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John Desmond Bernal (1901‐1970) was one of the most eminent scientists of his generation; he also became, in mid‐twentieth century Britain, an important political figure – the leading public spokesperson of “red” science. One remarkable but hitherto underexplored aspect of his career is a lifelong interest in scientific communication, documentation and information science. Utilising records in the Bernal archive in Cambridge, UK, this paper assesses Bernal's information career. It explores Bernal's initial interest in scientific documentation in the 1930s and examines his blueprint for the reform of scientific communication in Britain, advanced in Bernal's 1939 work, The Social Function of Science. It details his subsequent role, in 1945‐1949, as figurehead of a co‐ordinated but unsuccessful left‐wing campaign to establish an Institute of Scientific Information in Britain. It analyses Bernal's later theoretical papers in information science, and describes his support, in the 1950s and 1960s, for an emerging information profession. Bernal, it concludes, can justifiably be regarded as a major influence on twentieth century information science, above all because of his pioneering focus on the social dimensions of the discipline.

For the 1948 Royal Society Conference, J.D. Bernal submitted a paper which proposed a provisional scheme for the central distribution of scientific papers. This provoked such a hostile and extreme reaction from both the learned society publishers and the national press that the paper was withdrawn in advance of the conference. It is extant in its Proceedings. This paper outlines the nature of the proposals, together with some contemporary reactions. Bernal‘s scheme certainly implied a revolutionary transformation of the status quo. However, his well‐known political beliefs probably played as instrumental a part in their rejection as the nature of the proposals themselves.

One of Dr Coblans' most widely read papers was certainly his reassessment of J. D. Bernal's ideas on the communication of scientific information, as originally outlined in The social function of science, published in 1939. Dr Coblans' examination of these ideas was contributed to The science of science, which first appeared in 1964 and was re‐issued as a paperback in 1966. Coblans scrutinized Bernal's work with understandable sympathy, since both the approach and the topics of interest meshed with his own. Bernal, he remarked, was essentially concerned with, ‘the basic methods of publishing information, the inadequacy of the traditional learned periodical as a vehicle of transmission, and user analyses; studies of what working scientists read, why they read, and what use they made of what they have gleaned.’

The paper attempts to provide an outline account of the development and context of scientific and technical communication during the twentieth century. The main channels and forms of communication are reviewed, and their changing contributions to the overall pattern of information flow. The ever‐increasing volume and diversity of scientific and technical information are emphasised. The paper concludes with some reflections on what may be learnt from this history.

Islamic science was originally viewed as mere translator and transmitter of Greek, Indian and pre‐Islamic Persian science. Recent research has shifted our understanding of Islam's contribution to what is now called “the exact sciences.” We now know that Islamic science “was even richer and more profound than we had previously thought.” A substantial amount of genuine science was done in Islam, it predated similar discoveries in the West, and it also impacted upon the Renaissance. For example, in the late 1950apos;s, E. S. Kennedy and his students at the American University of Beirut discovered an important work of a fourteenth century Muslim astronomer by the name of Ibn al‐Shatir. This discovery showed that Ibn al‐Shatir's astronomical inventions were the same type of mechanism used by Copernicus a few centuries later,” and may have played a key role in the Copernican revolution. Consequently, an unprecedented acceleration of research into Islamic science started from the 1950s onwards. Recently, historian of Islamic science George Saliba was able to show that one of Copernicus's Muslim contemporaries — Kliafri — was a “brilliant astronomer, whose ability to work with the mathematics of his time is unsurpassed, including that of Copernicus,” and that he could use mathematics much more fluently, and much more competently, than Copernicus could do.

AT the very outset of this paper it is necessary to make clear that it is not an attempt to compile an exhaustive bibliography of literature relating to special librarianship. Neither space nor time permit this. In fact, the references given can only claim to be a sample of the wealth of material on the subject and this paper is submitted in the hope that it will stimulate others to more scholarly efforts. Reference numbers throughout this paper refer to items in the ‘Select list of references to the literature of special librarianship’, section 2 onwards.

Interrelations of writings in a complex field such as studies of science, technology and society, turn out to be highly patterned when data on author co‐citations are statistically analysed and mapped. For both authors and specialities, the maps reveal structures of subject matter and intellectual impact, based on the perceptions of hundreds of citers since 1972. A new tool thus is available to historians and others concerned with a field's intellectual development.

The theme of the thirty‐fifth Annual Conference of ASLIB, held at Brighton from 28th to 30th September, was ‘Research in Special Library and Information Work’. Because of his sudden illness Lord Verulam was unfortunately unable to give his Presidential address. In his place, at very short notice, Professor. J. D. Bernal gave a talk on the importance of all library and information centres being organised with the user in mind. The idea of storing information, of collecting publications to preserve thereby the history of scientific knowledge on any subject was not the purpose of the library and information units run by members of ASLIB. Their aim was to be part — and a very valuable part —of the communication system whereby the latest knowledge was fed to the research worker.

R.M. Fishenden Atomic Energy Research Establishment, Harwell, described the general organization of the conference, which was divided into seven areas, half a day being devoted to each area and all delegates able to attend. For each area the organizers had selected a discussion panel which took up about two‐thirds of the time available for discussion; other participants, such as authors and members of other panels, could speak during the remaining time. The rest of the conference delegates were segregated behind a rope barrier, solely as observers.