Clio's view of the history of science: A preliminary bibliometric appreciation

Behavioral and Social Sciences Librarian

Volumn 24, Issue 2, 2006, Pages 69-91

  Hérubel, Jean Pierre V M ^a  

^a PURDUE UNIVERSITY   (United States)

Author keywords

Bibliometrics; Isis; Periodizations; The history of science

Indexed keywords

EID: 33747031109     PISSN: 01639269     EISSN: 15444546     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1300/J103v24n02_03     Document Type: Review

References (71)

1. For introductory readings, see Michael Kammen, ed., The Past Before Us: Contemporary Historical Writing in the United States (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1980);
2. Charles F. Delzell, ed., The Future of History: Essays in the Vanderbilt University Centennial Symposium (Nashville: Vanderbilt University Press, 1977)
3. especially as pertains to history of science, I. Bernard Cohen, "The Many Faces of the History of Science," 65-110.
4. A controversial but animating conceptual historical framework is Thomas S. Kuhn, The Structure of Scientific Revolutions (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1962);
5. Thomas S. Kuhn, "The History of Science," in David L. Sills, ed., International Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences, vol. 14 (New York: Macmillan, 1968): 74-83.
6. Academic history has evolved into a discipline capable of utilizing postmodern theories, sociological modeling, psychology, philosophical and literary perspectives, and more. Indeed, it encompasses anthropology, economics, and even the rarities of narratology, along with normative narrative and archival analysis.
7. Subdisciplines with their respective methodologies often possess their own journals, e.g., Journal of Economic History, Journal of Social History, Diplomatic History, Earth Sciences History, or Ambix, devoted to the history of chemistry and ancillary sciences.
8. In the social sciences, see Journal of the History of the Behavioral Sciences, or History of the Human Sciences.
9. The Journal of Interdisciplinary History is a strong reminder of the fermentation taking place.
10. For nuanced observations, consult the special volume for Osiris, 2nd Series, Vol. 10, Constructing Knowledge in the History of Science (1995)
11. especially the following: Thomas Nicles, "Philosophy of Science and History of Science," 138-163;
12. Stephen G. Brush, "Scientists as Historians," 214-231;
13. the place of gender, in Evelyn Fox Keller, "Gender and Science: Origin, History, and Politics," 26-38;
14. and Sally Gregory Kohlstedt, "Women in the History of Science: An Ambiguous Place," 39-58;
15. Reflecting the expanded externalist view is Lorraine Daston, "The Moral Economy of Science," 2-14. History, via epistemology and larger contextual frameworks, is evidenced in the journal, Science in Context.
16. For studies focusing on disciplinary formation and function, see Jean-Pierre V. M. Hérubel and Anne L. Buchanan, "Disciplinary, Interdisciplinary, and Sub-disciplinary Linkages in Historical Studies Journals," Science and Science of Science 3 (1994): 15-24;
17. Anne L. Buchanan, and Jean-Pierre V. M. Hérubel, "Inter-disciplinarity in Historical Studies: Citation Analysis of the Journal of Interdisciplinary History." Libris: Library and Information Science Research Electronic Journal 4 (1994): 1-13.
18. See Arnold Thackray, "The Historian and the Progress of Science," Science, Technology & Human Values 10 (Winter 1985): 17-27;
19. Arnold Thackray, "The Pre-History of an Academic Discipline: The Study of the History of Science in the United States, 1891-1941," Minerva: A Review of Science, Learning and Policy 18 (1980): 448-473;
20. Arnold Thackray, "History of Science in the 1980s," Journal of Interdisciplinary History 12 (1981): 299-314.
21. For interesting contemporary observations of history of science, see C. R. Mann, "The History of Science: An Interpretation," Popular Science Monthly LXXII (April 1908): 313-322;
22. George Sarton, "The Teaching of the History of Science," Isis IV (October 1922): 225-249;
23. Frederick Barry, "A Short Critique of the History of Science," Columbia University Quarterly XXVI (June 1934): 95-111.
24. For sound references see, R. C. Olby et al. eds., Companion to the History of Modern Science (London: Routledge, 1990);
25. Charles Coulston Gillispie, Dictionary of Scientific Biography, 16 vols., vols. 17-18 edited by Frederic L. Holmes, 1990 (New York: Scribner, 1970-80); Sarton's own corpus provides ample introduction as do many other exemplary works. Today, many handbooks and encyclopedias provide entrée into the history of science.
26. For a rich and critical reading, consult Stephen G. Brush, "Scientists as Historians," Osiris 2nd series, Vol. 10 Constructing Knowledge in the History of Science (1995): 214-231;
27. Paul Forman, "Independence, Not Transcendence, for the Historian of Science," Isis 82 (1991): 71-86;
28. Nathan Reingold, "Sciences, Scientists, and Historians of Science," History of Science 19 (1981): 274-283;
29. Nathan Reingold, "History of Science Today, 1: Uniformity as Hidden Diversity: History of Science in the United Sates, 1920-1940," British Journal for the History of Science 19 (1986): 243-262. Of course, several national schools of the history of science, e.g., British, French, or German, have compelling orientations as well.
30. For a good introduction see Donald R Kelley, "Intellectual History and Cultural History: The Inside and the Outside," History of the Human Sciences 15 (2002): 1-19;
31. S. R Mikulinski, "The Methodological Problems of the History of Science," XIVth International Congress of the History of Science, Proceedings No. 3 (Tokyo and Kyoto: Science Council of Japan, 1975): 492-510;
32. Steven Shapin, "Discipline and Bounding: The History and Sociology of Science as Seen Through the Externalism-Internalism Debate," History of Science 30 (1992 30: 333-369;
33. Steven Shapin, "History of Science and Its Sociological Reconstructions," History of Science 20 (1982): 157-211.
34. For further reading, see Karl Popper, The Logic of Scientific Discovery (New York: Basic Books, 1959);
35. Carl Gustav Hempel, Aspects of Scientific Explanation, and other Essays in the Philosophy of Science (New York: Free Press, 1970);
36. Frederick Suppe, ed., The Structure of Scientific Theories (Urbana: University of Illinois, 1974).
37. Several journals are devoted to the philosophy of science, e.g., British Journal of the Philosophy of Science
38. or even more specialized, Foundations of Chemistry, which is exclusively focused on the philosophy of chemistry.
39. See Bruno Latour and Steve Woolgar, Laboratory Life: The Construction of Scientific Facts (Beverly Hills: Sage, 1979);
40. Michael Lynch, Scientific Practice and Ordinary Action: Ethnomethodology and the Social Studies of Science (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1993);
41. Andrew Pickering (ed.), Science as Practice and Culture (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1992). Historical work encompassing broader societal concerns vis-à-vis science is represented by two such examples;
42. see Robert K. Merton, Science, Technology and Society in Seventeenth Century England (New York: Fertig, 1970);
43. Steven Shapin and Simon Schaffer, Leviathan and the Air Pump: Hobbes, Boyle, and the Experimental Life (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1985).
44. For efficient triage, Isis bibliographies were retrieved from JSTOR; the Isis bibliographic page is at http://www.jstor.org/journals/00211753.html, with attendant triage of the hardcopy versions in the paper journal. The latter years 2000-2003 reflect a decline in entries due to bibliographical activity as opposed to actual production of scholarship, a phenomenon that will be rectified in the future.
45. For studies and in-depth observations of the journal, society and the bibliography see George Sarton, "Why Isis?" Isis 44 (Sept. 1953: 232-242;
46. Arnold Thackray and Robert K. Merton, "On Discipline Building: The Paradoxes of George Sarton," Isis 63 (Dec. 1972): 472-495;
47. I. Bernard Cohen, "The Isis Crises and the Coming of Age of the History of Science Society," Isis 90 Supplement (1999): s28-s42;
48. Clark A. Elliott, "Forum for the History of Science in America: Identity and Organization," Isis 90 Supplement (1999): s226-s239;
49. Michael M. Sokal, "The History of Science Society, 1970-1999: From Subscription Agency to Professional Society," Isis 90 Supplement (1999): s135-s181.
50. These cumulative bibliographies, covering global aspects of the historical treatment of the sciences, including reference to medicine and technology (although not exhaustively in those latter areas), constitute a major contribution to the bibliography of science. For studies and observations pertinent to the bibliography, see George Sarton, "Synthetic Bibliography, with Special Reference to the History of Science," Isis 3 (Autumn, 1920): 159-170;
51. Henry Guerlac, "A Proposed Revision of the Isis Critical Bibliography," 44 (Sept. 1953): 226-228;
52. Bernard Cohen, "A Cumulative Critical Bibliography of the History of Science: A Report to the History of Science Society," Isis 63 (Sept. 1972): 388-392;
53. Magda Whitrow, "Classification Schemes for the History of Science," Journal of Documentation 20 (Sept. 1964): 120-136;
54. Magda Whitrow, "The Isis Cumulative Bibliography," The Indexer 13 (April 1983): 158-165.
55. Magda Whitrow, "Interrelationships in the History of Science: Bibliography as a Guide to Subjects for Research," Isis 74 (Mar. 1983): 81-85.
56. Sarton's masterful compilation could be seen as precursor and foundational work for the cumulative Isis bibliographies. See George Sarton, Introduction to the History of Science, (Baltimore: Williams & Wilkins, 1927-1948).
57. For a discussion of periodization in historical scholarship and thinking, see Jean-Pierre V.M. Hérubel, and Edward A. Goedeken, "Trends in Historical Scholarship as Evidenced in The American Historical Review: 1896-1990." The Serials Review 19 (Summer 1993): 79-83.
58. See, John Neu, ed., Isis Cumulative Bibliography 1976-1985: A Bibliography of the History of Science Formed From Isis Critical Bibliographies 101-110 Indexing Literature Published From 1975 Through 1984 (Boston: G.K. Hall in conjunction with the History of Science Society, 1989).
59. Collective biography has been useful for identifying sociological groupings of individuals otherwise lost; see Steven Shapin and Arnold Thackray, "Prosopography as a Research Tool in History of Science," History of Science 12 (1974): 1-28;
60. Lewis Pyenson, '"Who the Guys Were': Prosopography in the History of Science," History of Science 15 (1977): 155-188.
61. In keeping with Sarton's original conception of science as a global enterprise, he celebrated the diversity of scientific endeavor. See Sami K. Hamarneh, "Sarton (1884-1956) and the Arabic-Islamic Legacy," Journal of the History of Arabic Science I (November 1977): 299-318;
62. Thomas F. Glick, "George Sarton and the Spanish Arabists," Isis 76 (1985): 487-499.
63. This synthetic disciplinary movement focusing on science and technology as they interrelate with society at large is in continuous evolution methodologically. See Bernward Joerges and Helga Nowotny, Social Studies of Science and Technology: Looking Back, Ahead (Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic, 2003).
64. For such discussions see respectively, R. A. Buchanan, "Theory and Narrative in the History of Technology," Technology and Culture 32(1991): 365-376;
65. Jennifer L. Croissant, "Theory, Narrative, and Discipline at the Intersections of Science and Technology Studies and History," Bulletin of Science, Technology & Society 23 (December 2003): 465-472;
66. George Sarton, "The History of Science Versus the History of Medicine," Isis 23 (1935): 313-320;
67. Gert H. Brieger, "The History of Medicine and the History of Science," Isis 72 (Dec. 1981): 536-540. The Isis bibliographies from their inception to the present include technology and medicine as historical subjects, but are not exhaustive.
68. For a variety of approaches, see Charles Bazerman, Shaping Written Knowledge: The Genre and Activity of the Experimental Article in Science (Madison: University of Wisconsin, 1988);
69. Peter Dear, The Literary Structure of Scientific Argument: Historical Studies (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1991);
70. Alan G. Gross, The Rhetoric of Science (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1990);
71. John S. Nelson, Allan Megill, Donald N. McClosley, eds., The Rhetoric of the Human Sciences (Madison: University of Wisconsin, 1987). There exists a wealth of rhetorical studies and discourse studies focused on science as a humanly created endeavor, countering the positivist orientation.