bwaber@bookwyrm.social reviewed The Scientific Journal by Alex Csiszar
A Revelatory Examination of How Journals and Articles Became Markers of Scientific Prestige
5 stars
This book captures the transition from scientific societies to the journal as the center of the scientific world, with Csiszar documenting the confluence of technological, political, and scientific changes that amalgamated to become our current system. It's illuminating that articles gained their prominence because some royal society members got annoyed that membership was growing too large and wanted some way to thin the ranks, hitting upon those who had written for their publication. Still, this move away from the book and deliberations and grand projects within societies didn't happen all at once, and while certainly the early instantiations of what we would recognize as the modern journal, complete with reviewing process, was certainly developed to cope with some of the problems that came up it becomes quite clear that these developments were choices rooted in the incentives of those in power in the scientific community at the time. This book …
This book captures the transition from scientific societies to the journal as the center of the scientific world, with Csiszar documenting the confluence of technological, political, and scientific changes that amalgamated to become our current system. It's illuminating that articles gained their prominence because some royal society members got annoyed that membership was growing too large and wanted some way to thin the ranks, hitting upon those who had written for their publication. Still, this move away from the book and deliberations and grand projects within societies didn't happen all at once, and while certainly the early instantiations of what we would recognize as the modern journal, complete with reviewing process, was certainly developed to cope with some of the problems that came up it becomes quite clear that these developments were choices rooted in the incentives of those in power in the scientific community at the time. This book is essential for those in academia, people who want to understand how knowledge is disseminated, and policymakers alike. Highly recommend