TheDictionary of Scientific Biography is a scholarly reference work that was published from 1970 through 1980 by publisherCharles Scribner's Sons, with main editor the science historianCharles Gillispie, fromPrinceton University. It consisted of sixteen volumes. It is supplemented by theNew Dictionary of Scientific Biography (2007). Both these publications are included in a laterelectronic book, called theComplete Dictionary of Scientific Biography.
TheDictionary of Scientific Biography is a scholarly English-language reference work consisting ofbiographies ofscientists from antiquity to modern times but excluding scientists who were alive when theDictionary was first published. It includes scientists who worked in the areas ofmathematics,physics,chemistry,biology, andearth sciences. The work is notable for being one of the most substantial reference works in the field ofhistory of science, containing extensive biographies on hundreds of figures. It gives information about both the personal biography and in considerable detail about the scientific contributions. Engineers, physicians, social scientists and philosophers only appeared "when their work was intrinsically related to the sciences of nature or to mathematics."[1][2] Though theDictionary has worldwide coverage, the editors write that it focuses most on Western scientists, due to the limited availability of scholarship about Asian, Indian and Islamic historical scientists at the time.[1]
The articles in theDictionary are typically 1–5 pages and are written by eminent historians of science. All articles list a selection of the original works of the subject, as well as a comprehensive list of the secondary literature about them (which may be in any language), including early works as well as more contemporary ones.
The first volume of theDictionary was first put out in 1970, under the general editorship ofCharles Coulston Gillispie.Charles Scribner Jr., the head ofCharles Scribner's Sons, initiated the discussions with Gillispie and took a special interest in it.[3][4] The set was completed in 1980. TheDictionary was published in 16 volumes under the auspices of theAmerican Council of Learned Societies byCharles Scribner's Sons with support from theNational Science Foundation.[3] Volume 15 is Supplement I; it contains additional biographies as well as topical essays on non-Western scientific traditions. Volume 16 is the general index. A 2-volume Supplement II with additional biographies was published in 1990.
In 1981, after the 16-volume set was complete, Scribner's published a one-volume abridgment, theConcise Dictionary of Scientific Biography. Its second edition was published in 2001 and includes content from the 1990 Supplement II.
In 1981, theAmerican Library Association awarded theDartmouth Medal to theDictionary as a reference work of outstanding quality and significance.[5]
In 1975, three chapters from theDictionary of Scientific Biography were expanded and published individually in Scribner'sDSB Editions series:
TheNew Dictionary of Scientific Biography, edited byNoretta Koertge, was published byScribner's in December 2007 with 775 entries.[6] Nearly 500 of these are new articles about scientists who died after 1980 and thus were not included in the originalDictionary; 75 articles are on figures from earlier periods not included in the original Dictionary of Scientific Biography, including a substantial number of female and third-world scientific figures.
In 2007, Charles Scribner's Sons published theComplete Dictionary of Scientific Biography as ane-book. It includes the complete text of both print editions, with a unified index and other finding aids. The e-book version is available as part of theGale Virtual Reference Library.[7]
TheDSB has been widely praised as a monumental undertaking. One reviewer of another work wrote that "TheDictionary of Scientific Biography (DSB) has become the standard against which to measure all multi-volume biographical works in history of science."[8] A few have noted major omissions as being a problem. Additionally, two major historians of science were omitted among the contributors,Joseph Needham andOtto Neugebauer. According to Donald Fleming, the worst account was that ofJ.D. Bernal byC.P. Snow, while Joseph Needham found it the most brilliant entry.[9] According toFernando Q. Gouvêa, the 2008Complete Dictionary of Scientific Biography, despite some significant problems, "remains an essential resource for those interested in the lives of scientists."[10]
| International | |
|---|---|
| Other | |
