A Professional Life in the History of Science*

Abstract

It was with some compunction that I acceded to the flattering invitation from Donald Yerxa, editor of Historically Speaking, to write of a professional life in the field of my specialty. Reluctance was the greater in that I had already given an account of that career in Isis on the occasion of the 75^th anniversary of the History of Science Society in 1999. In all probability, however, there is little if any overlap between subscribers to Isis and those to Historically Speaking. That such should be the case is one of the situations discussed. Anyone who consults the earlier essay will find that it turns on personal and institutional factors. I tried not to repeat myself more than was necessary to make what follows intelligible, and ventured instead to offer some reflections on the context of my work in relation to the development of the historiography of science.