The Sociology of the Sciences Yearbook: A Personal Retrospective

Abstract

For this volume of the Yearbook, I have been asked by the editors to provide a personal account of its genesis and development as its Managing Editor for the first 20 years. This involves recalling the broader intellectual and social environment in which it was conceived and developed, and considering how this context has changed and affected the Yearbook. As well, then, as summarising the major episodes in the Yearbook’s history, I shall briefly discuss its location in what has developed as science and technology studies (STS) in many countries, and how changing state policies have affected both the Year- book and STS.