History of Science
The history of the biological and physical sciences is strongly represented in landmark editions of works by Newton, Galileo, Darwin, Hooke, Leeuwenhoek, Linnaeus, Jussieu, Gessner, and Audubon, among many others. The collection also includes anatomical works by Vesalius, Harvey, and Fabricius, as well as Renaissance medical herbals, including, Fuchs’ De Historia Stirpium(1542); Hortus Sanitatis (1517); Mattioli’s De Materia Medica (1583); and numerous other beautifully illustrated botanical works. Special Collections also holds numerous 18th-century scientific periodicals, including long runs of Memoires of the French Academie des sciences and the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society.
These works complement the University of Missouri’s emphasis on the life sciences, support interdisciplinary research, and provide an important access point for the study of intellectual history and scientific inquiry.
How to Use the Collection
With a few exceptions, the collections can be accessed and requested through the library catalog. Finding aids for individual collections are linked on this website. Materials are available for use in the Special Collections Reading Room (room 401) during regular hours. Materials do not circulate.
Finding Aids for History of Science
Donald Silver Rare Book Room, J. Otto Lottes Health Sciences Library
The Rare Book Room was given to the library by the Department of Surgery and is dedicated to Dr. Donald Silver, an Emeritus professor of the…
Gary E. and Janet J. Venable Antiquarian Atlas & Map Collection
The Venable Collection documents the history of cartography, geography, and exploration from the sixteenth through the early twentieth century.…
Historic Textbook Collection.
Scope and Contents The books are useful today as a survey of pedagogical methods and contents as well as a portrayal of the American popular mind of…
Rare Books
The Rare Books Collection is the default designation for materials in Special Collections that are acquired as individual items. Like Special…
Related Exhibits
No Bones About It: An exhibit of spooky skeletons
On October 24, 2023, Special Collections held a spooky exhibit! From 11am until 2pm, we were in Ellis 114a with...
Vesalius at 500
Vesalius at 500 showcases materials from the Libraries’ collections that helped to shape Andreas Vesalius’ career, including medieval manuscripts and...
Selected Items
A new and accurate map of the world : comprehending all the new discoveries, in both hemispheres, carefully brought down to the present time.
"Engraved for Millar's New and Universal System of Geography."
Les observations de plvsievrs singvlaritez et choses memorables : trovvees en Grece, Asie, Iudée, Egypte, Arabie, & autres pays estranges, redigées en trois liures / par Pierre Belon du Mans. Reueuz de nouueau & augmentez de figures.
468 pages, 2 unnumbered pages : illustrations, maps ; 25 cm
Nests and eggs of birds of the United States / by Thomas G. Gentry.
x, 300 pages, 54 unnumbered leaves of plates : color illustrations ; 31 cm
Map of Louisiana, Texas, and Arkansas.
Shows cities, railroads, military outposts, areas of Indian habitation, and geographic features for Texas, Arkansas, Louisiana, and a portion of New…
