Little science, big idea
When Derek de Solla Price’s famous book, Little Science, Big Science, was first published in 1963, it marked a turning point in the development of the science of science. In this short book, de Solla Price developed the statistical basis of such concepts as Big Science and the invisible college, and introduced the enduring observations that “80 to 90 percent of all the scientists that have ever lived are alive now” and that “80 to 90 percent of all scientific work achieved” has been carried out within living memory. An excellent overview if its enduring impact has been recently published (1, 2).
The 1986 edition, Little Science, Big Science … and Beyond, comprises the first four chapters of the first edition and a further nine chapters reprinting some of de Solla Price’s seminal journal articles and book chapters. Both editions continue to be heavily cited, with 60 citations from the journal literature in 2007 alone (according to Scopus). Out of print for many years, copies of the second edition from online booksellers now fetch up to US$200.
References:
(1) Furner, J. (2003) “Little Book, Big Book: Before and after Little Science, Big Science: A review article, Part I”, Journal of Librarianship and Information Science, Vol. 35, No. 2, pp, 115–125.
(2) Furner, J. (2003) “Little Book, Big Book: Before and after Little Science, Big Science: A review article, Part II”, Journal of Librarianship and Information Science, Vol. 35, No. 3, pp. 189–201. |
