Science Online 2010 (program), a conference bringing together hordes of science bloggers and more to North Carolina each January, kicks off today. I will not be going, but you can follow the conference via its blog and Twitter hashtag, #scio10. Like last year, this year’s conference includes a session on the history of science:
An Open History of Science – John McKay and Eric Michael Johnson
Description: We will be talking about how the history of science and the history of the open-access movement have intersected. Steven Johnson touches on this theme in his latest book, The Invention of Air, in that 18th century British polymath Joseph Priestley was a strong advocate of publishing scientific data widely in order to create a greater dialogue between scientists. While Johnson only mentions this briefly in the case of Priestley, this theme runs strongly through the history of science and is what makes the debate over the patenting of genes or the availability of open-access journals such important topics today.
Hopefully I can attend next year, maybe team up with another Darwin/evolution-minded history of science blogger for a session.
On another note, the latest installment (#19) of the history of science blog carnival The Giant’s Shoulders is up at The Renaissance Mathematicus.
The Dispersal of Darwin 