The History of Science Society (HSS), founded in 1924, is the primary professional society for the academic study of the history of science. The society has over 3,000 members worldwide. It publishes the quarterly journal Isis and the yearly journal Osiris, sponsors the IsisCB: History of Science Index, and holds an annual conference. , the current president of the HSS is Evelynn M. Hammonds.

History

The History of Science Society was founded in 1924 by George Sarton, David Eugene Smith, and Lawrence Joseph Henderson, primarily to support the publication of Isis, a journal of the history of science Sarton had started in 1912 in Belgium. George Sarton edited the journal Isis from 1913 until 1952, when he retired. Bernard Cohen served as managing editor of Isis from 1947 to 1952 and took over as editor from 1952 to 1958. Subsequent editors of Isis include Harry Woolf, 1959–1963; Robert P. Multhauf, 1964–1978; Arnold Thackray (1979–1985); Charles E. Rosenberg, 1986–1988; Ronald Numbers, 1989–1993; Margaret W. Rossiter, 1994–2003; Bernard Lightman, 2004–2014; H. Floris Cohen, 2014–2019; co-editors Alexandra Hui and Matthew Lavine, 2019–2024; and Projit Bihari Mukharji and Elise K. Burton 2024–present. Thackray also served as editor of Osiris from 1984 to 1994 and was responsible to returning it to activity. During its early years in America, the journal was published by the Harvard Printing Office. It has since been edited from the University of Pennsylvania, the University of Chicago, the University of Wisconsin, Cornell, Toronto, Utrecht, and Mississippi State University. Papers from the Society are held by The Smithsonian Institution Archives. The History of Science Society's "Forum for the History of the Human Sciences", in 1989, is considered to mark the inclusion of psychology and other social sciences in the history of science. As of June 16, 2022, the University of Pennsylvania and the Science History Institute in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, announced that they would become co-hosts of the History of Science Society, which had been located at Notre Dame University since 2010.

Awards and recognition

HSS sponsors two special lectures annually: In addition, the HSS awards a number of prizes: