Library Research Guide for the History of Science: Introduction

Welcome to the History of Science at Harvard! Harvard Library staff is here for you with simple questions, research consultations, class visits, and to help you find the materials you need. Contact your History of Science librarians

• Emily Bell (emilybell@fas.harvard.edu), Research Librarian and Liaison to the Department of History of Science, Lamont Library
• Fred Burchsted, (burchst@fas.harvard.edu) Research Librarian and Liaison to the Department of History of Science, Widener Library

Additional access to materials:

• Many more history of science resources: The Library Research Guide for the History of Science
• Additional general historical and contextual resources: Library Research Guide for History
  • Outline of Primary Sources for History
• For archival material: Library Research Guide for Finding Manuscripts and Archival Collections
• Finding Primary Sources Online  offers methods for finding digital libraries and digital collections on the open Web  and for finding Digital Libraries/Collections by Region or Language.
• Online Primary Source Collections for the History of Science lists digital collections at Harvard and beyond by topic to help you find primary sources for your research.

Getting What You Need section of this guide helps you gain access to anything that isn't as simple as clicking through.

Some of the top online resources in the History of Science

Try a subject dictionary, encyclopedia or handbook -- it's an easy way to get a handle on your subject. 

HOLLIS (Harvard Login for best results) is the Harvard Library catalog. You can use it to find books and articles as well as other resources. (More specifics about HOLLIS). 

History of Science, Technology and Medicine (Harvard Login)  books, book chapters, and journal articles. Some social sciences material. More information on History of Science, Technology and Medicine. 

PubMed with FullText (Harvard Login) PubMed is the most popular index of biomedical literature- the most popular source for articles in medicine, public health, and related topics. More specifics on PubMed here (note: PubMed is free; full text availability depends on library subscriptions). 

Web of Science Citation Indexes (Harvard Login) (1900- ) contains articles in all areas of science. You can use the Cited Reference Search in Web of Science to find primary source articles that cite a specified article, thus getting an idea of its reception. More information on searching the Web of Science. 

Many more history of science resources:
The Library Research Guide for the History of Science

Additional general historical and contextual resources:
Library Research Guide for History
Introductory Library Research Guide for History

Guides to general contextual resources at Harvard Library- examples:

Philosophy Resources at Harvard: Bioethics

Library Research Guide for Latin American Studies