''Annals of Science'' is a

peer-reviewed Peer review is the evaluation of work by one or more people with similar competencies as the producers of the work ( peers). It functions as a form of self-regulation by qualified members of a profession within the relevant field. Peer review ...

academic journal An academic journal (or scholarly journal or scientific journal) is a periodical publication in which Scholarly method, scholarship relating to a particular academic discipline is published. They serve as permanent and transparent forums for the ...

covering the

history of science and technology The history of science and technology (HST) is a field of history that examines the development of the understanding of the natural world (science) and humans' ability to manipulate it (technology) at different points in time. This academic discip ...

. It is published by

Taylor & Francis Taylor & Francis Group is an international company originating in the United Kingdom that publishes books and academic journals. Its parts include Taylor & Francis, CRC Press, Routledge, F1000 (publisher), F1000 Research and Dovepress. It i ...

and was established in 1936. The founding

editor-in-chief An editor-in-chief (EIC), also known as lead editor or chief editor, is a publication's editorial leader who has final responsibility for its operations and policies. The editor-in-chief heads all departments of the organization and is held accoun ...

was the Canadian historian of science Harcourt Brown.R.E.W. Maddison
Index to Volumes 1 to 25 (1936-1969)
. ''Annals of Science''.

History

The journal was established after Brown visited Britain for a year and discussed where he could publish work on the history of science with Henry Robinson of the library of the

Royal Society of London The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, r ...

. They decided that aside from the Belgian ''

Isis Isis was a major goddess in ancient Egyptian religion whose worship spread throughout the Greco-Roman world. Isis was first mentioned in the Old Kingdom () as one of the main characters of the Osiris myth, in which she resurrects her sla ...

'', there were few outlets for such work, and so founded the ''Annals of Science'' with Douglas McKie (

University College London University College London (Trade name, branded as UCL) is a Public university, public research university in London, England. It is a Member institutions of the University of London, member institution of the Federal university, federal Uni ...

), who was the main editor. The aim was to publish faster than ''Isis'' and with a focus on the modern period. The editors chose to have a bright orange cover to make it stand out against the usual blue or grey of periodicals at the time. Around the time of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, only three volumes were published over a period of 12 years. From 1956 to 1958, the '' Bulletin of the British Society for the History of Science'' was published as part of the ''Annals of Science''. In 1974, then editor

Ivor Grattan-Guinness Ivor Owen Grattan-Guinness (23 June 1941 – 12 December 2014) was a historian of mathematics and logic. Life Grattan-Guinness was born in Bakewell, England; his father was a mathematics teacher and educational administrator. He gained his ...

moved the journal from 4 to 6 issues per year; 100 issues were published from 1936 to 1969 and a further hundred by 1986. Grattan-Guinness also redesigned the cover and changed the tagline from "The History of Science and Technology since the Renaissance" to "The History of Science and Technology from the Thirteenth Century".Cumulative Index Volumes 26 to 43 (1970-1986)
. ''Annals of Science''.

Reception

David M. Knight has said that "The major event of the first phase of the development of British journals f the history of scienceis the founding of Annals of Science in 1936."David M. Knight. The Case of Annals of Science in Journals and History of Science. Marco Beretta, Claudio Pogliano, Pietro Redondi. L.S. Olschki, 1998. Gordon L. Miller called it a "respected scholarly journal". A review in ''

Astrophysical Journal ''The Astrophysical Journal'' (''ApJ'') is a peer-reviewed scientific journal of astrophysics and astronomy, established in 1895 by American astronomers George Ellery Hale and James Edward Keeler. The journal discontinued its print edition and ...

'' from the year of the launch noted approvingly that the policy of studying the history of science from the renaissance was "liberally interpreted" to accept papers studying earlier periods.

Editors

Robinson was an editor until 1960 and McKie until 1967. Subsequent editors were: * Niels Hugh de Vaudrey Heathcote (1952–1974) * W.A. Smeaton (1960–1965) * F.W. Gibbs (1961–1965) * Trevor I. Williams (1966-?) * R.E.W Maddison (1966-?) * Harold J. Sharlin (1969-) * Hans Kangro (1969-) * Ivor Grattan-Guinness (1974–81, book review editor until 1987) * G.L.E. Turner (1981-?), * Trevor Levere (1999–2014) * Robert Iliffe (2011–present) and David Miller (2014–present). Grattan-Guinness described his experience in taking on the editorship in an article in the journal in 2010. He had published a biographical article on

Georg Cantor Georg Ferdinand Ludwig Philipp Cantor ( ; ; – 6 January 1918) was a mathematician who played a pivotal role in the creation of set theory, which has become a foundations of mathematics, fundamental theory in mathematics. Cantor establi ...

in the journal in 1971 and met the-then editor, Heathcote, during the process of publication. Heathcote was overloaded with work — "the journal seemed never to reject anything" — and he invited Grattan-Guinness to join the editorial board. He joined the board and met with the publishers in June 1974, when he told John Cheney, the house editor, that "the journal had acquired a poor reputation in recent years", which surprised Cheney. That same afternoon Cheney rang Heathcote only to find that he was in the process of writing his resignation letter recommending Grattan-Guinness as his successor — the younger man was immediately offered the post of editor. Taylor & Francis would otherwise have closed the journal.

Abstracting and indexing

''Annals of Science'' is abstracted and indexed in: According to the ''

Journal Citation Reports ''Journal Citation Reports'' (''JCR'') is an annual publication by Clarivate. It has been integrated with the Web of Science and is accessed from the Web of Science Core Collection. It provides information about academic journals in the natur ...

'', the journal has a 2010

impact factor The impact factor (IF) or journal impact factor (JIF) of an academic journal is a type of journal ranking. Journals with higher impact factor values are considered more prestigious or important within their field. The Impact Factor of a journa ...

of 0.222.

References

External links

* {{official website, http://www.tandfonline.com/toc/tasc20/current Academic journals established in 1936 History of science journals English-language journals Taylor & Francis academic journals Quarterly journals 1936 establishments in the United Kingdom