The Dictionary of Scientific Biography is a scholarly reference work that was published from 1970 through 1980. It is supplemented by the New Dictionary of Scientific Biography. Both these publications are comprised in an electronic version, called the Complete Dictionary of Scientific Biography.
The Dictionary of Scientific Biography is a scholarly English-language reference work consisting of biographies of scientists from antiquity to modern times, but excluding scientists who were alive when the Dictionary was first published. It includes scientists who worked in the areas of mathematics, physics, chemistry, biology, and earth sciences. The work is notable for being one of the most substantial reference works in the field of history of science, containing extensive biographies on hundreds of figures. It gives information about both the personal biography and in considerable detail about the scientific contributions. Engineers, physicians, social scientists and philosophers only appeared "when their work was intrinsically related to the sciences of nature or to mathematics." Though the Dictionary has worldwide coverage, the editors write that it focuses most on Western scientists, due to the limited availability of scholarship about Asian, Indian and Islamic historical scientists at the time.
In 2007, Charles Scribner's Sons published the Complete Dictionary of Scientific Biography as an e-book. It includes the complete text of both print editions, with a unified index and other finding aids. The e-book version is available as part of the Gale Virtual Reference Library. Many of the article are available online through HighBeam Research's encyclopedia portal (through a series of acquisitions both Charles Scribner's Sons and HighBeam Research are both owned by Cengage Learning).
The DSB has been widely praised as a monumental undertaking. One reviewer of another work wrote that "The Dictionary of Scientific Biography (DSB) has become the standard against which to measure all multi-volume biographical works in history of science."
Gillispie, Charles C., editor in chief. Dictionary of Scientific Biography. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1970–1980. 16 vols. ISBN 0-684-10114-9. Supplement II, edited by Frederic Lawrence Holmes, 2 vols., 1990. ISBN 0-684-16962-2 (set).
Concise Dictionary of Scientific Biography. American Council of Learned Societies. New York Scribner, 1981. ISBN 0-684-16650-X.
Koertge, Noretta, editor in chief. New Dictionary of Scientific Biography. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 2007. 8 vols. ISBN 0-684-31320-0.
^ a b Gillispie, Charles C., editor in chief. Dictionary of Scientific Biography. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1970–1980. 16 vols. Introduction, v. 1, pp. ix–x.
^ Dictionary of Scientific Biography at the Scholarly Societies project at the University of Waterloo.
^ ALA Dartmouth Award list. Accessed Jan. 23, 2009.
^ Gale information page about the NDSB. Accessed Jan. 23, 2009.
^ Gale catalog page for the "Complete Dictionary of Scientific Biography. Accessed April 17, 2009.
^ Hoskin, Michael (2008). "Book Reviews: A DSB of Astronomers". Journal for the History of Astronomy. 39 (135). pp. 272–274. Bibcode:2008JHA....39..272H.