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A Call for Proposals to House the HSS Executive Office
The History of Science Society seeks proposals for the next site for its Executive Office, with occupancy to begin in the summer of 2010 or 2011 [date is open]. The Executive Office is the main administrative office of the History of Science Society. The HSS, established in 1924, is an international organization and an affiliate of the American Council of Learned Societies, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American Historical Association and numerous other organizations. The Society enjoys an endowment in excess of two million dollars U.S. Presently located on the campus of the University of Florida, the HSS Executive Office coordinates all day-to-day Society business, all annual HSS functions, and all activities that involve the Society in scholarly pursuits on the national and international level. Its activities include supervision of the HSS annual meeting and the biennial meeting of the Philosophy of Science Association (PSA), management of the HSS Web site, production of the HSS Newsletter, maintenance of the Society’s records and finances, and oversight of HSS programs and grants. The Office is supervised by an Executive Director who is a salaried employee of the History of Science Society and a ¼ time UF employee with benefits paid via both entities. At present, the Executive Director is assisted by a full-time office coordinator and four part-time employees – the coordinator is a UF employee and the part-time workers are students at the University of Florida, all paid through the UF payroll system.
Bernard Bailyn, Director
The Americas in the Advancement of
European Science and Medicine,
1500-1830
Applications are invited for participation in the Seminar, to meet for approximately ten days at Harvard University in early August 2009. Participants, for whom travel and accommodation will be provided, must be recent recipients of the Ph.D. or its equivalent or advanced doctoral students. Members of the Seminar will be drawn from the universities of Latin America, Western Europe, and Africa, to be joined by U.S. and Canadian scholars for presentation and discussion of work in progress on the theme of the Seminar and exchange of views with senior scholars.
The theme of this year’s Seminar is the role of the Americas in the development of European science and medicine. For three centuries the Western Hemisphere’s people, flora, and fauna were subjects of intense investigation that helped shape the development of anthropology, geology, botany, medicine, natural history, and natural philosophy. And the demands of exploration and conquest led to innovations in navigation, oceanography, and cartography. Work in progress on aspects of these topics will be discussed with emphasis, where possible, on the relation of theory to observation and practice.
The Seminar, under the auspices of the Charles Warren Center for Studies in American History, is supported by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. For application forms, to be returned by May 1, 2009, or for information, please see the Seminar’s Web site or contact:
Emily LeBaron, Administrator
Atlantic History Seminar
Emerson Hall 408
Harvard University
Cambridge, MA 02138
Phone: 617-496-3066 • Fax: 617-496-8869 • Email: atlantic@fas.harvard.edu
Web site: http://www.fas.harvard.edu/~atlantic
The University of Florida has generously provided the Society with office space (890 square feet), including a furnished conference room, file cabinets, office furniture, computers, and space for bookshelves/library and some document storage; funding for a part-time graduate assistant (12-month appointment); tuition waivers for two students; internet connectivity and technical support; and has waived administrative overhead. The History Department also has given the current HSS Executive Director an appointment, currently at the rank of Associate Scholar, and the opportunity to teach undergraduate and graduate courses contingent on the needs of the Department. The Society wishes to secure similarly favorable terms under any new contract. Preference will be given to proposals that demonstrate support from a Dean or equivalent position or higher, the existence of active communities in the history and philosophy of science, the existence of a flourishing graduate program in STS, and the availability of technical support.
In addition to information about the applicant’s history and/or philosophy of science program(s), details about the applicant’s city and local/state advantages and disadvantages would be welcome.
Expressions of interest, due 29 May 2009, should be directed to the HSS Secretary, Margaret Osler: mjosler@ucalgary.ca. Margaret J. Osler, Department of History, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta T2N 1N4, CANADA,
Work: 1-403-220-6414, Home: 1-403-244-3277
FAX: 1-403-289-8566
A final proposal deadline will be set for late summer 2009.
Call for Manuscripts: Bucknell University Press
In 2009, Bucknell University Press is celebrating the 200th anniversary of Charles Darwin’s birthday and the 150th anniversary of The Origin of the Species by welcoming manuscripts, either critical essay collections or monographs, on Darwin and the humanities and social sciences. Prospective authors and editors are asked to send inquiries and/or a proposal by July 2009 to the Director, Greg Clingham, at University Press, Bucknell University, Lewisburg, PA 17837, or clingham@bucknell.edu. Please visit our Web site for more information about the press.
American Astronomical Society’s Historical Astronomy Division
Members of the HSS are invited to join the American Astronomical Society’s Historical Astronomy Division, as Affiliate Members. The HAD exists for the purpose of advancing interest in the history of astronomy through its meetings, publications, and awards. Dues are only $10 per year. Please visit our Web site and “click” on Membership.
Darwin Festival in Cambridge, July 2009
Events celebrating the life and work of Charles Darwin will be held at Cambridge 5-10 July 2009. The festival program includes:
Morning Talks and Debates sessions
Darwin’s impact on modern science, medicine, social sciences, human nature, belief and the arts will be presented and challenged.
Afternoon Focus sessions
Four sessions are dedicated to science, two to theology, two to philosophy, two to social science, two to the arts and one to communications.
Explorer sessions: Tours exhibitions and workshops
These sessions will include guided tours of the Cambridge museums, many of which are mounting especially dedicated exhibitions for the Festival. Christ College (where Darwin was a student), the Botanic Gardens, the Darwin Correspondence Project, at the University Library and the Wellcome Trust Sanger Centre will also be hosting events. Each venue will be running workshops, hands on activities and discussions.
Lunch Time and Evening Events
There will be an opening reception at the Botanic Gardens hosted by the Festival sponsors with a welcoming address by Alison Richard, anthropologist and Vice Chancellor of the University. Through the week the lunch time and evening program will include keynote lectures, debates, theatrical and musical events. There will be a Festival Dinner at Kings College on the penultimate evening with an after dinner speech by Sir David Attenborough.
Fringe
The Festival program will extend to the streets, community rooms, bars and cafes, with informal theatre, music, soap box talks, comedy and gigs.
Highlighted speakers include Richard Dawkins, David Attenborough, Daniel Dennett, Ian McEwan and A. S. Byatt.
For more information
Women in Digital Science Collection
A new Web site, Women in Science Digital Collection, is seeking images and text to expand its collection. Now adopted by the Department of History at Michigan State University, Women in Science Digital Collection was established by Judith Zinsser and previously located at the University of Ohio-Miami.
The goal of the new Women in Science Digital Collection is to expand the collection to feature documents, (including Du Chatelet’s papers) with introductions wherever possible, for women who made significant contributions to a range of sciences and in a range of time periods.
Do you have PDFs, JPEGS, or TIFF files of important documents, illustrations, and/or photos which could be displayed on the Web site? Is your university willing to share documents in their special collections?
Such collaboration would of course result in a credit line, links to your libraries, links to your publications about the featured scientist, and other mutually beneficial arrangements. For further information, e-mail Georgina Montgomery
Annals of Science Prize
Submit your unpublished paper to Annals of Science for a chance to win US$500 and a year's free subscription to this Journal! This prize is offered every two years to the author of an original, unpublished essay in the history of science or technology, which is not under consideration for publication elsewhere. The prize, supported by Taylor & Francis, is intended for those who are currently doctoral students, or have been awarded their doctorate within the past four years. Essays should be submitted to the Editor in a form acceptable for publication in Annals of Science. See the Journal's Web page for a style guide.
Papers should be submitted by 30 September 2009, with the winner being notified by 31 December 2009. The Editor's decision is final.
Past Winners of the prize
"Natural Philosophical Contention Inside the Accademia del Cimento: the Properties and Effects of Heat and Cold" (Luciano Boschiero) Volume 60, Issue 4, Pages 329 - 349.
"Rudolph Koenig's Workshop of Sound: Instruments, Theories, and the Debate over Combination Tones" (David Pantalony) Volume 62, Issue 1, Pages 57 - 82.
"Life of μ: The Observation of the Spontaneous decay of Mesotrons and its Consequences, 1938-1947" (Daniela Monaldi) Volume 62, Issue 4, Pages 419 - 455.
Authors Guild v. Google Settlement
The following is a message sent by the Authors Guild to its members. "At least $45 million will be paid to authors and publishers to release claims for books that are scanned by Google by 5 May of this year. But that's not the most significant part of the settlement, in our view. We expect the licensing that this settlement would enable, particularly of out-of-print books, will result in far more revenues for authors over the coming years.
The settlement covers essentially all in-copyright books that were published by 5 January 2009. (Some authors have told us that they think of the settlement as covering only books for adults or nonfiction books. This is incorrect. Books of all types are covered by the settlement.)
We think it's in the strong interest of authors of all books, whether in print or out of print, to go to www.googlebooksettlement.com and claim their books. Here are some of the benefits of doing so:
1. If you file your claim by 5 January 2010, and a book in which you have a copyright interest is scanned by Google before 5 May 2009, you will be entitled to a small share (at least $60 per book, but up to $300, depending on the number of claims) in a pool of at least $45 million that Google is paying to release claims for works that were scanned without rights holder permission.
2. By registering, you'll be able to share in potential revenues for uses of your works under several new licensing programs that the settlement enables. Here are examples of licensing revenues you may be entitled to share in:
A. Revenues from printing out pages from your works at terminals in public libraries.
B. Revenues from ads that may appear near "previews" of your works at books.google.com.
C. Revenues from sales of special online editions of your works.
D. Revenues from institutional subscriptions that may include your works.
Important note: Only out-of-print books will be included in these programs by default. In-print books will be included only where rights holders affirmatively elect to do so.
3. By registering, you'll automatically enroll in the new Book Rights Registry, which will give you a considerable amount of control over the rights to your works, including your right to withdraw your work from the licensing programs described above.
The important thing is to assert your rights. It's easiest to do so by setting up an account at http://www.googlebooksettlement.com, the official settlement Website. Once you're logged in, it's generally most efficient to claim your works by searching the database of titles by your name."
Recent Dissertations in the History of Science
This past month's dissertations on the history of science and medicine research can be found at : http://tinyurl.com/yw5ape
Science Museum Web site
Colleagues may be interested to see the new history of medicine Web site that went live recently, which includes 2,500 newly-made images of objects from the Science Museum's history of medicine collection together with historical interpretations, interactives and thematic introductions. The site is due to grow to 4,000 images over the next year.
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