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

The Education Library of the University Libraries began collecting textbooks in 1968. Donations were solicited and members of the Friends of the…

Rare Books

The Rare Books Collection is the default designation for materials in Special Collections that are acquired as individual items. Like Special…

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