSA)
Society for History of Technology (SHOT)
Society for Social Studies of Science (4S)

Richard Beyler's homepage