American Men & Women of Science: A Biographical Directory of Today's Leaders in Physical, Biological, and Related Sciences from Gale Virtual Reference Library

American Men & Women of Science (AMWS) remains without peer as a chronicle of scientific endeavor and achievement in the United States and Canada. The present work is the twenty-fifth edition, and was first compiled as American Men of Science by J. McKeen Cattell in 1906. In its 101 year history, AMWS has profiled the careers of more than 300,000 people in various scientific fields. Since the first edition, the number of U.S. and Canadian scientists and the fields they pursue has grown immensely. This edition alone lists 132,324 people in science, approximately 3,000 of which are listed for the first time and approximately 18,000 updated entries. Although the book has grown, our stated purpose is the same as when Dr. Cattell first undertook the task of producing a biographical directory of active American scientists. It was his intention to record educational, personal and career data which would make "a contribution to the organization of science in America" and "make men [and women] of science acquainted with one another and with one another’s work." It is our hope that this edition will fulfill these goals.

The biographies of people in science constitute seven of the eight volumes of the current edition and provide the following information, if available and applicable: birthdate, birthplace, citizenship, name of spouse, name(s) or number of children, field of specialty, education, honorary degrees, professional experience, honors and awards, memberships, research information, addresses, facsimile numbers, and e-mail addresses for each entrant. These sections are preceded by subheads in boldface for easier reference. The eighth volume, the discipline index, organizes entrants by field of activity. This index, adapted from the National Science Foundation’s Taxonomy of Degree and Employment Specialties, classifies entrants by 192 subject specialties listed in the table of contents of Volume 8. The index lists entrants by state or province within each subject specialty, allowing the user to easily locate a person in science in a given geographic area. Also included are statistical information and charts showing the distribution of AMWS entrants by age and discipline and an annotated listing of the recipients of the Nobel Prizes, the Crafoord Prize, the Charles Stark Draper Prize, the National Medal of Science, the Fields Medal, the National Medal of Technology, and the Alan T. Waterman Award since the previous edition.

While the scientific fields covered by AMWS are comprehensive, no attempt has been made to include all U.S. and Canadian scientists. Entrants are meant to be limited to those who have made significant contributions in their field. The names of new entrants were submitted for consideration at the editors’ request by current entrants and by leaders of academic, government and private research programs and associations. Those included met the following criteria:

1. Distinguished achievement, by reason of experience, training or accomplishment, including contributions to literature, coupled with continuing activity in scientific work;
2. Research activity of high quality in science as evidenced by publication in reputable scientific journals; or, for those whose work cannot be published due to governmental or industrial security, research activity of high quality in science as evidenced by the judgement of the individual’s peers;
3. Attainment of a position of substantial responsibility requiring scientific training and experience.

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