History of Science and Technology
Other Guides
Background Information
Before you dive into primary and secondary sources, make sure you have a little bit more background on your topic so you know what you're looking for. Look for general information about your topic, and important people, places and events connected to it. Start with the background resources below.
Cambridge Histories of Science Look through the Cambridge Histories online to get an overview of your research topic. You can browse the list of topics, or search for something specific.
- The Oxford Encyclopedia of the History of American Science, Medicine, and Technology
- Science, Technology and Society
Oxford Handbooks Online: History Many volumes available to search, ranging chronologically from medieval times to the Cold War; regionally from the Americas to China; topically through race, religions, and gender to food; methodologically from oral history to environmental.
Core Databases
To find a list of core databases in the History of Science and Technology, please Browse by Subject in our Databases list. These are indexes that contain descriptions of both primary and secondary source materials.
]- IsisCBAn open access discovery service for the history of science.
Primary Source Periodicals
Primary Sources
- HathiTrustThe HathiTrust Digital Library brings together the immense collections of partner institutions in digital form, preserving them securely to be accessed and used today, and in future generations. Johns Hopkins University is a HathiTrust member, so we have access to the entire collection. You must login with your JHED login and password to have access to the entire site.
- Making of the Modern World: The Goldsmiths'-Kress Library of Economic Literature 1450-1850This database provides digital facsimile images on every page of 61,000 works of literature on economic and business published from 1450 through 1850. Full-text searching on more than 12 million pages provides researchers unparalleled access to this vast collection of material on commerce, finance, social conditions, politics, trade and transport.
- Nineteenth Century Collections OnlineContent documents the long nineteenth century and includes monographs, newspapers, pamphlets, manuscripts, ephemera, maps, statistics, and more.
- Proquest CongressionalAn index of U.S. congressional publications, with abstracts and links to full-text documents and related sites. This database includes the following collections: Executive Branch Documents, 1789-1952; Executive Orders and Presidential Proclamations, 1789-2014; Legislative Histories 1960 - Present; Bills & Laws 1789 - Present; Committee Prints & Misc. Publications 1817 - Present; Congressional Record Bound Edition & Predecessors 1789 - 1999; Congressional Record Daily Edition 1985 - Present; Congressional Research Service Reports (CRS) 1916 - Present; Hearings 1824 - Present; House & Senate Documents 1817 - Present; House & Senate Reports 1817 - Present; Serial Set 1789 - Present; and Serial Set Maps 1789 - Present.
Digital Collections
- Schenectady Museum -- Invention and Tech FilmsA selection of rare films on appliances, electric cars, transportation and more.
- Engineering and Technology History WikiOral histories and other materials related to various aspects of the history of technology, including aerospace, health and safety, and communications.
- Technical Report Archive and Image Library (TRAIL)US Governments technical reports covering agriculture, mining and more.