News and Notes

The Center has awarded six fellowships for dissertation research in area archives and libraries as well as two dissertation writing fellowships. Dissertation Research Fellows will spend one or two months conducting research in the Philadelphia area, and give a talk about their work here. Dissertation Writing Fellows will spend nine months in residence at the Center and speak in the Regional Colloquium in the History of Science, Technology and Medicine.

The 2008-2009 Dissertation Research Fellows:

The first season of the Philadelphia Regional Colloquium in the History of Science, Technology and Medicine concluded with a discussion at the Franklin Institute of Anke Timmermann's work on alchemical recipes. Each meeting of the series was a discussion of a pre-circulated paper that was distributed from this web site. In addition to Dr. Timmermann's chapter, participants read and discussed the work of Arwen Mohun of the University of Delaware, Dominique Tobbell of the University of Pennsylvania, and Amy Slaton of Drexel University.

Fellows at the Philadelphia Area Center for History of Science are now eligible for support from the Center for History of Physics at the American Institute of Physics (AIP) for conducting research in the Niels Bohr Library and Archives. This generous support from AIP significantly enhances resources in the history of physics and allied fields available for Fellows.

The Web of Healing is an illustrated history of aspects of healing and medicine in Philadelphia during the 18th century. It focuses on the non-traditional and under-investigated realms of healing, including the practices of Native Americans and African Americans and the midwifery and domestic medicine practiced by women. Included are a bibliography and a walking tour of relevant Philadelphia sites, “In Search of Health," with a downloadable pamphlet and audio clips.

The Philadelphia Area Center for History of Science (PACHS) offers one- or two- month Visiting Dissertation Fellowships and nine-month Residential Dissertation Writing Fellowships for students in the history of science, technology and medicine. Fellows will use offices in the PACHS facility in Center City Philadelphia and will have ready access to events and activities at PACHS member institutions and throughout Philadelphia’s vibrant academic and cultural communities. PACHS will facilitate fellows’ access to libraries and archives in the Philadelphia area.

Five graduate students have been awarded Visiting Dissertation Fellowships at the Philadelphia Area Center for History of Science for 2007-2008. This year's Fellows will each spend one or two months working at some of the Center's member institutions:

• American Philosophical Society
• Chemical Heritage Foundation
• Hagley Museum and Library
• The Franklin Institute
• Princeton University
• University of Pennsylvania
• The Wagner Free Institute of Science.

The Fellows and their theses are:

Vassiliki Betty Smocovitis
Professor, History of Science
Departments of Biology and History, University of Florida

December, 2015

The Philadelphia Area Center for History of Science was formally established as a Pennsylvania nonprofit corporation on August 8, 2007. The Center's Board of Directors finished the process by adopting the Center's bylaws and electing officers on September 27. We have now begun the process of applying for federal tax-exempt 501(c)(3) status.