Institute of the History of Medicine
The Historical Collection
SOME USEFUL REFERENCE SOURCES IN THE HISTORY OF MEDICINE, SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY.
Compiled by Ed Morman, 1996, and revised by Christine Ruggere, 2003.
Contents
Guide to Reference Books. 11th ed. Chicago: American Library Association, 1996. 1560p.
The reference librarian's Bible.Slocum, Robert B. Biographical Dictionaries and Related Works: An International Bibliography of More than 16,000 Collective Biographies. 2d ed. Detroit: Gale, 1986. 2 vols.
Arranged by nationality and occupation, with useful indexes.
The American Historical Association's Guide to Historical Literature. Mary Beth Norton, general editor. 3rd ed. New York: Oxford University Press, 1995. 2 vols.
The AHA Guide is a comprehensive guide to the literature of history. Chapters on historiography and theory, prehistory, world history, and history of science, technology, and medicine complement other chapters which are arranged geographically and chronologically. Each chapter is further subdivided, and each entry includes a brief annotation.Blake, John B. and Charles Roos. Medical Reference Works, 1679-1966; a Selected Bibliography. Chicago: Medical Library Association, 1967. 343p.
Lists more than 2700 titles within three sections: general medicine, history of medicine, and special subjects. Several supplements have been published since 1967.Jayawardene, S. A. Reference Books for the Historian of Science: a Handlist. London: Science Museum, 1982. 229p.
Part I, "The History of Science and its Sources", includes sections on bibliographies, manuscripts and archives, catalogs of books, museums, biographies of scientists, etc. Part II deals with general history and Part III lists general reference works. Over one thousand entries, many with short annotations; useful subject and author/title indexesThe Johns Hopkins Guide to Literary Theory & Criticism. Michael Groden and Martin Kreisworth, eds. Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press. 1994. 775p.
Although interest in "theory" has probably peaked, it remains important; and many historians continue to borrow from, and contribute, to literary theory. Moreover, this guide, arranged alphabetically as an encyclopedia with relatively long entries, encompasses many less modish topics. Each entry includes a substantial bibliography.The Reader's Advisor: a Layman's Guide to the Literature. v. 3. The Best in Social Sciences, History, and the Arts. Edited by John G. Sproat. v. 5. The Best in Science, Technology, and Medicine. 14th ed. New York: Bowker, 1994.
The Reader's Advisor originated as a tool for public librarians, and has evolved into a sophisticated series of guides that include biographical information and useful annotations of selected primary and secondary works.Weiss, Burghard. Wie finde ich Informationen zur Geschichte der Naturwissenschaften und der Technik? Berlin: Berlin Verlag Spitz, 1990. 454p.
Much of the textual material, in German, relates to German libraries and German library practice. However, the bibliographic citations that occupy most of the book are drawn from the world's literature. A high proportion, perhaps a majority, are to English-language works.
Dictionaries and Encyclopedias
The Cambridge World History of Human Disease. Kenneth F. Kiple, editor. NewYork: Cambridge University Press, 1993. 1176p.
Over 200 essays divided into eight sections. The bulk of the essays, each on an individual disease, are arranged alphabetically in section 8, "Major Human Diseases Past and Present." Other sections include essays on regional distribution of diseases, different medical traditions, and different organs and organ systems.Companion Encyclopedia of the History of Medicine. W.F. Bynum and Roy Porter, editors. New York: Routledge, 1993. 2 vols.
72 articles covering topics ranging from architecture and medicine to pre-modern surgery.Encyclopedia of Bioethics. Reich, Warren Thomas, editor in chief. Rev. ed. 5 vols. New York: Macmillan, 1995.
Many of the articles in these volumes have a useful historical perspective.Encyclopedia of Plague and Pestilence. George C. Kohn, editor. New York: Facts on File, 1995.
An alphabetical listing of specific epidemics, with a timetable, an extensive bibliography and two indexes.Hirsch, August. Handbook of Geographical and Historical Pathology, translated from the 2d German edition by Charles Creighton. London: New Sydenham Society,1883-86. 3 vols.
Still very useful as source on historical epidemiology and disease descriptions.McGrew, Roderick E. Encyclopedia of Medical History. New York: McGraw-Hill,1985. 400p.
About one hundred fairly long entries, each with a short bibliography. The largest number are for diseases. A good source for ready reference.Medical Discoveries: Medical Breakthroughs and the People who Developed Them. Bridget Travers and Fran L. Freiman, editors. Detroit: UXL/Gale, 1997. 3 vols.
Short, superficial topical and biographical treatments, but useful for 20th century innovations.Schmidt, J. E. Medical Discoveries: Who and When. Springfield, Ill.: Charles C. Thomas, 1959. 555p.
"A dictionary listing thousands of medical and related scientific discoveries in alphabetical order, giving in each case the name of the discoverer, his profession, nationality, and the date of the discovery."The Oxford Medical Companion. John Walton, Jeremiah A. Barondess, and Stephen Lock, editors. New York: Oxford University Press, 1994.
Not devoted specifically to history of medicine, this book contains many articles on technical aspects of medicine and biomedical science, as well as medical education and the organization of health care, that are of use to historian.
Companion to the History of Modern Science. R. C. Olby, G. N. Cantor, J. R. R. Christie, and M. J. S. Hodge. Editors. New York: Routledge, 1990. 1081p.
Sixty-seven chapters on a wide range of themes and topics, contrasting various perspectives.
Durbin, Paul T. Dictionary of Concepts in the Philosophy of Science. New York: Greenwood Press, 1988. 362 p.
Dictionary of the History of Ideas: Studies of Selected Pivotal Ideas. Philip E. Wiener, ed. New York, Scribner's, 1973-74. 4 vols.
Signed scholarly articles tracing diffusion of topics in intellectual history. Includes bibliographies and indexes.Dictionary of the History of Science. W. F. Bynum, E. J. Browne, and Roy Porter, editors. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1981. 494p.
Some claim that the articles are too technical for the undergraduate, but too short for the historian of science. Might be just the right thing for new graduate students. Many articles have bibliographies.
Encyclopaedia of the History of Science, Technology, and Medicine in Non-Western Cultures. Helaine Selin, Editor. Dordrecht; Boston: Kluwer Academic, c1997. 1117 p.
Information Sources in the History of Science and Medicine. Pietro Corsi and Paul Weindling, editors. Boston: Butterworth, 1983. 531p.
23 historiographical and methodological articles, several of them still definitive, on topics ranging from anthropological perspectives to the history of natural history.Mount, Ellis and Barbara A. List. Milestones in Science and Technology: the Ready Reference Guide to Discoveries, Inventions and Facts. 2d ed. Phoenix, AZ: Oryx Press, 1994. 206p.
Short entries on over twelve hundred "milestones", giving relevant names and dates, and one citation per entry to the secondary literature. Personal name, chronological, geographical and field of study indexes.
An Encyclopaedia of the History of Technology. Ian McNeil, ed. London and New York:Routledge, 1990.
Arranged topically rather than alphabetically. Twenty-one chapters are assembled into five parts: materials, power, transport, communication and calculation, and technology and society (including both domestic technologies and weapons, oddly enough).
Encyclopaedia of the Social Sciences. New York: Macmillan, 1931-35. 15 vols.
A snapshot of social science thinking in the early 1930s.International Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences. New York: Macmillan, 1968. 18 vols. in 9.
The state of the art in the late sixties. Many of the articles relate to medicine, science, and technology. Also useful as a primary source on the history of the social sciences.
Bibliographies of Secondary Sources
Connor, J. T. H. The Artifacts and Technology of the Health Sciences: a Bibliographic Guide to Historical Sources. London, Ont.: University Hospital, 1987. 82 leaves.
Over 1200 items, grouped in 47 categories.Current Work in the History of Medicine. London: Wellcome Institute, 1954- .Issued quarterly.
Classified topical listings supplemented by author and subject indexes, and an author list of new books in history of medicine. The Wellcome Institute, London, Subject Catalogue of the History of Medicine and Related Subjects [below] contains all of the citations in the pre-1977Current Work issues. The post-1977 citations are available online in the Welcome Library Online Catalogue. Post-1991 bibliography available online: RLIN History of Science, Technology and Medicine Database. (Reach it through the Sheridan Libraries' homepage, under FIND IT — Research Tools: Articles and More)Miller, Genevieve. Bibliography of the History of Medicine of the United States and Canada. 1939-1960. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins Press, 1964. 428p.
Classified listings with author index. Covers articles and books published between 1939 and 1960 on the entirety of American and Canadian medical history. This was compiled from the annual bibliographies that were formerly published in the Bulletin of the History of Medicine. The annual bibliographies for 1961 through 1965 are bound separately and shelved next to this volume.National Library of Medicine. Bibliography of the History of Medicine. 1964-1993.
Annual with cumulations every five years, indexing journal articles and monographs. Part I: biographies; part II: subject index; part III: authors.Wellcome Institute, London. Subject Catalogue of the History of Medicine and Related Subjects. Munich: Kraus, 1980. 18 vols.
Includes authors section, biographical section and geographical section. The first place to look for secondary sources ca. 1900-1978 on the history of medicine. Includes all of the 1954-1977 citations from Current Work in the History of Medicine [above]. Some of the Subject Catalogue's citations are included in the Welcome Library Online Catalogue, but the overlap is not clear-cut, so it is important to start a search with these published volumes.
History of Science and Technology
Current Bibliography in the History of Technology. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. 1960- .
This is published as an annual supplement to Technology and Culture, the journal of the Society for the History of Technology. Until 1991 (v. 32), the bibliography appeared in one of the regular quarterly issues and is therefore bound with Technology and Culture. Post-1975 bibliography available online: RLIN History of Science, Technology and Medicine Database. (Reach it through the Sheridan Libraries' homepage, under FIND IT — Research Tools: Articles and More)Isis Cumulative Bibliography; a Bibliography of the History of Science Formed from Isis Critical Bibliographies 1-90, 1913-65. Magda Whitrow, editor. London: Mansell, 1971-1984. 6 vols. v. 1. pt. 1. Personalities, A-J.--v. 2. pt. 1. Personalities, K-Z. pt. 2. Institutions.--v. 3. Subjects.--v. 4. Civilizations and periods: prehistory to Middle Ages.--v. 5. Civilizations and periods: 15th to 19th centuries.--v. 6. Author index.
The single best printed source of secondary bibliographic information in the field, includes book reviews. This 1913-1965 bibliography is not included in the online version, RLIN History of Science and Technology Database.Isis Cumulative Bibliography; a Bibliography of the History of Science Formed from Isis Critical Bibliographies 91-100, Indexing Literature Published from 1965 through 1974. John Neu, editor. London: Mansell, 1980-1985. 2 vols. v. 1. Personalities and institutions.--v. 2. Subjects, periods, and civilizations.
This 1965-1974 bibliography is not included in the online version, RLIN History of Science and Technology Database.Isis Cumulative Bibliography; a Bibliography of the History of Science Formed from Isis Critical Bibliographies 101-110, Indexing Literature Published from 1975 through 1985. John Neu, editor. Boston: G.K. Hall, 1989. 2 vols. v. 1. Persons and institutions -- v. 2. Subjects, periods and civilizations.
Available online as RLIN History of Science, Technology and Medicine Database. (Reach it through the Sheridan Libraries' homepage, under FIND IT — Research Tools: Articles and More)Isis Cumulative Bibliography 1986-1995; a Bibliography of the History of Science Formed from Isis Critical Bibliographies. John Neu, editor. Canton, Mass. : Published for the History of Science Society by Science History Publications/USA, 1997. 4 vols. v. 1. Persons: A-L -- v. 2. Persons: M-Z. Institutions -- v. 3. Subjects. Time periods: Antiquity through 18th century -- v. 4. Time periods: 19th and 20th centuries.
Available online as RLIN History of Science, Technology and Medicine Database. (Reach it through the Sheridan Libraries' homepage, under FIND IT — Research Tools: Articles and More)Miller, Gordon L. The History of Science: an Annotated Bibliography. Pasadena, Calif.: Salem Press, 1992. 193p.
This book attempts to identify important reference sources as well as key works of scholarship. Citations are grouped into chapters on reference works, general history of science, the physical sciences, the biological sciences, the medical sciences, the human sciences, and special topics (such as marginal science or sociology of science).
Bulletin Signaletique. 522: Histoire des Sciences et des Techniques. Paris: CNRS, 1969-1994.
Classed arrangement, with author and subject indexes in French and English. Ceased publication in 1994.
Bibliographies of Published Primary Sources
American Medical Bibliography, 1639-1783. Guerra, Francisco, editor. New York: Lathrop C. Harper, 1962. 885p.
Chronological listing, with annotations, of books, almanacs and periodicals. Not very reliable, so use with care.Austin, Robert B. Early American Medical Imprints: a Guide to Works Printed in the United States, 1668-1820. Washington, National Library of Medicine, 1961. Reprinted 1977. 240p.
2106 entries for books arranged alphabetically by author, with symbols for holding libraries. Includes chronological index. The Historical Collection owns a microfilm edition of all the cited texts (microfilm 134).Brodman, Estelle. The Development of Medical Bibliography. Washington: Medical Library Association, 1954. 226p.
An important guide to historical medical bibliographies.Fulton, John Farquhar. The Great Medical Bibliographers: a Study in Humanism. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1951. 107 p.
Like Brodman (see above), this is useful for identifying important early medical bibliographies.Health Science Books, 1876-1982. New York: R. R. Bowker, 1982. 4 vols.
First three volumes consist of a subject listing of 132,000 titles that were published in the United States during this period. Volume 4 includes abbreviated entries in the author and title indexes, and two tables that correlate subject headings used by the Library of Congress and the National Library of Medicine.Index Medicus. 1879- .
A comprehensive index to the world's medical literature, has been published in a number of different forms, quarterly and annually. Since 1966, it is available online as PUBMED (1966-). Some citations from ca. 1953-1965 are available in OLDMEDLINE but this is extremely incomplete. For research for material pre-1966, the printed volumes must be searched and even then, some years are less comprehensive than others, so subject specific bibiographies should be used instead, if available.Index-Catalogue of the Library of the Surgeon-General's Office, U.S. Army. Washington. Published in 5 series,1880-1961. 60 vols.
As the Army Medical Library was being built into the foremost such facility in the world (now the National Library of Medicine), its librarians periodically published this subject and author listing of books, pamphlets, and periodical articles. The first three series, covering the 1500's through the 1920s, are the best source for bibliographic information on the literature of medicine. Includes biographical references. Arranged by subject and author. The subject entries include both books and journal articles, the author entries only cover books and occasional journal articles catalogued as separate reprints.Morton's Medical Bibliography: an Annotated Check-List of Texts Illustrating the History of Medicine (Garrison and Morton). 5th ed. Norman, Jeremy, editor. Aldershot, Hampshire [England]: Gower, 1991. 1243p.
A very useful tool. Garrison and Morton lists over six thousand publications, classified by subject, which were of particular significance in the development of western medicine. Translations and reprint editions are noted. This is the definitive bibliography of medical discoveries and standard medical texts. The fourth edition is still useful and better in some ways than the 5th which is really a guide for collectors.
National Library of Medicine. A Catalogue of Incunabula and Manuscripts in the Army Medical Library. New York: Schuman's, 1948. 361p. First supplement, 1971. 51p.
National Library of Medicine. A Catalogue of Sixteenth Century Printed Books in the National Library of Medicine. Bethesda, 1967. 698p.
National Library of Medicine. A Catalogue of Seventeenth Century Printed Books in the National Library of Medicine, compiled by Peter Krivatsky. Bethesda, 1989. 1315p.
National Library of Medicine. A Short Title Catalogue of Eighteenth Century Printed Books in the National Library of Medicine, compiled by J. B. Blake. Bethesda, 1979. 501 p.
Nursing Studies Index, 1900-1959. New York: Garland, 1984. 4 vols.
Serves very well as a guide to all significant books and articles published in English during this period. Each volume covers a specific time period and includes a subject index with annotations as well as an author index.Rutkow, Ira M. The History of Surgery in the United States. Vol. 1: Textbooks, monographs, and Treatises; Vol. 2: Periodicals and Pamphlets. San Francisco: Norman, 1988-1992
Lengthy annotations enhance the value of this bibliography.
Wellcome Historical Medical Library. A Catalogue of Printed Books in The Wellcome Historical Medical Library. London, 1962- . Vol. 1: before 1640; vol. 2: 1641-1850, A-D; Vol.3: 1641-1850, E-L; Vol.4: 1641-1850, M-R.
Royal Society. Catalogue of Scientific Papers, 1800-1900. London: Clay, 1867-1902; Cambridge: University Press, 1914-1925. Author section: 19 volumes; classified subject index: 3 volumes in 4.
An attempt to list all scientific papers published in periodicals, society proceedings, etc., during the nineteenth century. The author listing covers 1,555 publications in various languages. The subject index was projected to include seventeen volumes, each covering a separate scientific discipline, but only three were completed: mathematics, mechanics and physics. This bibliographic project was continued annually through the First World War as the International Catalogue of Scientific Literature.Bolton, Henry Carrington. A Select Bibliography of Chemistry, 1492-1892. Washington, Smithsonian Institution, 1893. Supplement I: 1897, 489p.; supplement II: 1902, 462p.
Divided into eight sections: bibliography, dictionaries, history, biography, chemistry, alchemy, periodicals, and academic dissertations. Our set is incomplete.
Cole, William A. Chemical Literature 1700-1860: a Bibliography with Annotations, Detailed Descriptions, Comparisons and Locations. New York: Mansell, 1988. 382p.
Meisel, Max. A Bibliography of American Natural History; the Pioneer Century,1769-1865. Brooklyn: Premier, 1924. 3 vols.
Volume I: "An annotated bibliography of the publications relating to the history, biography and bibliography of American natural history", Volumes II and III: "The institutions which have contributed to the rise and progress of American natural history. . . ."
[N.B.: The Index-Catalogue (above) published lists of indexed periodicals, arranged by country, in v. 10 of series I and vol. 12 of series II.]
Bolton, Henry Carrington. A Catalogue of Scientific and Technical Periodicals, 1665-1882. Washington, 1885. 773p.
Includes alphabetical catalogue, chronological tables, subject index, and check-list of library holdings in the U.S. and Canada.
Brown, Peter and George B. Stratton. World List of Scientific Periodicals Published in the Years 1900-1960. 4th ed. London: Butterworth, 1965. 3 vols.
Garrison, Fielding H. “The Medical and Scientific Periodicals of the 17th and 18th Centuries, with a Revised Catalogue and Check-list,” Bulletin of the History of Medicine, (1934) 2: 285-343.
Gascoigne, Robert Mortimer. A Historical Catalog of Scientific Periodicals, 1665-1900, with a Survey of Their Development. New York: Garland, 1985. 205p.
Part 1, the catalog itself, is divided into chapters listing general science journals and journals in various disciplines (mathematics, astronomy, physics, etc.). In Part 2 Gascoigne describes his criteria for selecting the particular journals listed. Part 3 is an essay on the development of periodical literature in science. Includes bibliography and index.
Kronick, David A. “The Fielding H. Garrison List of Medical and Scientific Periodicals of the 17th and 18th Centuries : Addenda and Corrigenda,” Bulletin of the History of Medicine, (1958) 32: 456-474 .
LeFanu, William R. British Periodicals of Medicine: a Chronological List 1640-1899. Rev. ed. Oxford: Wellcome Unit for the History of Medicine, 1984. 67p.
Physicians and Other Health Care Workers
Biographisches Lexikon der hervorragenden Aerzte aller Zeiten und Voelker. Vienna: Urban, 1884-88. 5 volumes plus Ergaenzungsband.
The major international biographical dictionary of physicians, with coverage limited to people who had achieved prominence by 1880. Besides biographical sketches, entries include bibliographies of works by the subject and references to further information. The Ergaenzungsband includes corrections and additions.Pagel, Julius. Biographisches Lexikon; Hervorragenden Aerzte des neunzehnten Jahrhunderts. Berlin, Urban & Schwarzenberg, 1901.
Alphabetical listing of nineteenth century physicians. International in scope.Fischer, Isidor. Biographisches Lexikon der hervorragenden Aerzte der letzten 50 Jahre. Berlin: Urban, 1932-33. 2 vols.
This serves as an addendum to the preceding sets, covering the period 1880 to 1930. Similar in scope, though the articles are somewhat briefer.Kelly, Howard A. and Walter L. Burrage. Dictionary of American Medical Biography. New York: Appleton, 1928. 1364 p.
Includes "list of works chiefly consulted." Coverage limited to doctors deceased at the time of publication.
Kelly, Howard A. and Walter L. Burrage. American Medical Biographies. Baltimore: Norman Remington, 1920. 1320p.
Kelly, Howard A. and Walter L. Burrage. Cyclopedia of American Medical Biography Comprising the Lives of Eminent Deceased Physicians and Surgeons from 1610 to 1910. Philadelphia: Saunders, 1912. 2 vols.
Earliest edition of the work cited above; they all include some material omitted from the Dictionary of American Medical Biography.Kaufman, Martin K., Stuart Galishoff, and Todd Savitt. Dictionary of American Medical Biography. Westport, CN: Greenwood Press, 1984. 2 vols.
The first attempt since Kelly & Burrage to provide a comprehensive historical directory of major figures in American health care. Besides providing new entries on twentieth century figures, the editors made a conscious effort to include more Blacks and women, to achieve geographic diversity, and to broaden coverage by including non-physicians. In contrast to Kelly & Burrage, the entries are quite short. The flaw in this book is the absence of some earlier figures whose careers deserve an updated historiographical treatment.
Kaufman, Martin, K., et al. Dictionary of American Nursing Biography. New York : Greenwood Press, 1988. 462 p.
Bullough, Vern L., et al. American Nursing: a Biographical Dictionary. New York : Garland, 1988-1992. 2 vols.
American Medical Directory. Chicago, 1906- .
The official directory of the American Medical Association. Early editions include lists of medical schools, medical libraries, medical journals, and specialty societies in addition to alphabetical and geographic listings of doctors. Welch owns most editions from 1912 to the present.Directory of Deceased American Physicians 1804-1929. Arthur W. Hafner, editor. Chicago: American Medical Association, 1993. 2 vols.
This is, effectively, a retrospective supplement to the American Medical Directory, compiled from a database originally kept at the AMA offices on index cards. Minimal information is provided on almost 150,000 doctors. Special indexes identify African Americans, women, and sectarians.
Thacher, James. American Medical Biography, with a new introduction and a bibliography by Whitfield J. Bell. New York: Da Capo, 1967. Reprint of 1828 edition.
Williams, Stephen W. American Medical Biography. Greenfield, Massachusetts, Merriam, 1845.
"Embracing principally those who have died since the publication of Dr. Thacher's work on the same subject."Royal College of Physicians of London. The Roll of the Royal College of Physicians of London; Comprising Biographical Sketches of All the Eminent Physicians Whose Names Are Recorded in the Annals from the Foundation of the College in 1518 to . . . 1825. By William Munk. 2nd edition revised and enlarged. London, 1878. 3 volumes. Supplemented by Lives of the Fellows of the Royal College of Physicians, 1826-1925; Lives of the Fellows of the Royal College of Physicians, Continued to 1965; . . . Continued to 1975; and . . . Continued to 1985.
Generally known as "Munk's Roll", volumes 1 through 7, the entire series includes information on over 4000 physicians. The original three volumes are chronologically arranged, with a subject index at the end of volume three. The other volumes are alphabetical.New York Academy of Medicine. Library. Portrait Catalog. Boston: G. K. Hall, 1960. 5 vols. Supplement 1: 1965; supplement 2: 1971; supplement 3: 1976.
This is an index to portraits of physicians in published sources owned by the Library of the New York Academy of Medicine. The published sources are usually journals, and the portraits frequently accompany articles, often obituaries. An excellent source, especially for twentieth century physicians.Medical Obituaries: American Physicians Biographical Notices in Selected Medical Journals before 1907. Lisabeth M. Holloway, editor. New York: Garland, 1981. 513p
Very useful for work for lesser known 19th-century American physicians.Choulant, Ludwig. Handbuch der Buecherkunde fur die altere Medicin. 2d ed. Leipzig, 1841. 434p.
Chronological bibliography and biographical work on Greek, Latin and Arabic medical writers. With alphabetic index.Morton, Leslie T. and Robert J. Moore. A Bibliography of Medical and Biomedical Biography. 2nd ed. Brookfield, Vt.: Scolar Press, 1994. 333p.
Generally cites book-length biographies, obituaries, and elegies. Strongest on British doctors.
Dictionary of Scientific Biography. New York: Scribners, 1970-1990. 18 vols.
Entries range in length from less than one page to more than fifty. Each includes bibliographies of the subject's writings and of secondary books and articles about him or her. Selection criteria were very rigorous; an index serves to locate information about people for whom there is no entry.The Biographical Dictionary of Scientists: Biologists. New York: Peter Bedrick,1984. 182p.
Contains about 200 unsigned entries in alphabetical order. Many of the entries cover twentieth-century figures, making this a useful complement to the Dictionary of Scientific Biography. There are glossaries and indexes but no bibliographies.McGraw-Hill Modern Scientists and Engineers. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1980. 3 Vols.
Heavily weighted toward the United States. Includes only scientists who were living after 1950. Pencil drawings accompany most of the entries. Many of the subjects contributed their own autobiographical articles. Analytic and classified indexes.Biographical Dictionary of the History of Technology. Lance Day and Ian McNeil, editors. London and New York: Routledge, 1996. 844 p.
Almost 1300 entries. Although attempting to be inclusive, the editors acknowledge that their subjects are overwhelmingly white males.
Sammons, Vivian Ovelton. Blacks in Science and Medicine. New York: Hemisphere, 1990.
Brief entries for over 1500 African American scientists, engineers, inventors, and health care workers.
American Men and Women of Science. New York: Bowker, 1906- .
Lists the most important workers in all fields of physical and biological science active at the time the particular edition was prepared. Excludes clinicians, but includes physicians whose primary work is in research.Elliott, Clark A. Biographical Dictionary of American Science. Westport, CN:Greenwood, 1980. 360p.
"A retrospective companion to American Men of Science."National Academy of Sciences. Biographical Memoirs. Washington, 1877- .
The National Academy, founded in 1863, publishes this series of lengthy obituaries of its members. The twenty essays in the current volume include people who died as long ago as 1953 and as recently as 1988. Some memoirs are bound and shelved separately. They can be located using the catalog. Vols. 44-51, 53-54, 56-77 available online at the National Academy Press.International Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences. Vol. 18: Biographical Supplement. New York: Free Press, 1979.
This volume contains biographies of social scientists who died since the first seventeen volumes were published in 1968, or who were living but had reached the age of seventy by 1978.Ireland, Norma Olin. Index to Scientists of the World from Ancient to Modern Times: Biographies and Portraits. Boston: Faxon, 1962. 362p.
Over 300 collections are indexed, and entries for about 7500 scientists are included.Pelletier, Paul A. Prominent Scientists; an Index to Collective Biographies. New York: Neal-Schuman, 1985. 356p.
Intended to supplement Ireland's Index to Scientists. Entries for over 12,000 scientists, drawn from 262 books.Elliott, Clark A. Biographical Index to American Science: the Seventeenth Century to 1920. New York: Greenwood, 1990.
Over 3000 entries identify scientists by name, dates, discipline, and occupation, and provide references to standard biographical sources as well as to obituaries and other periodical articles. Over 250 sources of biographical information are indexed.Poggendorff, J.C. Biographisch-Literarisches Handworterbuch zur Geschichte der exacten Wissenschaften. Leipzig, Barth, 1863- .
An alphabetical listing of workers in the physical sciences, with biographical information, a personal bibliography and citations to obituaries, and other biographical works. The historical collection's set is not complete.Gascoigne, Robert Mortimer. A Historical Catalog of Scientists and Scientific Books: from the Earliest Times to the Close of the Nineteenth Century. New York: Garland, 1984. 1177p.
A chronological list of over thirteen thousand persons, supplemented by an alphabetical index. Each entry lists major books (if any) and secondary sources of biographical information.Barr, E. Scott. An Index to Biographical Fragments in Unspecialized Scientific Journals. University of Alabama, 1973. 294p.
"...this index covers about 7700 individuals, providing about 15,000 citations and about 1500 portrait locations". Coverage includes eight general science journals published between 1798 and 1920.
Garrison, Fielding H. Introduction to the History of Medicine. 4th ed. Philadelphia: Saunders, 1929. 996p.
The classic, not superseded in almost seventy years, written by the first director of the Welch library.Magner, Lois. A History of Medicine. New York: Dekker, 1992. 393p.
A generally successful undertaking. Worth considering as a text for a course.
Illustrated histories of health care
Porter, Roy. The Cambridge Illustrated History of Medicine. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1996.
Lyons, Albert S. and R. Joseph Petrucelli. Medicine: an Illustrated History. New York: Abrams, 1978. 616p.
Very glossy; some good pictures.
Sournia, Jean-Charles. Histoire de la medecine et des medecins. Paris: Larousse, 1991. 585p.
Sournia, Jean-Charles. The Illustrated History of Medicine. London: Harold Starke, 1992.
The French original and the English translation, with identical, excellent, illustrations.
Rutkow, Ira M. Surgery: an Illustrated History. St. Louis: Mosby, 1993.
Donahue, M. Patricia. Nursing, the Finest Art: an Illustrated History. St. Louis: Mosby, 1985.
Nathons, Matthew. The Face of Mercy: A Photographic History of Medicine at War. New York: Random House, 1993. 271 p.
Driesch, Angela von den. Geschichte der Tiermedizin: 5000 Jahr Tierheilkunde. Munich: Callwey, 1989.
An illustrated history of veterinary medicine.
Butterfield, Herbert. The Origins of Modern Science, 1300-1800. Rev. ed. New York: Macmillan, 1957. 242p.
Stresses the interrelationships between developments in different areas of science and between science and general intellectual history.A General History of the Sciences. Rene Taton, editor. London: Thames & Hudson, 1963- 1966. 4 vols.
Ancient and medieval science, the beginnings of modern science, science in the 19th century, and science in the 20th century.Thorndike, Lynn. History of Magic and Experimental Science. New York: Columbia University Press, 1923-1958. 8 vols.
Chronological chapters cover the development of science in western culture through the renaissance.
Singer, Charles Joseph. A Short History of Scientific Ideas to 1900. Oxford: Clarendon, 1959. 525p.
Merz, John Theodore. A History of European Thought in the Nineteenth Century. Edinburgh: Blackwood, 1914-1930. 4 vols.
Sarton, George. Introduction to the History of Science. Baltimore: Williams and Wilkins, 1927-48. 3 vols. in 5.
From ancient times to the end of the fifteenth century. Each chapter includes a summary history and bibliographic sources.
Illustrated Histories of Science
Album of Science Series edited by I. Bernard Cohen. New York: Scribner's, 1978-1989.
"The Album of Science has been conceived as a pictorial record of the scientific enterprise, an attempt to show in images what science was like in the distant and recent past and to convey a sense of the perception of science by men and women living in different ages, both scientists and non-scientists." It does not attempt to be a record of great discoveries. It consists of the following volumes:John E. Murdoch. Antiquity and the Middle Ages. 1984. 403p.
I. Bernard Cohen. From Leonardo to Lavoisier, 1450-1800. 1980. 298p.
L. Pearce Williams. The Nineteenth Century. 1978. 413p.
Owen Gingerich. The Physical Sciences in the Twentieth Century. 1989. 306p.
Merriley Borell. The Biological Sciences in the Twentieth Century. 1989. 306p.
Partington, James Riddick. A History of Chemistry. London: Macmillan, 1961-1970. 4 vols.
Ihde, Aaron J. The Development of Modern Chemistry. New York, Harper & Row, 1964. 851p.
Magner, Lois. A History of the Life Sciences. 2d ed. New York: Dekker, 1994. 489p.
A History of Technology. Charles J. Singer, et al., editors. Oxford: Clarendon, 1954-1978. 8 vols. From paleotechnology to 1950.
Each volume contains thirty to forty independent essays, grouped by subject matter (e.g. transport, or metals), each with an independent short bibliography. The first volumes, covering the period up to 1900, were completed in the 1950s; the project was renewed in the 1970s, and volumes 6 and 7 were completed under the editorship of Trevor Williams. Volume 8 contains consolidated indexes.
Technology in Western Civilization. Kranzberg, Melvin and Carroll Purcell, Jr., editors. New York: Oxford, 1967. 2 vols. Volume 1: earliest times to 1900; volume 2: the twentieth century.
History of Chinese Science and Technology
Science and Civilization in China. Joseph Needham, editor. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1954- .
Darmstaedter, Ludwig. Handbuch zur Geschichte der Naturwissenschaften und derTechnik. Berlin: Springer, 1908. 1262p.
Includes a chronological listing, an index of persons and a subject index.
Gascoigne, Robert Mortimer. A Chronology of the History of Science, 1450-1900. New York: Garland, 1987. 585p.
Parkinson, Claire L. Breakthroughs: a Chronology of Great Achievements In Science and Mathematics, 1200-1930. Boston: G. K. Hall, 1985. 576p.
3,000 entries for discoveries and other advances occurring from the 13th century through 1930. Besides the chronological listing, the book contains a name index and a subject index.The History of Science and Technology: a Narrative Chronology. New York: Facts on File, 1988. 2 vols.
This is a translation of an Italian work published in 1975. Not simply a listing of the "great discoveries," it is a surprisingly useful book, full of cross-references and citations to primary sources. Includes subject and name indexes.
Manuscript Lists and Archival Guides
National Union Catalog of Manuscript Collections. Washington: Library of Congress, 1959/61- 1992.
Each annual volume has entries for about two thousand manuscript collections as reported by cooperating repositories. Subject indices cumulate every four years. Use of this cumbersome work has been made easier by:
Index to Personal Names in the National Union Catalog of Manuscript Collections, 1959-1984. Alexandria, Va.: Chadwyck-Healey, 1988. 2 v.
Index to Subjects and Corporate Names in the National Union Catalog of Manuscript Collections, 1959-1984. Alexandria, Va.: Chadwyck-Healey, 1994. 3 v.
Archives USA
An on-line database is supposed to include all of the material in the published NUCMC catalogues, although it does not appear to be complete yet. Reach Archives USA through Sheridan Libraries' homepage, under FIND IT — Research Tools: Articles and More). Since 1986, NUCMC entries are added to the RLIN or can be searched without a subscription through NUCMUC ONLINE.U.S. National Historical Publications and Records Commission. Directory of Archives and Manuscript Repositories in the United States. 2d ed. Phoenix: Oryx Press, 1988. 852p.
Entries include hours, a brief description of the holdings and listings of more detailed inventories. However, it may be more efficient to check for an institutional web site first, before using this somewhat out-of-date source.Hamer, Philip May. A Guide to Archives and Manuscripts in the United States. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1961. 775 p.
Useful when no web site or entry in the NHPRC Directory of Archives and Manuscript Repositories . . . is found.
Foster, Janet and Julia Sheppard. British Archives: a Guide to Archive Resources in the United Kingdom. Second edition. New York: Stockton Press, 1989.
Firkin, B. G. and J. A. Whitworth. Dictionary of Medical Eponyms. 2nd ed. NY: Parthenon, 1996.
Kelly, Emerson Crosby. Encyclopedia of Medical Sources. Baltimore: Williams & Wilkins, 1948. 476p.
A wonderful source, providing brief biographical and bibliographical information for thousands of eponyms. Alphabetical by name, with a subject index.Skinner, Henry Alan. The Origin of Medical Terms. 2d ed. New York: Hafner, 1970. 438p.
Trautmann, Joanne and Carol Pollard. Literature and Medicine: an Annotated Bibliography. Rev. ed. Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press, 1982. 228p.
A listing of literary works of medical interest, rather than books or articles on literature and medicine. Divided into six chronological chapters with annotated entries arranged alphabetically by author. In place of a subject index, each work is listed in at least one "topic list". There are about forty topics, including abortion, alcoholism, disease and health, medical students, sexual roles, and women as patients.
Women in Science, Medicine, and Technology
Apple, Rima. Women, Health, and Medicine in America: An Historical Handbook. New York: Garland, 1990.
This is a series of historiographical and bibliographical essays with a bibliographical appendix. These essays represent the state of the art in the late 1980s.Weisbord, Phyllis Holman, editor. The History of Women and Science, Health, and Technology: a Bibliographic Guide to the Professions and the Disciplines. 2d ed. Madison: University of Wisconsin System Women's Studies Librarian, 1993. 100p.
Citations are grouped under several rubrics: overview (including general sources and feminist critiques of science), women in the scientific professions (divided by scientific discipline), health and biology, home economics/domestic science, and technology.Chaff, Sandra L., et al. Women in Medicine, a Bibliography of the Literature on Women Physicians. Metuchen: Scarecrow, 1977. 1124p.
A key work. Includes histories, biographies, specialties, works of fiction, etc. Appendices: I. Directories, II. Collections. Author, subject and personal name indexes.
Ogilvie, Marilyn Bailey. Women in Science: Antiquity Through the Nineteenth Century: a Biographical Dictionary with Annotated Bibliography. Cambridge: MIT Press, 1986. 254p.
Ogilvie, Marilyn Bailey, with Kerry Lynne Meek. Women and Science: An Annotated Bibliography. New York: Garland, 1996. 556 p.
2700 entries arranged alphabetically, with several indexes.Herzenberg, Caroline L. Women Scientists from Antiquity to the Present: an Index. West Cornwall, CT: Locust Hill Press, 1986. 200p.
Provides biographical references and minimal biographical information (dates, nationality and field of endeavor) for about 2500 women scientists, physicians and engineers. 130 works are indexed, including biographical dictionaries, monographs and journals articles. Index by field of endeavor.Siegel, Patricia Joan and Kay Thomas Finley. Women in the Scientific Search: an American Bio-Bibliography, 1724-1979. Metuchen: Scarecrow, 1985. 399p.
About 200 women scientists are covered, arranged in chapters conforming to scientific disciplines. For each scientist there is a brief biography and a list of secondary works. A preface describes the state of documentation on women scientists, and the first chapter lists general biographical works which cover American women scientists.Stanley, Autumn. Mothers and Daughters of Invention: Notes for a Revised History of Technology. Metuchen, N. J.: Scarecrow, 1993.
Not quite an encyclopedia, not quite a biographical dictionary, not quite a bibliography of secondary sources. Prose essays on the role of women in developing a wide range of technologies, arranged in chapters dealing with (1) agriculture, (2) health care, (3) fertility and fertility control, (4) tools and machines, and (5) computer technology. Citations in the text refer to a 125-page bibliography. Includes index.
Bailey, Monica. American Women in Science: A Biographical Dictionary. Denver: ABC Clio, 1994.
Over four hundred entries for women who worked mainly in the physical and natural sciences and who began their careers before 1950.
Scientific and Medical Illustration
Gavin D. R. Bridson and James J. White. Plant, Animal & Anatomical Illustration in Art & Science. Detroit: Omnigraphics, 1990.
Identifies nearly 2000 books, articles and published collections of prints which may have served as instructional literature or graphic model sources. In addition, the guide contains an even greater number of citations to books, articles and exhibit catalogs which provide historical, biographical, bibliographical or other secondary information. Title, subject and name indexes complement the bibliographical sections.
Choulant, Johann Ludwig. History and Bibliography of Anatomic Illustration. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1920. 435p. Translation of German work of 1852.
Herrlinger, Robert, and Marielene Putscher. Geschichte der medizinischen Abbildung. Munchen: Moos, 1967-72. Vol. 1: Von der Antike bis um 1600; vol. 2: Von 1600 bis zur Gegenwart.
The standard illustrated source on history of medical illustrations. Volume 1 has been translated into English (see next entry), but both volumes of the original are quite usable even for those with limited German language skills.
Herrlinger, Robert. History of Medical Illustration, from Antiquity to A.D. 1600, translated from the German by Graham Fulton-Smith. London: Pitman Medical, 1970. 178p.
Thornton, John L. Medical Book Illustration: a Short History. New York: Oleander, 1983. 142p.
Roberts, K.B., and J.D.W. Tomlinson. The Fabric of the Body: European Traditions of Anatomical Illustration. Oxford: Clarendon, 1992 638p.
Lancaster, H.O. Expectations of Life: a Study in the Demography, Statistics, and History of World Mortality. New York: Springer, 1990. 605p.
A useful reference that ties historical demography to medical history. Following four introductory chapters on methodological problems in historical demography are 30 chapters devoted to specific causes of death and their historical trends, three chapters on mortality rates for different age groups, eight chapters on changing mortality in various countries, three chapters on causes of declines in mortality, and a chapter on the changing relative importance of various diseases as causes of death. Citations to an 88-page bibliography abound throughout the text. Name and subject indexes.U.S. Bureau of the Census. Historical Statistics of the United States: Colonial Times to 1970. White Plains, N.Y.: Kraus, 1989. 2 vols.
This is reprint of the Government Printing Office's edition of 1975. Two chapters are directly pertinent to health and demography. Many of the others relate to technology. The annotations are very valuable as citations to more detailed sources.
Mitchell, B. R. European Historical Statistics 1750-1970. New York: Columbia University Press, 1976. 827p.
Mitchell, B. R. British Historical Statistics. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1988. 886p.
Mitchell's books serve as European equivalents to the U.S. Census Bureau's Historical Statistics.Shannon, Gary W., and Gerald F. Pyle. Disease and Medical Care in the United States: A Medical Atlas of the Twentieth Century. New York: Macmillan, 1993. 150 p.
