AHA Directory of History Departments and Organizations
Institution Details
Philadelphia, PA 19106
Phone: 215.925.2222
Fax: 215.925.1954
Email: info@sciencehistory.org
Website: https://www.sciencehistory.org/
Areas of Specialization: chemistry, engineering, life sciences, general sciences, technology, industry
Areas of Specialization: chemistry, engineering, life sciences, general sciences, technology, industry
A. Collections and Libraries. The Othmer Library of Chemical History contains significant holdings of primary resources for the history of chemistry and related sciences, technologies, and industries, dating from the 15th century through the 21st century. Items of particular interest include 1,800 journal titles and approximately 7,000 rare books and manuscripts dating from 1425 onward; over 6,000 linear feet of archival materials from leading scientists and innovative individuals, corporations, industries, and professional organizations; over 100,000 volumes of monographs and journals that are primary and secondary historical sources covering a broad subject range in the sciences; over 50,000 historical images in a variety of formats illustrating notable chemists, laboratories, instrumentation, and artifacts; and approximately 800 oral history interviews with leading figures in chemistry, chemical engineering, bio-medicine, and related fields. The Science History Institute Museum holds over 700 scientific instruments with a particular strength in 20th-century analytical instruments; fine art representing a wide variety of chemical and alchemical subjects with more than 90 paintings and 200 works on paper; over 600 pieces of glass apparatus; and a collection of some 100 chemistry sets.
The printed book, oral history, and archival collections can be searched through the online catalog at othmerlib.sciencehistory.org.
Our digital collections can be searched at digital.sciencehistory.org.
Oral histories can also be searched or browsed at sciencehistory.org/research/research-centers/center-for-oral-history.
B. Programs. The Science History Institute (formerly the Chemical Heritage Foundation) is a museum, library, and center for scholars that tells the stories behind the science. We collect, preserve, interpret, and share our scientific past by exploring lesser-known and sometimes overlooked stories from the history of science and technology. And we don’t just mean discoveries made in laboratories. We dive deep into the history of scientific successes and failures, with a focus on expanding knowledge and broadening our understanding of how science and society intersect.
The Beckman Center for the History of Chemistry supports around 20 fellows (long- and short-term) in residence to foster a community of scholarship in the history of science, technology, and medicine, with a focus on chemical and material topics, and to take greater advantage of the collections held by the Institute. The Rohm and Haas Fellow in Focus lecture series presents semiannual public talks by Institute fellows on their work. The Center also sponsors the annual Gordon Cain Conference on an historical topic related to contemporary issues in chemistry, chemical engineering, and/or chemical industries, organized by a leading scholar from outside the Institute, as well as occasional conferences on topics relating to the history of chemistry, construed broadly.
The Center for Oral History conducts professional life interviews with scientists and engineers. We also regularly host the Oral History Training Institute to teach interviewing techniques and best practices. Our mission is to ensure that current and future scholars and interested individuals are able to understand science, medicine, and technology from the perspective of practitioners, as recorded in their own words. We aim to create and maintain a collection that’s an accurate representation of everyone in science and engineering, including those who have traditionally been marginalized or completely written out of the historical record.
The Science History Institute Museum features a permanent exhibition and changing exhibits that explore the history of chemistry, chemical engineering, and the life sciences and the role science plays in everyday life. Our permanent exhibition shows how chemistry has impacted our lives—frequently in unexpected ways. Visitors can trace scientific progress in the laboratory, the factory, and their homes, and learn how chemistry created and continues to shape the modern world. Drawn from the Institute's collections, our museum features scientific instruments and apparatus, rare books, fine art, and the personal papers of prominent scientists. Topics range from alchemy, synthetics, and the chemical-instrument revolution to chemistry education, electrochemistry, chemistry sets, and the science of color. The museum is free of charge and open to the public Wednesday through Saturday, 10am to 5pm, and to 7pm on the first Friday of every month. Closed on major holidays.
C. Publications. The Science History Institute publishes Distillations, an accessibly written online magazine that explores stories at the intersections of materials science, history, and culture. Our articles reveal science’s powerful influence on our lives, past and present. For information on submissions, write to the editor at editor@sciencehistory.org or visit sciencehistory.org/magazine. The Institute also produces two podcasts: Distillations, our critically acclaimed flagship podcast, and The Disappearing Spoon, which features topsy-turvy science tales told by New York Times best-selling author Sam Kean. Learn more at sciencehistory.org/podcasts.
In addition, the Institute is a partner with the University of Chicago Press in publishing Synthesis, a scholarly, peer-reviewed book series on the history of chemistry, broadly defined. Learn more at sciencehistory.org/synthesis.
D. Fellowships and Awards. The Science History Institute hosts scholars from all over the world through its Fellowship and Travel Grant Program. Through the Beckman Center for the History of Chemistry, the Institute offers peer-reviewed long-term (1-year postdoctoral and dissertation) and short-term research (1-4 months) fellowships in residence as well as travel grants for research in the collections. We also host 2-year Curatorial Fellowships for historians interested in pursuing a career in libraries and museums. Fellowship applications are welcome from scholars from a broad spectrum of disciplines whose research touches on some aspect of the history of science, technology, and medicine. All fellows have the opportunity to give informal talks and present works-in-progress. All scholars have access to the Othmer Library of Chemical History, as well as a wealth of area resources. Applications for all fellowships must be received by January for the term beginning the following September. Fellowships can be taken up by doctoral candidates, postdoctoral scholars, academic faculty, and independent scholars. For details on all fellowships, visit sciencehistory.org/fellowships.
Doctoral Program Information
Not applicable
Directory of History Dissertations
Doctoral Program Statistics :
PhD students currently enrolled: 0
PhD applications received: 0
New PhD students: 0
% of students receiving tuition waivers: 0
% of students receiving stipends: 0
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