Vol. 38, No. 4, October 2009
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In Budapest: The US Consortium for the Division of History of Science and Technology
This year more than 120 US scholars joined some 1,400 attendees at the XXIII International Congress of History of Science and Technology held in Budapest, 28 July to 2 August. The meeting was memorable for stimulating papers, cross-cultural discussions, hors d’oeuvre plates heaped with the world’s best petit fours, and sightseeing on the Danube River. Joseph Dauben, Margaret Vining, Jay Malone and I attended the congress as members of a consortium charged with liaising with the Division of the History of Science and Technology (DHST).
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Notes from the Inside
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News
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Member News
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In Budapest
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HSS Fellowship in the History of Space Science
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In the Service of
Galileo’s Ghost
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Historians and Contemporary
Anti-evolutionism
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Making Visible Embryos: Making a Virtual Exhibition
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“Lusty Ladies or Victorian
Victims?”
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Lone Star Historians of
Science
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Centaurus: A New Face at a Respected Journal
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World Congress of
Environmental History
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Jobs, Conferences, Grants
The Division of History of Science and Technology (DHST) is the global organization for history of science with about 50 member nations. Like HSS, the origins of the DHST lie with the activities of George Sarton and others. The DHST is one of two divisions of the International Union of History and Philosophy of Science (IUHPS) and is a showcase for creative internationalism with regard to the history of science, history of technology, and philosophy of science.
The scientific academies of many DHST member nations pay dues to the organization and often select delegates to its quadrennial congresses. The US, however, is somewhat exceptional and relies on National Science Foundation funding. Many people – including Michael Sokal , Keith Benson, Joan Cadden, Jay Malone, and the HSS and DHST past-president Ron Numbers – have worked with aplomb to secure the cost-effective continuation of a US presence in the DHST. The consortium had its inception in 2003 when HSS joined with other US-based societies to represent US interests. The founding members believed it was important that the US not withdraw from the international community (although HSS is not a US society, a large number of its members reside within the US). A major goal of the consortium is to oversee US interests and to continue funding travel grants for students and independent scholars attending the congress.
An important function of each congress is to decide where the next meeting will take place. In Budapest, the British Society for the History of Science made a successful pitch to hold the 2013 conference in Manchester. So why go to Manchester in 2013, aside from visiting Manchester United’s shrine to real football – the “Field of Dreams,” or the lavish city hall built with the wealth of the Industrial Revolution, or sampling what has to be the strongest mango pickle this side of South Asia? As science, philosophy of science and history of science have become more specialized, and the latter two more professionalized, scientists have become rare at HSS meetings. Yet they are in greater abundance at DHST meetings, where they recall the rather diminished outreach function of our profession and add much to the proceedings with their historical work, insights, and concern with the praxis of science. Moreover, international scholars have distinctive views on historiography and the cultural significance of science. Engaging with them enlivens our profession and makes us all better historians. With luck, and Jay Malone’s skillful grant writing, I hope the US will have substantial representation at the next congress in Manchester in 2013.
HSS members wishing to know more about the organization and its valuable projects, including the World Web of Science and its relationship to UNESCO, are directed to this Web page: http://www.dhstweb.org.
- Michael A. Osborne
Oregon State University
Officer in the Division of the History
of Science and Technology