Scientists since 1660 : a bibliography of biographies /

Howsam calls this an "unconventional bibliography," since its principal goal is to demonstrate "the way in which publishers and the book trade have treated the lives of scientists, and how that treatment has changed over time." To accomplish this the author selected from Dictionary of Scientific Biography (1981- ) the names of 565 men and women in science whose careers began since 1660 and whose lives and work have been the subject of one or more book-length biographies or an autobiography. The author next searched out 1,106 titles dealing with these individuals, excluding short or cumulative biographies. For each scientist, the pertinent works are listed in chronological order, giving complete bibliographic data plus a brief annotation derived from the book's preface or introduction. The object is to place the book in context with other books on the individual. The author's intent is presented in an extensive introduction, but strangely no overall conclusions are drawn. The exercise smacks of busywork for the author, but all is not lost. The book will save time for individuals doing research on specific scientists by identifying some out-of-print titles and will aid in tracking down sources of persistent erroneous data or apocryphal stories concerning certain scientists found in many shorter or condensed versions of their lives. Graduate; faculty. R. J. Havlik; emeritus, University of Notre Dame