• within the bounds of the history of science in the U.S., and
• interesting and significant enough to speak to broader issues, but also
• researchable with resources at your disposal, and
• small enough for you to make your own original contribution.

Some successful topics of past papers:

• The storm controversy and the development of American meteorology
• Thomas Jefferson's contributions to natural history:  his observations on botany and horticulture
• Science and the Church:  the controversy over John Rock's birth control pill
• Kleitman, Aserinsky, and Dement:  the history of sleep research in the United States (and modern sleep research today)
• Scientific constructionist:  Thomas Jefferson, the Constitution, freedom, and the sciences
• NASA and long-duration space flight

• Check out print sources:
• The history of science in the United States:  an encyclopedia, in the Reference room Q127.U6 H57 2001.  A wonderful place to begin brainstorming and looking for secondary sources.
• Historical writing on American science (Osiris 1 (1985)), on reserve at Moffitt.  A solid survey, which will also give you a sense of what other historians have written about. 
• Scan the Library of Congress subject headings.  There are topics you may never have imagined.
• Look through The scientific enterprise in America, including the appendix listing articles in the journal Isis

Example:  Say you are interested in the atomic bomb.

You cannot write a paper on American nuclear weapons program, or the Manhattan Project, or even Los Alamos.  These are all too broad.  If you start looking at the secondary literature on Los Alamos, however, you will discover lots of interesting smaller questions.  You might settle on the topic:  In what unexpected ways might Los Alamos have been important in the development of the electronic computer?

Technology and medicine are acceptable in their relation to science, but there are large parts of both that have little to do with it.  Thus Henry Ford, the pioneer of automotive mass construction, is not a good choice.  If you want to do aviation, it will need to be related to research.  (For a successful example, see the paper on the jet engine;  but again, that topic is taken.)  If you pick a topic without a scientific connection, you will have to redefine it;  and you will be happier finding this out sooner than later.

There is plenty of interesting research to be done on materials that you cannot get your hands on:  local records for events on the East Coast, classified documents that require Freedom of Information Act requests.  If you cannot find the sources, you will have to redefine;  and, again, the sooner you determine this, the happier you will be.  On the other hand, there are strange and interesting sources in our library — for instance, early American books and periodicals on microfilm.

History at home can be as significant as history in the large.  Moreover, the sources will be richer.  Think about the university as an institution, its laboratories and researchers, or other Bay Area developments.  Through the UC systemwide library collection (including all the UC campuses' libraries) you can get easy access to a great variety of materials on science in California.  (But please, no papers on Ernest Lawrence.  There is already one on the website.)

Choosing an appropriate topic means following certain types of questions and sources.  If you are interested in the science that went into the construction of the Bay Bridge, you will not gain much from news reports on the opening celebration.  You would be better off looking for technical reports.

In this class, we read a range of primary sources.  Look for kinds of documents or items that intrigue you, then formulate a topic around them.  You can learn a great deal even by scanning items on the library shelves.  But if you go this route, make a point of coming back to a historical question.  You don't want to just report on the sources, but say something about their context and significance.

You can often find primary sources through secondary sources, or you can search for them directly.  One good strategy:  find the name of an individual involved in your matter, searching for it as author and subject;  then follow up the subject headings.

Berkeley has excellent primary resources for our subject:

• Texts, journals, and reports in the main and branch libraries (Biosciences, Physics, Earth Sciences, etc.), accessible through the catalog or even by scanning the shelves
• A large number of early American reprints on microprint, again accessible through the catalog
• The manuscript and rare book collections of the Bancroft Library, especially on the history of California and the West, the university as an institution, and its scientists;  you may also explore the Online Archive of California
• The interview collections of the Regional Oral History Office, particularly rich for California mining, agriculture, and science and the history of the University of California.  See ROHO's subject lists.
• Materials that can be borrowed through Interlibrary Borrowing (for instance, on medicine from UC San Francisco, agricultural sciences from Davis, horticulture from Irvine)

• Resources for History 101S Projects — Primary Sources: Print
• Resources for History 101S Projects — Primary Sources: Archives

Your starting points for finding secondary sources should be

• The history of science in the United States:  an encyclopedia, in the Reference room Q127.U6 H57 2001.
• The History of Science Society's recommended reading list  (Yes, there is a History of Science Society.)
• A list of History of science reference sources

Two databases include articles as well as books.  Articles are often more specific and focused than books, not to mention shorter.  Don't neglect them!  Try searching for title or subject keywords.

• The History of science and technology database (from on campus)  An excellent place to start.  Has citations to nearly all books and articles ever published on the subject since the mid-1970s.
• The America: history and life database(from on campus).  Include abstracts (short summaries) of articles.

• Historical writing on American science, on reserve at Moffitt
• The history of science and technology in the United States:  a critical and selective bibliography, Humanities and Area Studies reading room Q125.A12 R6
• Biographical dictionary of American science, Humanities and Area Studies reading room biography section Q141.E37
• Biographical index to American science, Humanities and Area Studies reading room biography section Q141.E373 1990

Finally, think back to the larger domains into which your topic fits.  For instance, if you are writing on the development of kevlar, look for references on the history of chemical engineering.  Familiarize yourself with the relevant Library of Congress subject headings. The first part of each double-lettered range (QC, TK, etc.) often includes histories and biographies.

Your paper must use sources critically.  Ask who wrote them, when, for what purpose;  consider what biases they may show.  These strictures apply to secondary sources as well.  Secondary sources, after all, are produced by the same process you are engaging in.  There is plenty of garbage published, and you should gain practice in judging it:  is the publisher reputable (say, a university press) or a vanity house (a publisher that puts out books that otherwise would not get published).  Is it aimed at sensation, amusement, or thoughtful reflection?  Is it open- or closed-minded?

In constructing your argument, you need to do more than reiterate your secondary sources.  You must use at least two of them;  weigh them against one another.  Don't simply cite primary materials as ornamentation to a narrative already laid out by another author.  Think about them, make interpretive use of them, and build them into your argument.

The web is used as much for  public relations and entertainment as for information.  Ask who put up a site and why.

Visit the following sites and browse around them a bit.  Try out your critical skills:  how would you judge them?  My assessment follows.

• America's Great Depression.  Assessment?
• DuPont Overview: 200 Years of History.  Assessment?
• A Science Odyssey: People and Discoveries.  Assessment?
• Eugenics Archive. Assessment?
• Classics in the History of Psychology. Assessment?
• Stephanie L. Kwolek.  Assessment?
• Lawrence and His Laboratory.  Assessment?

Just as you do not need to cite an encyclopedia that leads you to other sources, you do not have to cite every website you visit.  When you do cite, cite properly.  Follow the format.

Library instruction and tours
The introductory classes will show you the basics of use;  the intermediate/advanced ones teach intelligent use of the web. 

Library research guides
Includes a topical list of advanced resources

Guide to primary source research
Brainstorming and strategies

Assistance from library reference staff
Private appointments with research specialists

On to:
Moving towards the final paper (assignments)

Copyright © Cathryn Carson 2002