Specialty
Primary and secondary sources that document the sciences, technology, and engineering disciplines from the 15th century to the present
Collections
The collections are especially strong in the following areas: natural history, astronomy, engineering, physical sciences, life sciences, environmental studies, non-western sciences, Cold War sciences, earth sciences, infrastructure studies, aeronautics, and mathematics.
The Library holds more than 500,000 monograph volumes and more than 48,000 journal titles, including a complete set of the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London, beginning in 1665. The Library also collects conference proceedings, government publications, and technical reports and holds more than 200,000 industrial standards, unpublished engineering society conference papers, and U.S. patents. The Library has extensive holdings in foreign languages with particular strengths in Soviet and East Asian sciences.
The Library also holds over 10,000 rare books, including Rheticus, Narratio Prima (Gdansk, 1540); Copernicus, De revolutionibus orbium coelestium (Nuremberg, 1543); Hooke, Micrographia (London, 1655); Newton, Philosophiae naturalis principia mathematica (London 1687); Darwin, On the Origin of Species (London, 1859), and many more.
Collections URL
Holding Highlights
- History of science, technology, engineering, especially strong in natural history, astronomy, environmental and earth sciences, life sciences, physics, chemistry, aeronautics, infrastructure studies, Cold War sciences, and mathematics
- Over 500,000 monograph volumes and more than 48,000 journal titles
- Conference proceedings, reference works, government publications and technical reports, over 200,000 industrial standards, unpublished engineering society conference papers, and U.S. patents
- Acquired entire American Academy of Arts and Sciences Library in 1947
- Acquired entire Engineering Societies Library in 1995
- Over 10,000 rare books, including Rheticus’s Narratio Prima, Copernicus’s De revolutionibus orbium coelestium, Hooke’s Micrographia, Newton’s Philosophiae naturalis principia mathematica, and Catesby’s Natural History of Carolina, Florida & the Bahama Islands
- Digital collections provide access to nearly 250,000 digitized images of significant rare and fragile materials