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History of Science

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U.S. Engineering History in Primary Sources

This is a brief guide to historical research in science and medicine with entry points to both scholarly and primary source collections.

Page under Construction

This page is currently under construction and far from complete. If you notice broken links or have suggestions, please write the subject liaison e-mail. 

What's on This Page

This page has a lot on it. You can use the following anchors (links down the page) to jump straight to a relevant box.

    Broad Digital Collections: Engineering

    Journals and Scholarship Databases

    Historians use other fields' scholarship--in journal articles, conference proceedings, and more--in our research as well as both scholarship and primary sources. If, for example, you are wondering how engineers used to talk about urban infrastructure, then you might want to check out what engineers, which you can then find in academic journals, etc. 

    Individual Titles

    Sources: Patents

    Sources: Personal Papers

    Topics - General: Bridges

    Topics - General: Buildings

    Topics - General: Dams

    Topics - General: Industrial Revolution

    Topics - General: Printing

    Topics - General: Public Works Administration (PWA)

    The Public Words Administration came into existence in 1933 during the Great Depression.

    Topics - General: Railroads

    Topics - General: Foreign Involvement Related to Engineering

    Topics - General: Societies of Engineers

    Topics - Algorithms: Artificial Intelligence (AI)

    Documentaries

    Topics - Algorithms: Big Data

    Documentaries

    Topics - Chemical Engineering: Bhopal Disaster

    Documentaries

    Topics - Chemical Engineering: Fracking

    Topics - Chemical Engineering: Gulf Coast Petrochemical Spills

    Topics - Chemical Engineering: Love Canal

    Documentaries

    Topics - Chemical Engineering: Three Mile Island

    The Three Mile Island Unit 2 reactor (TMI-2) experienced a partial meltdown and was the most serious accident in U.S. commercial nuclear power plant operating history. Luckily,  there were no detectable health effects on plant workers or the public from the small radioactive releases, but the event spurred significant changes to nuclear power plant regulations and emergency response preparedness. —FEMA

    Topics - Domestic Disaster: Airplanes and Boeing 737 Max

    Topics - Domestic Disasters: Asbestos

    Documentaries

    Topics - Domestic Disaster: Boston Molasses Flood

    Topics - Domestic Disaster: Space and the Challenger Disaster

    Documentaries 

    For Additional Help

    For additional recommendations, contact your History Liaison, Erin, at erinkate.scheopner@bc.edu or schedule an appointment.