Trailblazing: 350 Years of Royal Society Publishing
Though 2009 had enough significant scientific anniversaries to be “The International Year of Science”, 2010 won’t be without its celebrations. The Royal Society will celebrate its 350th anniversary, and as part of the celebration, they’ve release a fantastic site highlighting key scientific publications of the Philosophical Transactions between 1666 to 2008.
Entitled Trailblazing, the site is a movable timeline of important discoveries and events in the history of science. White bubbles mark events, and red bubbles mark key scientific papers published by the Royal Society. Click the red bubbles for a signed popup including a signed essay explaining the paper’s significance and context, links to further information and free full text of the scanned original paper.
Content isn’t restricted to perennial favorites alone. Sure, the discovery of DNA is included, but so are reports on the first blood transfusion, early eye surgery, probability, and geoengineering. It’s a nifty way to get a quick overview of largely British science from 1660 or so, could be a great place for students to browse as they narrow down research topics, or just enjoy making some serendipitous discoveries.
Tags: history of science, Primary Sources, royal society, sts, timelines