Scientific Communication in History

This text attempts to historicize the various ways that science has developed and interacted with communication tools and mechanisms throughout the history of human thought.

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Scientific Communication in History attempts to illuminate the various ways that science has developed and interacted with communication tools and mechanisms throughout the history of human thought. Drawing on a wide range of human history, Vickery presents a compelling and coherent background and probes into questions of science as a discipline, communication between scientists, its relationship to technology and to other academic and professional disciplines, and knowledge in general. The history of communication in science is set against a briefly sketched background of human history, particularly as it relates to the development of Western civilization, including Greece, Rome, the Near East, and Europe. The book is divided into seven major eras. Within each era, Vickery details the modes of written and oral communication and their significant effects, and creates a broad picture of the antecedents of contemporary research and communication methods in science. The eras include the earliest organized civilizations and the development of alphabets and writing; classical cultures and the first libraries and research institutions; the medieval period and the rise of universities; the Renaissance and the early age of science societies and printing; the eighteenth century with specialized journals and bibliographies; the nineteenth century and the Industrial Revolution, along with the beginnings of the strict specification of information through patents and technical institutions; and the twentieth century with industrial research, vast data collections, computer networks, and online communication. Special attention is paid to key issues such as impact of printing and computers on communication, the standardization of biological and chemical nomenclature, and modern studies of communication science and technology, among many others. The book includes 14 illustrations, maps, graphs, and diagrams to further elucidate the historical change of communication in science, and a bibliography of 300 choice item