Readers' Guide to the History of Science




	Issues in Science and Technology
Librarianship
	Spring 2001

	DOI:10.5062/F4WS8R7C








Book Reviews


Readers' Guide to the History of Science



David Farrell

The Bancroft Library

University of California, Berkeley

dfarrell@library.berkeley.edu






 Hessenbruch, Arne, editor. Reader's Guide to the History of
Science. London : Fitzroy Dearborn Publishers, 2000. 934 pp. ISBN
1-884964-29-X. $135.00 (hardcover). 


One-volume "reader's guides" are a mixed bag. The subject may be too broad in
scope to be covered in a single, reasonably portable book, or it may be too
narrowly defined to provide a comprehensive overview. The selection of subjects
and authors may reflect too closely the idiosyncrasies of the editor (or his time
and place), and the articles may be uneven in style and content. Yet, when done
well (as the present volume is), the "reader's guide" fits a specific and
necessary niche and can be a reader's (and librarian's) best friend. Novice and
expert scholar alike need succinct, readable overviews of topics they may wish to
explore for a term paper or to gather information in a area of interest ancillary
to their specialties. The inclusion of a well-selected bibliography offers ready
access to key texts and authorities in the field. In short, the best of the genre
is much like having a friendly, knowledgeable information specialist at your
elbow.

The Reader's Guide covers the subject fairly well in some 500 brief,
topical
essays (including, as is common, the history of technology and medicine). The
author, who is Research Fellow at MIT's Dibner Institute, states his goal is to
provide an introduction to the secondary literature for students at the graduate
and undergraduate level, as well as teachers at all levels. He aptly states his
hope that the volume will provide "a snapshot of the history of science at the
beginning of the 21st century." In light of the great advances in science and
technology over the past 50 years, and their impact on a broad range of social,
legal, economic, and public policy issues, this is a worthy goal unto itself. 

The 500 signed articles (some translated) by 280 contributors are arranged in
alphabetical order. Topics include corporate names (e.g., Accademia dei Lincei,
CERN), personal names (e.g, Archimedes, Alan Turing), and topics (e.g.,
Respiration, Third Reich and Science). Each article includes a short bibliography
and, where appropriate, cross references. Additional helpful points of access are
the Alphabetical List of Entries, the Thematic List, the Booklist Index, and the
General Index. 


The Reader's Guide is well organized, written in a clear and
authoritative style,
informative, and fairly comprehensive, and its information is presented in a very
accessible format with helpful indexes. The selection of topics and scope of some
articles are problematic for this reader. Despite the author's residence on this
side of the Atlantic (and the eminent achievements of American scientists,
engineers, and historians), the Reader's Guide has a strong bias toward
European
(and British in particular) science and history. It is curious, for example, that
the article on the Human Genome Project makes no mention of the impact on the
project's timeline and results of latecomer Craig Ventner and Celera Genomics.
Science museums and the computer industry, likewise, have gaps that are hard to
understand. There is an article on the Smithsonian Institution, but why not the
Deutsches Museum or the Victoria and Albert Museum? The coverage of national
science is likewise spotty and inexplicable. Why are there articles titled
"Botany: Britain," or "Scientific Instruments: France," "Darwinism in Germany,"
and "British Association for the Advancement of Science" but little or no coverage
of the topics in other countries ? 


The volume's most significant shortcoming in this reader's view is its general lack
of reference to digital technologies, computer science, computers in society, the
computer industry, the personal computer, or the World Wide Web. It appears that
no more than six of the 500 essays have computer-related titles. It's difficult to
think of a more important technological development at the turn of the millennium;
why is it largely avoided? And, while the editor clearly states his intention of
restricting sources to "secondary literature," the lack of citations in the
articles and bibliographies to web-based resources, and, regrettably the absence of
a computer-based version of the book are also critical. In fact, the latter may be
the Reader's Guide's greatest shortcoming, in light of its general
excellence and
the value of maintaining this "database" current and widely searchable and
accessible. These drawbacks, however, are outweighed by the volume's strengths,
and one hopes the publishers will launch it on the internet in the future.