From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Dictionary of Scientific Biography is a reference work consisting of biographies of scientists from antiquity to modern times, excluding scientists who were alive when the Dictionary was first published. It includes scientists who worked in the areas of mathematics, physics, chemistry, biology, and earth sciences. The work is notable for being one of the biggest reference works in the field of history of science, containing extensive biographies on hundreds of figures. Engineers, physicians, social scientists and philosophers only appear "when their work was intrinsically related to the sciences of nature or to mathematics."^[1] Though the Dictionary has worldwide coverage, the editors write that it focusses most on Western scientists, due to the limited availability of scholarship about Asian, Indian and Islamic historical scientists.^[1]

The Dictionary was first put out in 1970, under the general editorship of Charles Coulston Gillispie. It was published under the auspices of the American Council of Learned Societies by Charles Scribner. It has 16 volumes; vol. 15 is entitled "Supplement I; Topical Essays," which organizes entries by topic, and vol. 16 is the general index. A further 2-volume supplement was issued in 1990.

A "concise" abridged version was issued in 1981 by the same publisher; this edition is only one volume. Currently, 8 new volumes are in the works, also to be published by Scribner.^[2]

The articles in the Dictionary are typically 1-3 (or sometimes more) pages, and are written by eminent historians of science. All articles list the original works of the subject, as well as secondary literature about them (which may be in any language), and typically describes the state of the available literature, listing early works as well as more contemporary ones.

• Gillispie, Charles C., editor in chief. Dictionary of Scientific Biography. New York, NY: Charles Scribner and Sons, 1970-1980. 16 vols. ISBN 0684101149. Supplement II, edited by Frederic Lawrence Holmes, 2 vols., 1990. ISBN 0684169622 (set).
• Concise Dictionary of Scientific Biography. American Council of Learned Societies. New York Scribner, 1981. ISBN 068416650X.

1. ^ ^{a b} Gillispie, Charles C., editor in chief. Dictionary of Scientific Biography. New York, NY: Charles Scribner and Sons, 1970-1980. 16 vols. Introduction, v. 1, p. ix-x.
2. ^ New Dictionary of Scientific Biography

• Dictionary of Scientific Biography at the Scholarly Societies project
• Suggest inclusions for the New Dictionary of Scientific Biography; includes list of current entries
• Some sample DSB entries, digitized by Cultural Heritage Language Technologies and the Linda Hall Library