The History of Recent Science and Technology

In the late 1960s and early 1970s, the Academy organized several conferences and studies devoted to the history, origin, and development of fields of research, such as physics, molecular biology, and bioenergetics. These meetings brought together historians, social scientists, and scientists who themselves played a leading role in their fields. A committee was formed to coordinate and oversee a more systematic and long-range program of historical studies in contemporary science and technology.

Resulting Publications

• Proceedings of the Conference on the History of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, ed. John Edsall. Cambridge, MA: American Academy of Arts and Sciences, 1970. (out of print)
• Exploring the History of Nuclear Physics, ed. Charles Weiner. New York: American Institute of Physics Conference Proceedings, No. 7, 1972. (out of print)
• The Historical Development of Bioenergetics, ed. John Edsall. Cambridge, MA: American Academy of Arts and Sciences, 1973. (out of print)
• Evolution of Modern Mathematics, ed. Garrett Birkhoff, Historia Mathematica, Volume 2, November 1975. Available from publisher.
• The Evolutionary Synthesis: Perspectives on the Unification of Biology, eds. Ernst Mayr and William B. Provine. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1980. Available from publisher.