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Topic · History and Philosophy of Science

History of Science and Medicine

History of Science and Medicine is a research topic within History and Philosophy of Science. Science Explorer counts 27k research works in it since 1950. 10.6% of them reached the world's top 10% most cited for their field and year.

This cluster of papers covers a wide range of topics related to the history of science, medicine, and technology, including the evolution of scientific thought, the impact of innovations on society and culture, and the biographies of influential figures in these fields.

  • History
  • Science
  • Medicine
  • Technology
  • Innovation
  • Society
  • Culture
  • Philosophy
  • Observations
  • Biography
Research works
27k
fractional, since 1950
In the world top 10%
2.9k
per year above
Top-10% rate
10.6%
share of its works in the world top 10%
Growth, 2013–17 → 2018–22
+42%
the tick is no change

Which countries lead History of Science and Medicine research?

By volume, the United States and the United Kingdom publish the most (1.5k and 625 works in 2022–2025).

By volume, 2022–2025

  1. 1 United States 1.5k works
  2. 2 United Kingdom 625 works
  3. 3 Canada 239 works
  4. 4 France 187 works
  5. 5 Italy 167 works
  6. 6 Germany 156 works
  7. 7 Russia 115 works
  8. 8 Australia 96 works
  9. 9 China 86 works
  10. 10 Netherlands 78 works

How concentrated that is

The same countries as shares of everything the list above accounts for. A node where two countries do two thirds of the work and one spread evenly across twelve read alike as a ranking and not at all alike here.

United States: 47.0%United Kingdom: 18.9%Canada: 7.2%France: 5.7%6 others listed: 21.2%47%largest
United States1,550 · 47.0%United Kingdom625 · 18.9%Canada239 · 7.2%France187 · 5.7%6 others listed699 · 21.2%

Shares of the rows listed above, not of the whole node.

Which institutions lead History of Science and Medicine research?

By volume in 2022–2025, University of Cambridge publishes the most History of Science and Medicine research, followed by University of Oxford and Film Independent.

By volume, 2022–2025

  1. 1 University of CambridgeUnited Kingdom 55 works
  2. 2 University of OxfordUnited Kingdom 41 works
  3. 3 Film IndependentUnited States 39 works
  4. 4 Durham UniversityUnited Kingdom 35 works
  5. 5 University of TorontoCanada 33 works
  6. 6 University of EdinburghUnited Kingdom 29 works
  7. 7 University of ViennaAustria 27 works
  8. 8 Ca' Foscari University of VeniceItaly 23 works
  9. 9 University College LondonUnited Kingdom 22 works
  10. 10 Princeton UniversityUnited States 20 works

Where is History of Science and Medicine research done?

The largest centres of History of Science and Medicine research in 2022–2025 are London (United Kingdom), Paris (France), Los Angeles (United States) and New York (United States). Among places with at least 20 works in it, it is an unusually large share of all research in Durham and Venice.

Largest cities, 2022–2025

  1. 1 London United Kingdom 128 works
  2. 2 Paris France 94 works
  3. 3 Los Angeles United States 69 works
  4. 4 New York United States 64 works
  5. 5 Toronto Canada 61 works
  6. 6 Cambridge United Kingdom 57 works
  7. 7 Moscow Russia 57 works
  8. 8 Oxford United Kingdom 52 works
  9. 9 Washington D.C. United States 40 works
  10. 10 Durham United Kingdom 35 works

Where it is the local speciality

  1. DurhamGB · 35.2 works24×
  2. VeniceIT · 23.6 works18×
← less than its size predicts1×more →

Location quotient: how much more of its research is in History of Science and Medicine than the world average.

See History of Science and Medicine on the map

Where is the best place to study History of Science and Medicine?

Among universities, judged by research, University of Cambridge, University of Oxford and University of Vienna score highest, combining excellence, specialisation, size, growth and international reach. Research strength is one signal when choosing where to study; it does not measure teaching.

0%10%20%mean 12.09%fractional works in this node (log) →share in the world top 10% →University of Cambridge: 55, 12.5%University of Oxford: 41, 13.0%University of Vienna: 27, 8.8%University of St Andrews: 18, 10.7%University of Geneva: 11, 15.2%University of Notre Dame: 11, 16.3%Ca' Foscari University of Venice: 23, 15.3%Durham University: 35, 3.4%University of Edinburgh: 29, 8.7%University of Leeds: 16, 17.0%University of OxfordUniversity of Cambri…University of St And…University of Vienna
above the meannear itbelow it

One dot per university in the table below. The upper left is the interesting corner: small places doing unusually strong work.

#UniversityScoreTop 10%SpecialisationWorksGrowth
1 University of CambridgeUnited Kingdom 76.212.5%13.1×55 +77.7%
2 University of OxfordUnited Kingdom 72.113.0%8.3×41 +131.0%
3 University of ViennaAustria 71.18.8%14.1×27 +251.8%
4 University of St AndrewsUnited Kingdom 68.210.7%21.6×18 +464.6%
5 University of GenevaSwitzerland 67.215.2%8.5×11 +197.7%
6 University of Notre DameUnited States 65.316.3%9.5×11 +174.8%
7 Ca' Foscari University of VeniceItaly 64.615.3%24.4×23 —
8 Durham UniversityUnited Kingdom 64.43.4%25.4×35 +174.3%
9 University of EdinburghUnited Kingdom 61.78.7%9.9×29 +53.3%
10 University of LeedsUnited Kingdom 59.017.0%7.7×16 +36.4%

Universities only. Score blends excellence (30%), specialisation (25%), size (20%), growth (15%) and international reach (10%), 2015–2022; growth compares 2010–14 with 2015–19.

Is History of Science and Medicine research growing?

Output in 2018–2022 was 42% higher than in 2013–2017, peaking in 2020. The fastest-growing topics are History of Science and Medicine.

19801990200020102020
grewheldshrank

The same series as a ribbon — one cell per year, darker for more. The line above answers how much; this answers when.

Which topics inside it are moving

Growth and decline on one axis around a shared zero. Two lists side by side hide the thing that matters: whether the growth dwarfs the decline, or the other way round.