History of Science Society approaches its centennial celebration in 2024

As the History of Science Society approaches its centennial celebration in 2024, its members reflect on the past 100 years of the profession, its fascinations and preoccupations, and its possible future in an increasingly globalized world. This podcast is a collaboration between the History of Science Society and the Consortium.

HSS Centenary: Society Presidents Past, Present and Future

Where has the Society been and where will it go next? Our first episode, hosted by HSS President Fa-ti Fan, kicks the series off with a discussion between HSS Presidents past, present, and future. Fan is joined by past Presidents Bernard Lightman and Jan Golinski, and current Vice President, Evelynn Hammonds. The group discusses what the history of science has meant to them, the value of history of science scholarship, and how the Society and its diverse members can expand understanding of the scientific enterprise and the contexts in which science is practiced.

Recorded on April 26, 2023.

Closed captioning available on YouTube.

Featuring

Fa-ti Fan, Binghamton University
History of Science Society President, 2022-2023

Jan Golinski, University of New Hampshire
History of Science Society President, 2020-2021

Evelynn Hammonds, Harvard University
History of Science Society Vice-President, 2022-2023

Bernard Lightman, York University
History of Science Society President, 2018-2019

History of Science Society at 100 - Women Historians of Science

The discovery of a never-released report from 1973 on women in the History of Science Society provides an opportunity to reflect on how much things have changed, what has not changed, and challenges that remain for improving inclusion in the Society. 

Recorded on June 5, 2023.

Closed captioning available on YouTube.

Featuring

Matthew Lavine, Mississippi State University

Samantha Muka, Stevens Institute of Technology

Tara Nummedal, Brown University

 

Margaret Rossiter, Cornell University

History of Science Society at 100 - HSS at the Movies

Moviegoers who might never pick up a book on the history of science may nonetheless find themselves confronted with the stories, themes, and questions to which historians of science devote their careers when they go to the movies.
 
Films and other forms of popular culture both reflect and shape public discourse about the significance of scientific discoveries and the legacies of technological achievements.
 
For this episode, we’ve convened a film forum. HSS Secretary Matt Shindell hosts a discussion of four recent movies with fellow historians Yangyang Cheng, David Hecht, and Amit Prasad. Each of the films take on history of science subject matter in different ways; they include Christopher Nolan’s newly released biopic, Oppenheimer, Sudhir Mishra and Sachin Krishn’s satire, Serious Men, Ryan White’s documentary, Good Night Oppy, and Jianya Zhang’s heroic depiction of Qian Xuesen.
 
Recorded on July 27, 2023.

Closed captioning available on YouTube.

Featuring

Yangyang Cheng, Yale Law School

David K. Hecht, Bowdoin College

Amit Prasad, Georgia Institute of Technology

Matthew Shindell, Smithsonian, National Air and Space Museum

History of Science Society at 100 - Global Perspectives

Join us for a discussion of history of science from the perspectives of Latin American, African, and Ottoman history — and global history more broadly. How have these perspectives been represented in the past? What has changed more recently? What are the pressing questions and challenges for the future of the field from a global perspective? Sharing their experiences and points of view on these issues:

Recorded on June 5, 2023.

Closed captioning available on YouTube.

Featuring

Harun Küçük, University of Pennsylvania

Gabriela Soto Laveaga, Harvard University

Helen Tilley, Northwestern University

History of Science Society at 100 - Publications

The current and incoming editors of the journal Isis reflect on their expectations, experiences, and hopes for the journal and for the field of the history of science.
 
Recorded July 31, 2023

Closed captioning available on YouTube.

Featuring

Elise Burton, University of Toronto

Alexandra Hui, Mississippi State University

Matt Lavine, Mississippi State University

Projit Mukharji, Ashoka University

Sigrid Schmalzer, University of Massachusetts, Amherst

History of Science Society at 100 - History of Science in Song

Audio only:

Full video:



Four historians share their interests in music, and their perspectives on using songs as source material for better understanding the history of science.

Songs mentioned in this episode:

Edward Forbes "Song of the Dredge" Performed by Michael Schrimpf and Antony Adler - Timestamp 34:06
Bio-Rad PCR Song - Timestamp 38:00
The 7th Voyage of Sinbad - Bernard Hermann - Timestamp 40:40
Cosmogony by Björk - Timestamp 44:50
Songs of the Humpback Whale - Dr. Roger Payne - Timestamp 47:00
Farewell to Tarwathie by Judy Collins - Timestamp 47:30

Recorded December 11, 2023

Featuring

Antony Adler, Carleton College

Andrew Fiss, Michigan Technological University

Asif Siddiqi, Fordham University

Betty Smocovitis, University of Florida

History of Science Society at 100: Mining in the history and social studies of Science

Join us for a discussion on the history of mining and the intersections of history of science with several other fields. How are mines sites of knowing the world, and how is that knowledge contested? How has our understanding of what a mine is changed over time, and what does that mean for how mines are studied? What can the methods and sources used in studying mines teach us about trends in the history of science and science studies?

Recorded on April 1, 2024

Closed captioning available on YouTube.

Featuring

Allison Margaret Bigelow, University of Virginia

Victor Seow, Harvard University

Jessica Smith, Colorado School of Mines

Insights from the Collections

The Consortium's collections provide many opportunities to learn more about the history of the field of history of science, as well as the history of HSS.
Our cross-institutional search tool allows researchers to investigate materials across multiple institutions from a single interface. With millions of catalog records of rare books and manuscripts and thousands of finding aids, the Consortium's search hub offers scholars and the public the ability to identify and locate relevant materials.

Search the Consortium search hub. 

Visit the HSS Centenial website

https://hssonline.org/page/centennial

Learn more about the speakers

Fa-ti Fan
Jan Golinski
Evelynn Hammonds
Bernard Lightman
Tara Nummedal
Samantha Muka
Margaret Rossiter
Matthew Lavine