The New Dictionary of Scientific Biography

In 1965, Charles Scribner's Sons, with the support of the American Council of Learned Societies and under the leadership of Charles C. Gillispie, began the monumental task of publishing authoritative biographies of all important natural scientists and mathematicians who had lived up to that point. The resultant 18-volume Dictionary of Scientific Biography (1970-1981) has become an indispensable educational and research tool for historians of science and a popular reference work in college, high school and public libraries.

The New Dictionary of Scientific Biography extends coverage to include scientists of the twentieth century. In December of 2007, Scribner's will publish eight new print volumes, plus a fully searchable electronic edition integrating the New Dictionary of Scientific Biography entries with those from the original set.

Objectives for the New Edition Include:

• Incorporating previously omitted scientists from earlier periods, such as E. E. Just and Alfred Kinsey
• Updating entries to reflect current scholarship, e.g., new perspectives on Robert Boyle
• Adding scientists from the last half of the twentieth century, such as Richard Feynman and Barbara McClintock
• Covering scientists who have pioneered new disciplines, such as ethology and neuroscience