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Vol. 41, No. 1, January 2012
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Hercules Meets ISIS

Bernard Lightman, Society Editor

According to Greek mythology, Atlas, one of the Titans, was condemned by Zeus to hold up the heavens for siding with the other Titans against the Olympians. He is sometimes depicted in sculptures as holding the earth on his shoulders. The burden was so great that Atlas tried to trick Hercules into taking his place. By trying to persuade members of the HSS to consider putting themselves forward as a candidate for Society Editor I do not intend to play the role of Atlas by tricking some poor Hercules into being my successor. I do not see the Society Editor as taking on a crushing burden. Editing Isis has been a great privilege and joy, and the support of the HSS has made the job quite manageable. Since the HSS funds a managing editor, a manuscript editor, and part of the course release for a book review editor, I have been able to concentrate on dealing with the manuscripts and charting the overall direction of the journal. I put in about a day and a half of work per week on the journal, on average. I receive a full year course release from my home institution, which also helps to ensure that my life is not completely taken over by my duties as Society Editor.

But for anyone who is thinking of becoming a candidate, another factor that should be considered is the beneficial impact on your students, your department, and your university. In my own case, the most visible impacts have been overwhelmingly positive.

The students hired to work for the journal have benefited tremendously from the scholarly atmosphere and from the increased funding they have received. Since the History of Science Society pays for the tuition of the graduate students, they are freed up from the need to find work outside the university and are therefore able to make good progress towards completing their degrees. The students have also observed that unlike those with teaching assistantships, they can limit the number of hours they work each week. Through their work they also come into contact with the most important scholars in the history of science. As for the undergraduates who have worked on the journal, as one of them remarked, working on Isis is one of the few opportunities for undergraduates to be engaged in scholarly publishing.

Second, the faculty working on the journal have found that it increases their productivity. Conor Burns, our assistant book review editor, has asserted that working on the book review operation was helpful as he completed the research for his dissertation. He believes that, in general, it has given him a much more comprehensive perspective on the field, a perspective that he can draw on to enhance his work. Ian Slater, our managing editor, has said that he finds that the atmosphere at the journal acts as a stimulus to finish his research projects. Professor Anderson completed the work on her book on Victorian meteorology during the first year that the journal came to York. I finished my book on Victorian popular science while on sabbatical. I found that coming in to work on Isis did not inhibit my efforts to write the book.

Third, York University's profile in the area of the history of science has been boosted within the university, within Canada, and within the international community of scholars. Locating Isis at York in 2004 helped to bring together the scholars working in the field who were spread throughout the university. It encouraged faculty in different programs to create stronger, unified Science and Technology Studies programs at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. In the early 1990s, there were two distinct programs in two faculties—Atkinson and Arts—an inefficient and frustrating situation. The Atkinson group moved to the Faculty of Science and Engineering (FSE) and a combined inter-faculty program was launched in 2006. It has been a resounding success that currently has 80 majors. Bringing together scholars from both FSE and Arts allowed for a much more fruitful collaboration and the introduction of a unified, more coherent curriculum. The creation of a new undergraduate program allowed us to establish a new STS graduate program in 2009. Having Isis here helped us to persuade university administrators that we were recognized outside York as a leading center in the field and therefore an appropriate site for the location of Canada's first STS graduate program. Currently we have 14 PhD students and 12 MA students in the program as we begin our third year of operation.

On the national level, having Isis at York has been important to Canadian scholars. Working together with other Canadian scholars led by Professor Gordon McOuat of Kings College, we were able to obtain a Social Sciences and Humanities Strategic Cluster Grant five years ago. The move of Isis to Canada featured prominently in the successful grant application. The funding has allowed us to establish a network of scholars in Canada centered on a series of regional nodes. Partly as a result of having the journal, York was designated as the node for Ontario. Our international reputation has been elevated due to having Isis at York. We are now seen internationally as a university where significant research in the field is being conducted. We have a particularly strong group of faculty in the area and having Isis has brought attention to our strengths.

Locating Isis at York has enabled STS scholars at York to create a more robust research culture in the field. Having a major scholarly journal is required to establish a research institute at York. In the summer of 2010 we opened a new research institute in Science and Technology Studies and we were able to point to Isis as evidence of our strength in research in the field. Over twenty faculty belong to the institute. The additional funding for the institute has allowed us to bring in more guest speakers and to organize workshops and conferences. The institute has also helped faculty locate new sources of funding for their research.

History of science at York has benefited tremendously from the presence of Isis. It has allowed us to build first-rate undergraduate and graduate programs; raised the scholarly profile of our programs around the world; enhanced the educational experience of our graduate students; inspired the faculty working on the journal to be more productive; and allowed us to create a research institute. I am somewhat amazed at what we have been able to accomplish at York while Isis has been here. I look forward to an excellent successor to be chosen by the Committee on Publications, and no herculean tricks should be needed to entice qualified candidates.

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Editor's Note: Preliminary proposals for the Society Editorship are due 3/1/2012

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