Participation in Scientific Meetings: A New Prosopographical Approach to the Disciplinary History of Science - The Case of Immunology, 1951-72

Abstract

To handle the enormous amount of sources in modern and contemporary science, the historian can use different quantitative methods, particularly varieties of citation analysis. So far, all these methods have been based on publication data. Taking as its point of departure the fact that meetings constitute a pervasive, yet neglected, aspect of science, this paper introduces analysis of participation in scientific meetings. The strength of this new prosopographical method is illustrated by an analysis of international immunological meetings in the period 1951-72. Frequency of participation in meetings seems to be correlated to professional standing in immunology. By means of cluster analysis of participation data, the subdisciplinary structure and dynamics of immunology can be reconstructed.