New Dictionary of Scientific Biography (8 Volume Set) Book

Charles Scribner's Sons releases the first major expansion of the Dictionary of Scientific Biography, entitled The New Dictionary of Scientific Biography, featuring more than 775 completely new articles. This new work extends, complements and comments upon the original Dictionary of Scientific Biography, which contains thousands of biographies of mathematicians and natural scientists from all regions and historical periods. The Dictionary of Scientific Biography presents an accurate and reliable narrative of the development of science, not as a mere accumulation of technical information but as the collective accomplishment that has ordered our understanding of nature. More than 500 of the new articles are devoted to scientists deceased since 1980 and not previously treated in the Dictionary of Scientific Biography including Hans Bethe, Francis Crick, Richard Feynman, Stephen Jay Gould, Fred Hoyle, Mary Leakey, Konrad Lorenz, Barbara McClintock, Linus Pauling, Andrei Sakharov, B. F. Skinner, and Edward Teller. There are also more than 75 articles on figures overlooked in the original Dictionary of Scientific Biography (from Chrysippus to Kinsey) and 250 "postscript" commentaries on important careers that have inspired new research and interpretation (from Archimedes and Aristotle to Darwin, Einstein, and Oppenheimer).

The New Dictionary of Scientific Biography guarantees the permanent relevance of the original work and constitutes a huge expansion of its scope.

Selected biographies include:

• Luis Walter Alvarez
• Aristotle
• Charles Babbage
• Francis Bacon
• Charles Robert Darwin
• Albert Einstein
• Rosalind Elsie Franklin
• Galileo Galilei
• Caroline Lucretia Herschel
• Thomas Henry Huxley
• Carl Gustav Jung
• Isaac Newton
• J. Robert Oppenheimer
• Louis Pasteur
• Jean Piaget
• Claudine Picardet
• Julia Bowman Robinson
• Carl Sagan
• Beatrice Tinsley
• Alan Mathison Turing
• And many more

T.R. Faust - Library Journal

With 18 volumes published from 1970 to 1980 and a supplement in 1990, Dictionary of Scientific Biography(DSB) was first conceived as the Dictionary of American Biography(DAB) for scientists and has become the quintessential reference for the history of science. Just as DAB saw the need for revision in recent years, so did DSB for the same reasons-additional persons of note have passed away since the first edition, awareness of the contributions of women and nonWestern cultures has increased, additional information has come to light on persons previously covered, and whole fields of study that barely existed before are now thriving. New Dictionary of Scientific Biography(NDSB) picks up where DSB left off, with the successor of the original publisher and the same sponsor, the American Council of Learned Societies. Put together by 600 historians of science from 37 countries, the NDSB contains entries on 775 scientists-including 700 who became eligible for inclusion (i.e., died) since the earlier publications and 75 who were overlooked earlier. The 225 updated entries open with a clear reference to the earlier entry and an explanation of additions or changes made. All the entries begin with birth and death dates and locations and the scientist's field of study. The narrative typically begins by discussing the importance of the scientist's work, moves on to his or her life and education, and closes with a brief analysis of his or her research. Included are blackandwhite photographs and illustrations of some scientists-a departure from the unillustrated DSB. The entries are signed and range from one to several pagesin length, concluding with a bibliography or a supplementary bibliography in the case of revised entries. Bibliographies start with works by the scientist and end with other sources. Indexes include a list of scientists by field, a list of Nobel prize winners by field, a list of entries, and a subject index. The content of the DSB and NDSB are combined in an eversion called Complete Dictionary of Scientific Biography (CDSB). Entries there are completely searchable, allowing users to determine which scientists had links to a particular city, institution, or line of inquiry. The eformat lends itself to updating as the history of science continues to unfold.