HISTORY OF SCIENCE DEPARTMENT
1996-97 was a relatively quiet ear for the History of Science Department. In
October, Prof. Donald deB. Beaver completed a paper on Sarah Bowdich Lee, which
has recently been accepted for publication in the Archives of Natural History.
On February 18, 1997, he gave a Bronfman Lunch talk about the scientific world
view of the middle ages, by reviewing what one needed to know to satisfy the
science requirement at a mediaeval university. From March 1 to 3, Prof. Beaver
was member of a three person team invited to review and evaluate the
environmental studies program at Skidmore College in Saratoga, New York. In
April, he finished a new biographical sketch of Mrs. R. Lee (formerly Mrs.
Bowdich) for the new edition of the Dictionary of National Biography.
Otherwise Professor Beaver continued as usual to review and referee scholarly
work during the year for various scholarly journals: the American Journal of
Physics, Spectrum (an IEEE journal), and ISIS, (History of
Science Society).