350 Years of Scientific Journals

Abstract

Downloaded From: http://nanolithography.spiedigitallibrary.org/ on 02/16/2015 Terms of Use: http://spiedl.org/terms 350 Years of Scientific Journals In March of 1665, a seemingly small thing happened: the first scientific journal was published. For the next 350 years this new communication forum went through fits and starts, changed its form and language, and eventually flourished into the premier mechanism for documenting and propagating our communal collection of scientific knowledge. Today, almost all advances in science, major as well as minor, find their way onto the pages of a scientific journal. But in 1665 this was certainly not the case. From the beginning of the scientific revolution in the 16th and 17th centuries, scientific discoveries were mostly communi-cated in two basic forms: self-published books and pamphlets, and personal letters (usually to other scientists). Books were often of the magnum opus style, a collection of one's life's work. Letters were used to spread more timely results and to claim priority for them. As the practice of science spread and communities of scientists grew, letters took on a more commu-nal form and were often shared, copied, and forwarded to many like-minded scientists, forming what are now called " hidden col-leges, " the forerunners of today's professional societies.