History of Science in United States: An Encyclopedia (Garland Reference Library of Social Science)

Description

This Encyclopedia examines all aspects of the history of science in the United States, with a special emphasis placed on the historiography of science in America. It can be used by students, general readers, scientists, or anyone interested in the facts relating to the development of science in the United States. Special emphasis is placed in the history of medicine and technology and on the relationship between science and technology and science and medicine. These interrelationships form a unique perspective that allows the reader to see how technology and medicine influenced - and in turn were influenced by - the progress of scientific thought in the United States. An introductory essay focuses on the historiography of American science since World War II. In addition, each entry, where appropriate, places the topic of the article within the framework of current debate among historians. Bibliographies at the end of entries cover not only the most recent and authoritative sources on the subject, but also introduce the reader to specialized literature. The book contains numerous entries on the major U.S. scientific organizations,institutions, and schools of thought and on the roles they played in the development of science. As such, it is a major source of information on the institutional and disciplinary foundations of American science from colonial times to the present. These entries form a valuable collection of sketches of the leading people who created and furthered science in the United States. They provide the human element behind the theoretical and institutional information covered in the volume. All 500 entries in The History of Science in the United States were written by experts in the field, ranging from senior scholars with world reputations to young scholars presenting the fruits of their search. As a result, this single volume is a unique forum that presents the results, interpretations, and debates among three generations of historians of American science-much of it heretofore available only in specialized literature-to a broad audience of readers.