The Speakers' Page

Joseph Henry (1797-1878), Physicist and First Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution Margaret Mead (1901-1978), Anthropologist

 

Welcome to the Speakers' Page of the Forum for the History of Science in America. The Forum, an interest group of the History of Science Society (HSS), sponsors a keynote speaker every year at the annual HSS meeting. The speakers are either Distinguished Historians of Science or Distinguished Scientists in alternating years. The Forum also maintains a list of recent sessions and papers related to the history of science in America presented at HSS meetings. Anyone interested in more information about a given paper may see abstracts at the HSS web site, http://hssonline.org. The links below will take you to specific synopses (when available) of the past speakers and to lists of the past papers presented at HSS.

 

Distinguished Historians of Science

Spencer Weart, "A Historian Among Scientists, a Scientist Among Historians," Vancouver, BC (2006)
Marc Rothenberg, "The History of Science in America 20 Years Later: The Creation Myth," Minneapolis, MN (2005)
 Barbara Rosenkrantz, "A Boston Marriage: The History of Public Health and the History of Science.", Cambridge, MA (2003)
Sally Gregory Kohlstedt, A Personal Retrospective on the Forum's Mission, Denver, Colorado (2001)
Charles Weiner, “Shifting the Focus in the History of Science: An Eyewitness Account,” Pittsburgh, PA (1999)

Distinguished Scientists

Vera C. Rubin, "Telescopes, Galaxies, and Women: A Life in Science," (Carnegie Institution of Washington) Washington, D. C. (Friday 11/2/07 12:30-1:15 in F15)

Vera C. Rubin is an observational astronomer who has studied the motions of gas and stars in galaxies and motions of galaxies in the universe for 75% of her life. Her work was influential in discovering that most of the
matter in the universe is dark. She is a graduate of Vassar College, Cornell University, and Georgetown University (PhD); George Gamow was her thesis professor. After 10 years as a researcher and faculty member at Georgetown, she moved in 1965 to the Department of Terrestrial Magnetism, Carnegie Institution of Washington where she is now a Senior Fellow. She is a member of the US National Academy of Sciences, and the Pontifical Academy of Sciences. President Clinton awarded her the National Medal of Science in 1993. She has received honorary degrees from Harvard, Yale, Princeton, and Smith College, among others. In 1996, she received the Gold Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society (London); the previous woman to receive this medal was Caroline Herschel in 1828. Vera is active in encouraging and supporting women in science. Her husband and their four children are Ph.D. scientists.

Steven Weinberg, (Physicist, University of Texas), Austin, TX (2004)
James Crow, Title TBA, Milwaukee, WI (2002)
Estella B. Leopold, "Ecologists and the Land Ethic," Vancouver, BC (2000)

The History of American Science at HSS

Milwaukee, WI (2002)
Denver, Colorado (2001)
Vancouver, British Columbia (2000)
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (1999)