Catalogue of Scientific Papers facts for kids
The Catalogue of Scientific Papers was a huge project started by the Royal Society in London. Its main goal was to create a massive list of almost every science paper published in magazines and journals since the year 1800. Imagine it like a giant library catalog, but specifically for scientific articles, organized by the name of the person who wrote them. This amazing collection helped scientists find important research easily.
Contents
What Was the Catalogue of Scientific Papers?
The Catalogue of Scientific Papers was a detailed list, or "index," of scientific articles. It aimed to include all important scientific work published in different journals and magazines. This made it much easier for scientists to find past research. Before this Catalogue, finding specific scientific papers was very difficult.
When Was It Published?
The very first book, or "volume," of the Catalogue was published in 1867. They continued to publish new parts of this massive list until 1901. After that, a new, even bigger project took over. Starting in 1902, it was continued as the International Catalogue of Scientific Literature, which tried to list scientific papers from all over the world.
How Did the Idea Start?
The idea for this huge project came from an American engineer named Edward Hunt. He first suggested it to Joseph Henry, who was the first leader of the Smithsonian Institution in the United States.
Why Was It Important?
Joseph Henry thought it was a great idea, but he worried that the Smithsonian, which was quite new at the time, didn't have enough money or people to do such a big job. So, in 1855, he suggested the idea to a group in Britain called the British Science Association.
The British Science Association's Role
The British Science Association liked the idea and created a special committee. This committee's job was to look into the project and figure out exactly what it should include. In 1857, they decided that the Royal Society would be the perfect organization to take on this important task. The Royal Society's leaders agreed, and the hard work of listing all those scientific papers began the very next year, in 1858.
