Science Literacy Week 2020: Highlights from the History of Science

An online exhibition of highlights from the Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library's history of science collections, mounted digitally for Science Literacy Week 2020, September 21-27th #scilit #UofT

Visit https://uoft.me/scilit for a full list of online exhibitions and events taking place through the University of Toronto.

Captions by Philip Oldfield and Alexandra K. Carter; online exhibition by Alexandra K. Carter.

The Fisher Library has large and comprehensive collections in the history of science, in several key areas. The library's general Science Collection, which contains approximately 8,000 items, covers many branches of theoretical and applied science. One of the principal focuses of the collection is the science of the Renaissance, prior to Galileo. Other subject strengths include: mathematics; alchemy and chemistry; electromagnetism; mining and minerology; geology; agriculture; horticulture, and botany.

Special collections at the library in the history of science are: the Stillman Drake Galileo Collection, donated by noted Galileo scholar Stillman Drake (including first editions of most of Galileo's works as well as those of his contemporaries); the Darwin Collection (with all editions and issues of Darwin's works represented); the Victorian Natural History Collection; the Einstein Collection; and the Daniel and Lois Lowe Collection, featuring original drawings and watercolours of plants and animals from the sixteenth to the nineteenth centuries.