the history of science society council record

The History of Science Society Council RecordAuthor(s): Lao G. Simons and F. E. BraschSource: Isis, Vol. 21, No. 2 (Jul., 1934), pp. 234-240Published by: The University of Chicago Press on behalf of The History of Science SocietyStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/225111 .

Accessed: 08/05/2014 17:26

Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at .http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp

.JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range ofcontent in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new formsof scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected].

.

The University of Chicago Press and The History of Science Society are collaborating with JSTOR to digitize,preserve and extend access to Isis.

http://www.jstor.org

This content downloaded from 169.229.32.137 on Thu, 8 May 2014 17:26:04 PMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

http://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=ucpress

http://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=hss

http://www.jstor.org/stable/225111?origin=JSTOR-pdf

http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp


The History of Science Society Council Record

Meeting December 29, 1933, 4:30 P.M.

The Council of the History of Science Society met at the Widener Library, Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass., with Dr. J. PLAYFAIR \MCMURRICH in the chair.

Present: Dr. McMuRRIcH,President; Dr.ARCHIBALD; Dr. BARRY; Dr. BRETT; Dr. C. A. BROWNE; Dr. DAVIS; Dr. FOSTER; Dr. KLEBS; Dr. SARTON; Dr. SIGERIST; Dr. SIMONS; Dr. STIMSON; Mr. BRASCH,

Secretary. Minutes of the last meeting omitted. Election of new officers and Council members. The following

officers were declared elected for the year I934: President, Dr. HARVEY CUSHING; Vice Presidents, Dr. CHARLES A. BROWNE, Dr. CHAUNCEY D. LEAKE; Members of the Council: Dr. RICHARD H. SHRYOCK, Dr. DOROTHY WALEY SINGER, Dr. C. A. KARPINSKI, Dr. CHARLES A. MORRIS, Dr. RAYMOND C. ARCHIBALD, Dr. FRE- DERICK BARRY (to replace Dr. HARVEY CUSHING on the Council to serve until 1935).

Report of Treasurer-Corresponding Secretary was read and

approved. (Appendix I.) Report of Editor of Isis. A communication with recommen-

dations had been sent to the Council some weeks earlier than the time of the meeting. Situation between the Society and Isis is satisfactory at present. A lengthy discussion took place con-

cerning Osiris, a title proposed by Dr. SARTON for a series of

monographs to supplement Isis, such monographs to be papers sent in which would occupy too much space in the journal and

yet which should be published. The sentiment was in favor of Osiris rather than the allotment to Isis of a definite supplementary sum of money. In either case, the appropriation would come



THE HISTORY OF SCIENCE SOCIETY

from the Revolving Book Fund. The matter was referred to the Publications Committee with the recommendation that the matter be settled by the Chairman of that Committee and the Editor of Isis. (Appendix II.)

Report of Publications Committee, Dr. BRETT, Chairman.

(Appendix III.) Statutes. Revision of the set of Statutes for the History of

Science Society. Approved practically in toto. One of the

paragraphs called for any change in. the statutes to be approved by two-thirds of the total membership of the Council. Not yet in force because two-thirds of the members of the Council were not present. A copy of the new statutes will be sent around to all members of the Council and they will be asked to vote

by mail. (Appendix IV.) Meeting place for I934. The Society will hold its annual meeting

in Washington,. D. C., in connection with the meetings of the American Historical Association, which association is to celebrate its 5oth Anniversary.

Election of Secretaries for I934. Mr. F. E. BRASCH was reelected

Corresponding Secretary and Treasurer, and Dr. LAO G. SIMONS

was reelected Recording Secretary. Resolutions concerning Dr. Lyman C. Newell. Dr. C. A. BROWNE

and Dr. TENNEY L. DAVIS were appointed to draft resolutions of sympathy regarding the death of this foundation member and former member of the Council to be sent to Mrs. NEWELL.

Meeting adjourned on motion at 6: oo o'clock P. M. LAO G. SIMONS.

January 15, 1934. Recording Secretary.

ABSTRACT OF PAPERS PROGRAM OF THE HISTORY OF SCIENCE SOCIETY

MEETING

Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1933.

The History of Science Society held a joint meeting with Section L (A. A. A. S.) in the historic Harvard Hall at Harvard

University on December 29, 1933 morning and in the Lincoln Room of the Widener Library in the afternoon of the same day.

235



The President, Dr. J. PLAYFAIR MCMURRICH, of Toronto, Canada, called the meeting together and gave a few short intro-

ductory remarks relating to the development of the study and

teaching of the history of science in the United States, together with a brief history of the activities of the Society since its

inception. This was the tenth annual meeting of the Society, and as the President noted, the Society was founded in Boston in I924.

The first paper was by Dr. S. E. MORISON, Professor of History at Harvard University. Dr. MORISON spoke on the development of astronomy in the latter part of the I7th century at Harvard, and gave an interesting account of the history of Harvard Hall and its predecessor, where much important Colonial scientific

thought was created and taught. Astronomy was the first science

taught at Harvard and it was shown also that its tutors early recognized the Copernican system of astronomy. He spoke on the early text books used, which were primarily European, and the important part the famous Colonial almanacks played in the literature of the period. Harvard College possessed the first astronomical telescope to come to the Colonies. It was presented by JOHN WINTHROP, Jr., in 1672.

Dr. LAO G. SIMONS of Hunter College, New York City, traced the history of astronomy and mathematics during the whole of the I8th century as developed at Harvard, but more particularly throughout the Colonies, as far south as William and Mary College. The first observer of celestial phenomena of importance was THOMAS BRATTLE, a graduate of Harvard in 1676. He made

particularly good observations for that period on the Comet of

I680, which were sent to the Astronomer Royal at Greenwich. These proved later to be of immense value to NEWTON and HALLEY in computing the first orbital elements of a comet, proving a stimulus to NEWTON in writing the great Principia. The principal scholars in astronomy and mathematics of the I8th century were Professor JOHN WINTHROP of Harvard, THOMAS

ROBIE, DAVID RITTENHOUSE, and CADWALLADER COLDEN. They were the first to recognize the Newtonian philosophy and to teach fluxions and the Principia.

As for early chemistry and chemical industry, Dr. C. A. BROWNE

of the U. S. Bureau of Chemistry and Soils traced the aboriginal

236 F. E. BRASCH




influence upon the Colonial efforts along these lines. Dr. BROWNE showed how the use of many minerals, medical plants, etc., were carried over from the Indians to the Colonists and even to England. The Europeans were also instructed by Indians in methods of

dressing skins, in the use of puccoon, bloodroot, Brazil wood, cochineal and other natural products as dyestuffs, in the

employment of rubber latex for waterproofing fabrics, and in the medicinal and narcotic properties of cinchona, jalap, coca, cascara, tobacco, and numerous other plants. The Indian method of preparing the arrow poison curare, as described by HUMBOLDT, is one of the best illustrations of a native chemical art.

In the afternoon session Dr. HENRY R. VIETS of Boston introduced new facts relating to the early history of medicine in Massachusetts. Medicine was promulgated for the first hundred years in the Colonies by three types of individuals, namely, governors, churchmen, and educators. Crude as this medicine was, more particularly when mixed with religious bigotry, it seemed to serve the people well. The outstanding medical practitioner of the i8th century was ZABDIEL BOYLSTON

of Boston. He introduced the first treatment of inoculation

against smallpox, and was invited to lecture before the Royal College of Physicians and the Royal Society, being elected a member of the latter group in I726. Dr. VIETS continued the historical account of other brilliant physicians, among whom were WILLIAM DOUGLAS, a practitioner and writer of books and pamphlets; SILVESTER GARDINER, who was trained in London and studied in Paris (he established the first apothecary shop in Boston, in I744); and finally JAMES LLOYD, trained in England, who began to practice obstetrics almost at once on his return to Boston and who was the first physician in this country to do

midwifery upon a scientific basis. During LLOYD'S later period many young men who graduated from Harvard College came under his influence and instruction

The geological studies in the Colonies were not recognized due to the fact of their slow development as a science, although mining as developed by the Indians extended back many ages. Dr. FREDERICK K. MORRIS, of Massachusetts Institute of Tech-

nology, showed that there was one at least who was outstanding as a pioneer in that he gave correct interpretations of the causes

237



of earthquakes. Professor JOHN WINTHROP of Harvard College showed that earth tremors or movements were of the nature of wave motion or vibration. It was not until the early Igth century that geology as a science became free of theological implication. Dr. MORRIS illustrated his address by means of a large wall map showing various geological formations and

periods in the Colonial area. The final paper was a joint contribution from Dr. AUSTIN

H. CLARK and LEILA FORBES CLARK of the Smithsonian Institution. The history of the American Association for the Advancement of Science was shown to have been patterned after the British Association, and its origin was traced back as far as 1847, when it was first organized as the Geological Association. The first meeting was in Philadelphia, and the Association became more

fully developed in Cambridge in I849. Dr. CLARK traced in detail the gradual growth of the American Association for the Advancement of Science up to its present enormous membership of X8,ooo.

The Program Committee for this meeting consisted of the

following members of the Society: Dr. TENNEY L. DAVIS, Chair- man; Dr. LAO G. SIMONS; Dr. DOROTHY STIMSON; Dr. JOHN F. FULTON; Dr. CHAUNCEY D. LEAKE; Mr. FREDERICK E. BRASCH,

Secretary. Many of the members of the Society attended the annual

Sigma Xi address on Thursday evening the 28th at the Statler Hotel, given by Dr. HENRY E. SIGERIST, professor of the history of medicine and director of the Institute of the History of Medicine at the Johns Hopkins University. The topic was

The Foundation of human anatomy in the Renaissance." Other members attended the 8th annual meeting of the

Mathematical Association of America (Dec. 29, 1933) in Long- fellow Hall, one of the beautiful new halls of Radcliffe College. Two addresses were of special interest to historians. Professor JULIAN L. COOLIDGE: The rise and fall of projective geometry. DR. GEORGE SARTON: The study of the history of mathematics.

We must still mention the meeting in Harvard Hall, Dec. 28, devoted to " A national policy for history sites and monuments," the chairman being Dr. JOHN C. MERRIAM, President of the

Carnegie Institution of Washington, and the main speaker, VERNE

238 F. E. BRASCH




E. CHATELAIN, Chief Historian, National Parks Service, U. S.

Department of the Interior.

TENTH ANNUAL REPORT OF THE CORRESPONDING SECRETARY AND TREASURER OF THE HISTORY OF

SCIENCE SOCIETY FOR THE YEAR 1933

To the President and Council of the History of Science Society

Herewith I present the financial statement, together with the

membership status of the Society, for the year beginning December i, I932, and ending November 30, 1933.

Total membership paying to Washington office Dec. i, 1932 509 Total new members paying to Washington office for 1933 20

529

Membership paid during I933 .. . . . . .. . 387

Membership delinquent during I933 ......... 85 Membership canceled during 1933 . . . . ... . 37 New members approved during 1933 . . . ... . 20

RECEIPTS

From membership dues (including delinquents for I932) 2035.00 Book Fund transfer for advertising, secretary, etc. . 300.00 Sale of Williams & Wilkins books to Fund transferred by Secretary . . .

EXPENDITURES

For Isis ............. Advertisement ..... A. C. L. S. dues .. .... Print. -Stat . .........

Secretary aid . .......

Postage .......... Express ...........

Exch.-Telegrams ...... Railroad fare . .......

members . . 51.00 I 00.00

486... 00 2486.oo

...... I 628.00

...... 200.00

. ...... 25.00

.

...... 92.15

. . . . . . 201.00

...... . . 64.50

...... 20.25

...... 3.00

. . . . . . 152.00

239



240 F. E. BRASCH

W. & W. books .............. 51.00 Typewriter repair .............. 3.50 Notary fee ................. 2.oo Am. Men of Science ........... . 8.00

Total Expend. 2450.40 Total Receipts 2486.00

35.60

Respectfully submitted

(signed) F. E. BRASCH.

Corresponding Secretary-Treasurer.



the history of science society council record

Documents