Article ID: CBB000773318

From Eugenics to Scientometrics: Galton, Cattell, and Men of Science (2007)

unapi

In 1906, James McKeen Cattell, editor of Science, published a directory of men of science. American Men of Science was a collection of biographical sketches of thousands of men of science in the USA and was published periodically. It launched, and was used in, the very first systematic quantitative studies on science. Cattell used two concepts for his statistics: productivity, defined as the number of men of science a nation produces, and performance or merit, defined as scientific contributions to research as judged by peers. These are the two dimensions that still define measurement of scientific productivity today: quantity and quality. This paper analyzes the emergence of statistics on science and the very first uses to which they were put. It argues that the measurement of science emerged out of interest in great men, heredity and eugenics, and the contribution of eminent men to civilization. Among these eminent men were men of science, the population of whom was thought to be in decline and insufficiently appreciated and supported. Statistics on men of science thus came to be collected to document the case, and to contribute to the advancement of science and the scientific profession.

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Description The article argues that the eugenic interest in great men and heredity was the source of efforts to find ways of measuring science, and it explores how Cattell measured eminence in his directory of men of science.


Citation URI
https://data.isiscb.org/isis/citation/CBB000773318/

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Authors & Contributors
Gillham, Nicholas Wright
Edwards, A. W. F.
Vincent Auffrey
Naoyuki 尚之 Soma 相馬
Roll-Hansen, Nils
Renwick, Chris
Concepts
Genetics
Eugenics
Heredity
Mendelism
Biometry
Probability and statistics
Time Periods
20th century, early
19th century
20th century
Places
Great Britain
United States
São Paulo (Brazil)
England
Québec (Canada)
Brazil
Institutions
UNESCO
Cambridge University
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