Derek J. de Solla Price
Derek John de Solla Price ( born January 22, 1922 in Leyton, United Kingdom, † 3 September 1983) was until his death Professor of the History of Science and co-founder of Scientometrics, ie the quantitative measurement of science. The Scientometrics is a branch of science research dar. as "Avalon Professor " for the History of Science at Yale University, he developed the measurement of the content and impact of the subject matter of science itself from the consideration that published science ( in the form of publications ) in both quantity (number of publications, number of citations ) and in quality ( economic impact, affecting other areas of knowledge ) is measurable, developed by Price initiated various methods for analyzing scientific output.
Short Biography
John Price received his PhD in experimental physics at the University of London in 1946. After a three-year stay at Raffles College in Singapore, he returned to England and received his PhD again, now in the history of science. He moved to Princeton in the sequence and also worked for the Smithsonian Institute. Finally, he moved to Yale, where he remained until his death and is mainly concerned with the connections and mutual influence of various scientific publications each other ( " Networks of scientific papers" ) employed. There he was in 1959 awarded the title of the Avalon Professor of the History of Science.
The general public is likely to Price by his study of the Antikythera mechanism have become known. He analyzed the function of, inter alia, by the use of X-ray photography. In 1976 he was awarded the Leonardo da Vinci Medal, the highest prestigious award for art history, founded by Melvin Kranzberg Society for the History of Technology ( SHOT).
Little Science, Big Science
Derek de Solla Price considered the founder of Scientometrics, which is primarily attributable to his 1963 published book Little Science, Big Science. In it he describes, among other things, the exponential increase in scientific publication (information explosion), and the distribution and half-life of citations.
Others
Since 1984, awarded by the journal Scientometrics of Derek de Solla Price Award to John scientists who have made significant contributions to the field of quantitative science research.
Selected Publications
Book publications
- An Old Palmistry. 1953rd At edition of the Middle English treatise contained in MS. Digby Roll 3 Cambridge, Heffer.
- Heavenly Clockwork. The Great Astronomical Clocks of Medieval China: A Missing Link in Horological History. 1960th In collaboration with Joseph Needham and Wang Ling Monograph No. 1, Antiquarian Horological Society. Cambridge at the University Press.
- Science Since Babylon. 1962 New Haven:. Yale University Press, 1961.
- Little Science, Big Science. 1963 New York:. Columbia University Press ( German: Little Science, Big Science From his study of large-scale research, Suhrkamp Tb. Frankfurt / M. 1974).
- Gears From the Greeks: The Antikythera Mechanism - A Calendar Computer from about 80 BC 1975 New York:. Science History Publications.
- Science, Technology and Society: A Cross - Disciplinary Perspective. 1977th London and Beverly Hills: Sage Publications.