"Thornton and Tully's Scientific Books, Libraries and Collectors", A. Hunter (ed.)

The vehicle upon which scientific ideas are delivered have changed somewhat over the centuries. This volume articulates this evolution from ancient script and scribe, through the earliest moments of "book" publishing, through to the 20th century. This may seem like a specialist niche of inquiry, and it likely is. Yet, it is an often overused cliche of "if it weren't for this" the importance and cultural nuance of the printed word would not be understood.

This volume contains jewels of discoveries much like the efforts of understanding nature and universe itself. Without dissecting each chapter, the breadth of science can be picked apart. Linnaeus's binomial creation in biology was done "originally as a means of economizing ... paper [my emphasis]." Anyone familiar with Linnaeus would have understood the economy of naming but they likely would not have understood the paper aspect.

Or Johannes Kepler usage of the book as a means to a less altruistic end, beyond the delivering of scientific ideas. "Kepler's willingness to give away copies of the book indicates that he saw the book's value not necessarily as monetary, but as an important tool in obtaining patronage and positions." Even as we move forward to the 19th century the characterizations are still valued. "The communication of novel scientific knowledge in the nineteenth century between scientific practitioners can be characterized, without overly great simplification, as the move from books to papers." Journals began taking over in the delivery of the scientific printed word.

There is still a significant diastema between historians of science and scientists as historians. I never understood this because as a practicum for my own learning, I learned through the history of science, and then through my own particular branch of science. I am fortunate, I guess, that my science is a 'historical science', never able to get away from the men (and indeed), women who created the parameters of my own activity. For that I am blessed (if I can use that term), for I am both. "Thornton and Tully's Scientific Books, Libraries and Collectors" satisfies my own inquisitive nature in this regard, and likely historians of science as well. Sadly, scientists as historians have the likelihood (based on one of the studies presented) of passing this up, for the basis of the history of science is 'the book', and scientists are less likely to collect 'the book' or understand its significance and role in the development of society. To me, this is a sad reality. And as we move to a more digitial age I worry for the printed word. Will the book be an article of inquiry like the natural history of the dodo?
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