The George Sarton Medal is the most prestigious award given by the

History of Science Society The History of Science Society (HSS) is the primary professional society for the academic study of the history of science. It was founded in 1924 by George Sarton, David Eugene Smith, and Lawrence Joseph Henderson, primarily to support the publi ...

. It has been awarded annually since 1955. It is awarded to an

historian A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the stu ...

science Science is a systematic endeavor that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe. Science may be as old as the human species, and some of the earliest archeological evidence for ...

from the international community who became distinguished for "a lifetime of scholarly achievement" in the field. The medal was designed by

Bern Dibner Bern Dibner (18August 18976January 1988) was an electrical engineer, industrialist, and historian of science and technology. He originated two major US library collections in the history of science and technology. Biography Dibner was born in Lis ...

and is named after

George Sarton George Alfred Leon Sarton (; 31 August 1884 – 22 March 1956) was a Belgian-born American chemist and historian. He is considered the founder of the discipline of the history of science as an independent field of study. His most influential works ...

, the founder of the journal ''Isis'' and one of the founders of modern

history of science The history of science covers the development of science from ancient times to the present. It encompasses all three major branches of science: natural, social, and formal. Science's earliest roots can be traced to Ancient Egypt and Meso ...

. The Sarton Medalists are: *1955 –

*1956 –

Charles Singer Charles Joseph Singer (2 November 1876 – 10 June 1960) was a British historian of science, technology, and medicine. He served as medical officer in the British Army. Biography Early years Singer was born in Camberwell in London, where hi ...

and

Dorothea Waley Singer Dorothea Waley Singer, b. Cohen (1882–1964) was a British palaeographer, historian of science, medical historian and philanthropist. Biography Dorothea Waley Cohen was born in London on 17 December 1882. Her father was Nathaniel Louis Cohen, a ...

*1957 –

Lynn Thorndike Lynn Thorndike (24 July 1882, in Lynn, Massachusetts, USA – 28 December 1965, Columbia University Club, New York City) was an American historian of medieval science and alchemy. He was the son of a clergyman, Edward R. Thorndike, and the younge ...

*1958 –

John Farquhar Fulton John Farquhar Fulton (November 1, 1899 – May 29, 1960) was an American neurophysiologist and historian of science. He received numerous degrees from Oxford University and Harvard University. He taught at Magdalen College School of Medicine at ...

*1959 – Richard Shryock *1960 – Owsei Temkin *1961 –

Alexandre Koyré Alexandre Koyré (, ; born Alexandr Vladimirovich (or Volfovich) Koyra (russian: Александр Владимирович (Вольфович) Койра); 29 August 1892 – 28 April 1964), also anglicized as Alexander Koyre, was a Fren ...

*1962 –

E. J. Dijksterhuis Eduard Jan Dijksterhuis (28 October 1892, in Tilburg – 18 May 1965, in De Bilt) was a Dutch historian of science. Career Dijksterhuis studied mathematics at the University of Groningen from 1911 to 1918. His Ph.d. thesis was entitled "A Contrib ...

*1963 – Vassili Zoubov *1964 – ''not awarded'' *1965 – J. R. Partington *1966 –

Anneliese Maier Anneliese Maier (; November 17, 1905 in Tübingen, Germany – December, 1971 in Rome, Italy) was a German historian of science particularly known for her work researching natural philosophy in the middle ages. Biography Anneliese Maier was the ...

*1967 – ''not awarded'' *1968 –

Joseph Needham Noel Joseph Terence Montgomery Needham (; 9 December 1900 – 24 March 1995) was a British biochemist, historian of science and sinologist known for his scientific research and writing on the history of Chinese science and technology, in ...

*1969 – Kurt Vogel *1970 –

Walter Pagel Walter Traugott Ulrich Pagel (12 November 1898 – 25 March 1983) was a German pathologist and medical historian. Pagel was born in Berlin, the son of the famous physician and historian of medicine Julius Leopold Pagel. He married Dr. Magda Koll ...

*1971 – Willy Hartner *1972 – Kiyosi Yabuuti *1973 –

Henry Guerlac Henry Edward Guerlac (June 14, 1910 – May 29, 1985) was an American historian of science. He taught at Cornell University where he was the Goldwin Smith Professor of History and a member of the Department of History. Biography Guerlac earned ...

*1974 –

I. Bernard Cohen I. Bernard Cohen (1 March 1914 – 20 June 2003) was the Victor S. Thomas Professor of the history of science at Harvard University and the author of many books on the history of science and, in particular, Isaac Newton and Benjamin Franklin. C ...

*1975 –

René Taton René Taton (4 April 1915 – 9 August 2004) was a French author, historian of science The history of science covers the development of science from ancient times to the present. It encompasses all three major branches of science: natura ...

*1976 –

*1977 – Derek T. Whiteside *1978 –

Adolph Pavlovich Yushkevich Adolph-Andrei Pavlovich Yushkevich (russian: Адо́льф-Андре́й Па́влович Юшке́вич; 15 July 1906 – 17 July 1993) was a Soviet historian of mathematics, leading expert in medieval mathematics of the East and the work ...

*1979 –

Maria Luisa Righini-Bonelli Maria Luisa Righini-Bonelli (November 11, 1917 – December 18, 1981) was an Italian science historian and educator. The daughter of General Luigi Bonelli and Adele Giamperoli, she was born Maria Luisa Bonelli in Pesaro. She studied Spanish l ...

*1980 –

Marshall Clagett Marshall Clagett (January 23, 1916, Washington, D.C. – October 21, 2005, Princeton, New Jersey) was an American history of science, historian of science who specialized in Science in the Middle Ages, medieval science. John Murdoch describes him ...

*1981 – A. Rupert Hall and

Marie Boas Hall Marie Boas Hall (October 18, 1919 – February 23, 2009) was a historian of science and is considered one of the postwar period pioneers of the study of the Scientific Revolution during the 16th and 17th centuries. Biography and career Marie ...

*1982 –

Thomas S. Kuhn Thomas Samuel Kuhn (; July 18, 1922 – June 17, 1996) was an American philosopher of science whose 1962 book ''The Structure of Scientific Revolutions'' was influential in both academic and popular circles, introducing the term '' paradigm ...

*1983 –

Georges Canguilhem Georges Canguilhem (; ; 4 June 1904 – 11 September 1995) was a French philosopher and physician who specialized in epistemology and the philosophy of science (in particular, biology). Life and work Canguilhem entered the École Normale Supé ...

*1984 –

Charles Coulston Gillispie Charles Coulston Gillispie (; August 6, 1918 – October 6, 2015) was an American historian of science. He was the Dayton-Stockton Professor of History of Science, Emeritus at Princeton University. He was succeeded by Arno J. Mayer. Life The son ...

*1985 – Co-winners: Paolo Rossi (philosopher and historian of science) and

Richard S. Westfall S. Westfall (April 22, 1924 – August 21, 1996) was an American academic, biographer and historian of science. He is best known for his biography of Isaac Newton and his work on the scientific revolution of the 17th century. Life Born in Fo ...

*1986 –

Ernst Mayr Ernst Walter Mayr (; 5 July 1904 – 3 February 2005) was one of the 20th century's leading evolutionary biologists. He was also a renowned Taxonomy (biology), taxonomist, tropical explorer, ornithologist, Philosophy of biology, philosopher o ...

*1987 – G.E.R. Lloyd *1988 –

Stillman Drake Stillman Drake (December 24, 1910 – October 6, 1993) was a Canadian historian of science best known for his work on Galileo Galilei (1569–1642). Drake published over 131 books, articles, and book chapters on Galileo. Including his translati ...

*1989 –

Gerald Holton Gerald James Holton (born May 23, 1922) is an American physicist, historian of science, and educator, whose professional interests also include philosophy of science and the fostering of careers of young men and women. He is Mallinckrodt Profes ...

*1990 –

A. Hunter Dupree Anderson Hunter Dupree (29 January 1921 – 30 November 2019) was an American historian and one of the pioneer historians of the history of science and technology in the United States. He died in November 2019 at the age of 98. Early education T ...

*1991 – Mirko D. Grmek *1992 –

Edward Grant Edward Grant (April 6, 1926 – June 21, 2020) was an American historian of medieval science. He was named a Distinguished Professor in 1983. Other honors include the 1992 George Sarton Medal, for "a lifetime scholarly achievement" as an histori ...

and George A. van Sande *1993 – John L. Heilbron *1994 –

Allen G. Debus Allen George Debus (August 16, 1926 – March 6, 2009) was an American historian of science, known primarily for his work on the history of chemistry and alchemy. In 1991 he was honored at the University of Chicago with an academic conference he ...

*1995 –

Charles E. Rosenberg Charles Ernest Rosenberg (born 1936) is an American historian of medicine. He is Professor of the History of Science and Medicine and the Ernest E. Monrad Professor in the Social Sciences at Harvard University. Early life and education Rosenb ...

*1996 –

Loren Graham Loren R. Graham (born June 29, 1933, in Hymera, Indiana) is an American historian of science, particularly science in Russia. Career He has taught and published at Indiana University, Columbia University, the Massachusetts Institute of Techno ...

*1997 – Betty Jo Teeter Dobbs *1998 – Thomas L. Hankins *1999 –

David C. Lindberg David Charles Lindberg (November 15, 1935 – January 6, 2015) was an American historian of science. His main focus was in the history of medieval and early modern science, especially physical science and the relationship between religion and sc ...

*2000 –

Frederic L. Holmes Frederic Lawrence Holmes (6 February 1932, Cincinnati, Ohio – 21 March 2003, New Haven, Connecticut) was an American historian of science, specifically for chemistry, medicine and biology. Holmes earned his bachelor's degree in biology from Massa ...

*2001 – Daniel J. Kevles *2002 – John Colton Greene *2003 –

Nancy Siraisi Nancy Gillian Siraisi (born 1932) is an American historian of medicine, and distinguished professor emerita in history at Hunter College, and City University of New York. Life Siraisi received a B.A. (1953) and an M.A. (1958) from the University o ...

*2004 – Robert E. Kohler *2005 –

A. I. Sabra Abdelhamid Ibrahim Sabra (1924-2013) was a professor of the history of science specializing in the history of optics and science in medieval Islam. He died December 18, 2013. Sabra provided English translation and commentary for Books I-III *Sab ...

*2006 –

Mary Jo Nye Mary Jo Nye (born December 5, 1944) is an American historian of science and Horning Professor in the Humanities emerita of the History Department at Oregon State University. She is known for her work on the relationships between scientific discov ...

*2007 – Martin J. S. Rudwick *2008 – Ronald L. Numbers *2009 –

John E. Murdoch John Emery Murdoch (May 10, 1927 – September 16, 2010) was an American academic. Educated in philosophy at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, Murdoch spent most of his career at Harvard University. At Harvard, he was Professor of History ...

*2010 – Michael McVaugh *2011 –

Robert J. Richards Robert J. Richards (born 1942) is an author and the Morris Fishbein Distinguished Service Professor of the History of Science and Medicine at the University of Chicago. He has written or edited seven books about the history of science as well as ...

*2012 –

Lorraine Daston Lorraine Daston (born June 9, 1951 in East Lansing, Michigan) is an American historian of science. Director emerita of the Max Planck Institute for the History of Science (MPIWG) in Berlin, and visiting professor in the Committee on Social Thoug ...

*2013 –

Simon Schaffer Simon J. Schaffer (born 1 January 1955) is a professor of the history and philosophy of science at the Department of History and Philosophy of Science at the University of Cambridge and was editor of ''The British Journal for the History of Sc ...

*2014 –

Steven Shapin Steven Shapin (born 1943) is an American historian and sociologist of science. He is the Franklin L. Ford Research Professor of the History of Science at Harvard University. He is considered one of the earliest scholars on the sociology of scienti ...

*2015 – Robert Fox *2016 –

Katharine Park Katharine Park is a Radcliffe Professor of the History of Science at Harvard University. She specializes in the history of gender, sexuality, and the female body in medieval and Renaissance Europe, as well as categories and practices of experience ...

*2017 – Garland E. Allen *2018 –

Sally Gregory Kohlstedt Sally Gregory Kohlstedt (born 1943) is an American historian of science. She is a professor in the Department of Earth Sciences and in the Program in History of Science and Technology at the University of Minnesota. Kohlstedt served as the pres ...

*2019 –

M. Norton Wise Matthew Norton Wise (born 1940) is an American historian of science who serves as a professor at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). He is also the co-director of the UCLA Center for Society and Genetics. He has famously attacked G ...

*2020 – Jim Bennett *2021 –

Bernadette Bensaude-Vincent Bernadette Bensaude-Vincent (born 7 July 1949) is a French philosopher, historian and historian of science and a professor emeritus at University of Paris 1 Pantheon-Sorbonne. She considers the study of the history of science to be essential fo ...

*2022 –

Margaret W. Rossiter Margaret W. Rossiter (born July 1944) is an American historian of science, and Marie Underhill Noll Professor of the History of Science, at Cornell University. Rossiter coined the term Matilda effect for the systematic suppression of information ...

References

External links

History of Science Society, The Sarton Medalists
* *{{cite web, title=2008 Award Winners , author=History of Science Society , author-link=History of Science Society , accessdate=2008-11-26 , url=http://www.hssonline.org/about/society_awards2008.html , url-status=dead , archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20090707081704/http://www.hssonline.org/about/society_awards2008.html , archivedate=2009-07-07 History of science awards American science and technology awards Awards established in 1955 1955 establishments in the United States

See also

References

External links