The Sciences in America, Circa 1880 (original) (raw)
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This article discusses the state of American science in the late 19th century, particularly around 1880. It challenges the prevailing notion that American scientific endeavors were insignificant, emphasizing instead the vitality present in earth and life sciences, spurred by natural resources and socio-religious factors. The author argues that the federal government played a significant role in supporting science and that history has often been used by pure scientists to justify increased research funding, casting a critical eye on traditional narratives of American scientific inadequacy.
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2015
learned societies were to the organization and progress of American science. Henry was involved in the founding of several major nineteenth-century societies. I include a complementary paper on how the period's scientific communication was facilitated by "agents of exchange," who helped the Smithsonian and other American organizations distribute their publications abroad and gather those of foreign societies for delivery to the United States. The symposium ended with a presentation (not included herein) from Harvard University's Conevery Bolton Valenčius on the continuing need for historical collections. We are eternally grateful for the support of the members of the Dibner family, first Bern and his son, David, and his wife, Frances, and now their three sons, Brent, Daniel, and Mark, for providing the funds that bring the treasures of the Dibner Library of the History of Science and Technology to the attention of the American people and the world for scholarship and enjoyment.
Histories of Science and their Uses: A Review to 1913
History of Science, vol. 23., 1993
To convince their publics that science was an important enterprise that should be funded and taught in schools and universities, scientists turned to history to contrast the progress of scientific knowledge with the stagnation of the humanities. As science evolved, so did scientists' analysis of scientific progress.
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