"Harvard’s new “open collection” contributes to the understanding of the global, social–history, and public–policy implications of diseases and offers important historical perspectives on the science and the public policy of epidemiology today."
This guide is provided as a monthly current awareness service. Selected, recent dissertations and theses are listed according to topic and the month of their discovery in Dissertation Abstracts. Authorized Pitt users may follow links from citations to corresponding records in the Digital Dissertations database, where complete citations and abstracts may be viewed, and when available, the entire item may be downloaded for free. For those without subscription access to ProQuest database of Doctoral Dissertations, individual dissertations may be purchased directly from ProQuest, 300 N. Zeeb Rd., Ann Arbor, MI 48103, 1-800-521-0600 x2513.
WW2 People’s War is a site dedicated to capturing people's personal stories of World War Two in a lasting archive. Military or civilian, on the front-line or home front, every story plays a vital part in helping future generations understand the sacrifices made by a nation at war. Please note that WW2 People’s War is an internet-only project, which means that contributions made by letter or telephone cannot be accepted. However, there are now over 2,000 People’s War centres nationwide where you can find help getting your story online.
The People's War website is produced by the BBC and accompanies their large amount of historically-oriented content. Visitors can read stories submitted by others, or register and submit their own story. There is a research desk with starting points and guides to researching familiy history, and there are related discussion boards that are very active. Also featured are articles that outline the major activities of the War, and suggested activities for educational projects in addition to the thousands of personal stories.
The BBC People's War website was launched in November 2003 and will be collecting personal stories through November 2005, after which the materials will be archived as a resource and tribute. Sharing your story requires registering with the site, but you can contribute your story and communicate with the more than 10,000 contributors and registered users. The stories are edited and approved before they appear on the site, although only the author is held to the truthfulness of the submission.
The Research Desk provides articles about British regions, major events, and theatres of the war and links to the BBC History website that has thousands of maps, galleries, and articles. Guides to researching family history cover medals, badges, service records, and photos. The very active "Ask and answer" Research Desks are divided topically and are used by many as they are uncovering their own family history. In addition, the education section offers lesson plans and activites for school project, which revolve around interviewing individuals about their experience of the war.
The purpose and staffing of the site are clearly introduced, and the writing is rather informal. While there aren't simple URL's, the design and layout of the site is very straightforward and the discussion board and user pages. The resources of the BBC are apparent in this site, from the professional design, extensive interaction supported by the site, and the more than 200 "People's War Centres" throughout Britain to support the submission of digital materials. The site offers so much varied material, from the concise articles to the thousands of personal stories, that it is a necessary visit for anyone interested in the personal experiences of the British in World War II, on the frontline and the home front.
Joan Fragaszy
Center for History and New Media
April 29, 2005
Eric Weisstein's World of Science contains budding encyclopedias of astronomy, scientific biography, chemistry, and physics.
This resource has been assembled over more than a decade by internet encyclopedist Eric W. Weisstein with assistance from the internet community.
Eric Weisstein's World of Science is written and maintained by the author as a public service for scientific knowledge and education. Although it is often difficult to find explanations for technical subjects that are both clear and accessible, this web site bridges the gap by placing an interlinked framework of mathematical exposition and illustrative examples at the fingertips of every internet user.
This site serves as the hub to several Eric Weisstein encyclopedic science websites. From this page, a user can access sites on astronomy, chemistry, mathematics, physics, and scientific biography. Each of the sites devoted to a discipline offer definitions, explanations of theories, experiments, and formulas. The biography site offers the most pure history and it contains short entries on more than a thousand personalities. The entries are organized alphabetically, by discipline, by time period, and by nationality. The entries continue to be compiled by the managers of the site from contributions of volunteers in the scientific community.
Biography of Lamarck
This section of the Lamarck Site contains documents and testimonies concerning the life of the french scientist. Texts which, on some points of Lamarck's life, sometimes constituted the only information source, as for example the ambiguous funeral oration pronounced by Georges Cuvier or the anecdotes printed by Isidore Bourdon, who declares that he received them from Lamarck himself, at the end of his life.
This site is a project of the French Center for Research in the History of Science and Technology. The site contains digitized versions of a range of manuscripts produced by Jean-Baptiste Lamarck, a noted Zoologist whose work influenced early evolutionists like Darwin. The manuscripts include letters, books, discourses, memoirs, and others. There are also sections devoted to his critics and his pupils. The site is offered in English, but almost all of the material is only available in French.
Eighty percent of the scientists who have ever lived are alive today. More surprisingly, the same statement could have been made one, two, or even three centuries ago. Not only has science been expanding rapidly since the scientific revolution of the seventeenth century, it has emerged as a dominant force in our culture. This suggests why many educators have realized that an understanding of the evolution of science and of its influence on our society is a vital part of education. Study of the history of science provides just such understanding.
This introduction of the History of Science by Michael J. Crowe offers undergraduates a description of the field and a rationale for why this subject is interesting and important. The story gains perspective by quotes papered throughout the essay from scholars who have previously commented on the history of science. The site also answers popular questions undergrads might ask and suggests questions for discussion and reflection.
Welcome to JAHC
This is the home page for the Journal of the Association for History and Computing. The Journal of the Association of History and Computing is a fully peer-reviewed journal and started online publication in June of 1998.
This site is the online home of the Journal of the Association for History and Computing. The site offers free access to the current edition of the journal as well as back issues. The Journal covers a wide range of topics dealing with changes computers and new technologies have brought to historical professions. One of the most unique and helpful contributions of the Journal is its reviews of E-Journals and E-resources, a body of work which is often ignored or underutilized. The site is updated three times annually in the winter, spring, and fall.
Before the 1979 accident at Pennsylvania's Three Mile Island, few had heard of the nuclear power plant on the Susquehanna River. But the crisis that began 20 years ago in the early morning of March 28 quickly turned the plant and its giant cooling towers into icons in the long national argument over the safety of nuclear energy.
In 1999 the Washington Post produced a special report on the twentieth anniversary of the accident at Three Mile Island. There is a photo gallery and contemporary coverage of the event separated into fourteen chapters, three appendices, and a glossary. There also are links to subsequent articles about the cleanup of the nuclear reactor and the lingering health effects on local residents.
In addition to photos and articles, the website hosts transcrips of online discussions where readers posed questions to the former Pennsylvania governor Richard Thronburgh and to Washington Post energy reporter Martha Hamilton. Individual readers had the opportunity to share their personal story as well, also submitted through the online discussion format.
Utilizing over 800 scanned documents, photographs, audio clips and video excerpts, this website narrates the incredible achievement of Linus Pauling and others in the discovery of the nature of the chemical bond. Scattered throughout the project are images of a number of very important and extremely rare items, most of which are held within The Valley Library's Ava Helen and Linus Pauling Papers, and many of which have not been previously displayed. It is expected that this website will serve as a primary reference point for individuals interested in the history of chemical bond.
The Nature of the Chemical Bond: A Documentary History is a digital history project of the Special Collections Division of Valley Library at Oregon State University, where Pauling was a 1923 graduate. In celebration of the fiftieth anniversary of Pauling’s first Nobel, the project documents the events surrounding Pauling’s most phenomenal discovery.
Linus Pauling is known as the twentieth century’s greatest chemist for his work integrating the fields of chemistry and quantum physics. The description of the nature of the chemical bond was only one of Pauling’s many significant contributions to science, and his prolific career made him the only person to have won two unshared Nobel Prizes.
The Nature of the Chemical Bond: A Documentary History is a digital history project of the Special Collections Division of Valley Library at Oregon State University, where Pauling was a 1923 graduate. In celebration of the fiftieth anniversary of Pauling’s first Nobel, the project documents the events surrounding Pauling’s most phenomenal discovery.
The site is well organized and divided into three sections. The first, narrative section of the site tells the story of Pauling’s development as a young scientist influenced by other greats such as Bohr and Schrödinger. The story is interesting and informative and the writers have done well presenting the chemistry with emphasis on the meaning and importance of each development without confusing those who lack a chemical background. This section boasts 49 “chapters” detailing Pauling’s history, but these chapters are, in some cases, little more than a couple of paragraphs. Still, the amount and depth of information available is substantial.
In the second section, a visitor will find a mountain of primary manuscripts and correspondence as well as one of the jewels of the site--a list of “key participants.” Throughout the previous narrative, the names of the most famous or important people who worked with and influenced Pauling are linked to pages that give extra information about these individuals. The information includes the years the person lived, one or more quotes about his relationship to Pauling, and links to any audio or visual clips available. But most importantly, there is a record of the location and contact information for the archive that holds the papers of each supplemental characters. Researchers thus find references to information about the key figures surrounding Pauling at the peak of his career.
Other resources available in the document section of the site include digital images of Pauling’s published works, Pauling’s correspondence from 1925-1939, manuscripts totaling more than 300 pages of notes and lectures, pictures, illustrations, and quotes. Audio and video clips are forthcoming and will enrich the site by allowing visitors to hear and see Pauling speak about his work. All told, the site contains more that 800 digital documents.
The final section, “Linus Pauling Day-By-Day,” offers calendar-style pages that place the scientist’s correspondence, work, and travel into an easy-to-follow timeline. Users can click on each day to find all of Pauling’s known activities for that date including entries as obscure as making a payment to the DMV.
The site is well designed, attractive, and easy to navigate. The sections are cross-linked so that related information is quickly at hand. A list of links and a well-developed bibliography also contribute to the success of the site. Overall, The Nature of the Chemical Bond: A Documentary History is a fitting tribute and resource for a truly important scientific personality.
Miles Travis
George Mason University
February 3, 2005
The history of homeopathy combines the high drama and intrigue commonly found in the best efforts of the silver screen. Although a movie has not yet been made about homeopathy, it is a film waiting to happen.
Homeopathy became spectacularly popular in the United States and Europe in the 1800s and its strongest advocates included European royalty, American entrepreneurs, literary giants, and religious leaders. But at the time that it was gaining widespread popularity, it became the object of deep-seated animosity and vigilant opposition from establishment medicine. The conflict between homeopathy and orthodox medicine was protracted and bitter. We know who won the first round of this conflict. We await the results of the second round. Hopefully, we will soon discover that a "fight" over healing is inappropriate and that various approaches to healing are all necessary to build a comprehensive and effective health care system.
