A New Tool for Historians of Science: Citations and Co-Citations in Scientific

Correspondences

Yves GingrasCanada Research Chair

History and Sociology of Science

Correspondance de Mersenne

• Périod = 1617-1648

• Correspondents = 88

• Letters = 1880

• Citations = 3481

• Co-citations = 5827

Distribution géographique des correspondants de Mersenne

Ucinet Matrix of co-citations in Mersenne

Co-citation network in Mersenne(1617-1648)

Co-citation network in Mersenne (1617-1631) (20 most cited authors ( Norm ≥ 0,2)

Norm = N cocit (a,b) (cit a * cit b)½

Co-citation network in Mersenne (1632-1636) (20 most cited authors ( Norm ≥ 0,2)

Norm = N cocit (a,b) (cit a * cit b)½

Co-citation network in Mersenne (1637-1641) (20 most cited authors ( Norm ≥ 0,2)

Norm = N cocit (a,b) (cit a * cit b)½

Co-citation network in Mersenne (1642-1648)(20 most cited authors ( Norm ≥ 0,2)

Norm = N cocit (a,b) (cit a * cit b)½

1620-1629 1630-1639 1640-1649

rang nom N. co-cit rang nom N. co-cit rang nom N. co-cit

1 Aristote 34 1 Galilée 303 1 Descartes 563

2 Horace 27 2 Gassendi(Pierre) 224 2 Roberval (Gilles Personnne de) 426

3 Gueneau 20 3 Roberval (Gilles Personnne de) 201 3 Galilée 358

4 Virgile 19 4 Beaugrand (Jean de) 168 4 Gassendi(Pierre) 354

4 Euclide 19 5 Fermat 150 5 Huygens (Constantin) 230

5 Amama 18 6 Morin(Jean-Baptiste) 147 6 Torricelli (Evangelista) 220

6 Descartes 17 7 Hardy (Claude) 142 7 Hobbes (Thomas) 205

6 Mydorge(Claude) 17 8 Descartes 138 8 Saumaise (Claude) 198

6 Gassendi(Pierre) 17 9 Petit (Pierre) 134 9 Fermat 190

7 Beeckman (Isaac) 16 10 Desargues (Girard) 126 10 Archimède 180

8 Apollonius de Perge 15

8 Golius (Jacques) 15

9 Platon 14

10 Levasseur 12

10 Augustin 12

Changing centrality of actors in Mersenne’s correspondence

Oldenburg Correspondence

• Périod = 1641-1677

• correspondents = 145

• letters = 3296

• citations = 6842

• co-citations = 15783

Co-citation Network in Oldenburg (1656-1677)

Co-citation Network in Oldenburg(1656-1677)(n>24 co-citations)

Co-citation Network in Oldenburg (1656-1677)(n> 39 co-citations)

Co-citation Network in Oldenburg(1654-1667)(20 most cited authors (Norm ≥ 0,2))

Huygens, Christiaan

Hooke, Robert

Hevelius, Johannes

De Son

Auzout, Adrien

Kircher, Athanasius

Boyle, Robert

Moray, Robert

Brouncker, William

Wallis, John

Wilkins, John

Wren, Christopher

Louis XIV, King of France

Charles I I , King of England

Descartes, René

Munster, Christophe Bernhard Galen

Sprat, Thomas

Norm = N cocit (a,b) (cit a * cit b)½

Wallis, John

Barrow, IsaacWren, ChristopherBoyle, Robert

Huygens, Christiaan

Gregory, James

Cassini, Giovanni

Auzout, Adrien

Collins, John

Lower, Richard

Hooke, Robert

Justel, Henri

Brouncker, William

Sprat, Thomas

Mercator, Nicholas

Malpighi, Marcello

Dulaurens, François

Wilkins, John

Willis, Thomas

Co-citation Network in Oldenburg(1668-1670)(20 most cited authors (Norm ≥ 0,2))

Norm = N cocit (a,b) (cit a * cit b)½

Newton, Isaac

Morland, Samuel

Willis, Thomas

Boyle, Robert

Malpighi, Marcello

Grew, Nehemiah

Flamsteeed, John

Cassini, Giovanni

Pardies, Ignace-Gaston

Huygens, Christiaan

Picard, Jean

Wallis, John

Hevelius, Johannes

Collins, John

Sluse, René François de

Ray, John

Lister, Martin

Hooke, Robert

Descartes, René

Brouncker, William

Co-citation Network in Oldenburg (1671-1673)(20 most cited authors (Norm ≥ 0,2))

Norm = N cocit (a,b) (cit a * cit b)½

Newton, Isaac

Gregory, James

Hooke, Robert

Brouncker, William

Collins, John

Descartes, René

Willis, Thomas

Grew, Nehemiah

Malpighi, Marcello

Boyle, Robert

Flamsteeed, John

Cassini, Giovanni

Wallis, John

Picard, Jean

Boulliaud, Ismael

Justel, Henri

Huygens, Christiaan

Jessop, Francis

Co-citation Network in Oldenburg (1674-1677)(20 most cited authors (Norm ≥ 0,2))

Norm = N cocit (a,b) (cit a * cit b)½

1650-1659 1660-1669 1670-1679

rang nom N. co-cit rang nom N. co-cit rang nom N. co-cit

1 Jones, Richard 38 1 Wallis, John 663 1 Boyle, Robert 1180

2 Descartes, René 34 2 Hooke, Robert 558 2 Wallis, John 864

3 Boyle, Robert 24 3 Boyle, Robert 528 3 Huygens, Christiaan 709

3 Huygens, Christiaan 24 4 Huygens, Christiaan 524 4 Hooke, Robert 669

4 Roberval, Gilles Personne de 23 5 Auzout, Adrien 483 5 Collins, John 526

5 Poleman, Joachim 20 6 Brouncker, William 443 6 Newton, Isaac 514

5 Louis XIV, King of France 20 7 Hevelius, Johannes 405 7 Cassini, Giovanni 513

5 Charles II, King of England 20 8 Wren, Christopher 337 8 Hevelius, Johannes 420

5 Willis, Thomas 20 9 Cassini, Giovanni 281 9 Barrow, Isaac 410

6 Pascal, Blaise 19 10 Sprat, Thomas 240 10 Descartes, René 406

7 Boulliaud, Ismael 18

7 Cromwell, Olivier 18

8 Beale, John 17

8 Borel, Pierre 17

9 Galilei, Galileo 16

10 Petit, Pierre 15

Changing Centrality in Oldenburg

Correspondance de Darwin

• Périod = 1821-1867

• correspondents = 3804

• Letters = 5918

• Citations = 18697

• Co-citations = 71198

Darwin’s correspondents (1821-31)

Darwin’s correspondents (1832-36)

Darwin’s correspondents (1832-36)

Darwin’s correspondents (1837-48)

Darwin’s correspondents (1837-47)

Darwin’s correspondents (1848-58)

Darwin’s correspondents (1848-58)

Darwin’s correspondents (1859-67)

Darwin’s correspondents (1859-67)

Darwin’s correspondents (1859-67)

Annual number of letters and cited persons in Darwin’s correspondence

Average number of of persons cited per letter in Darwin’s correspondence

Most cited authors in Darwin’s correspondence

5 most cited persons in Darwin’s correspondence(excluding familly)

10 most cited persons in Darwin’s correspondence (excluding familly)

10 most cited persons in Darwin’s correspondence

Scientists in redFamily in blue

Darwin, Robert WaringDarwin, Susan Elizabeth

Lyell, Charles

Huxley, Thomas HenryHooker, Joseph Dalton

Owen, Richard

Falconer, Hugh

Darwin, EmmaDarwin, Henrietta Emma

FitzRoy, Robert

Lyell, Mary Elizabeth

Henslow, John Stevens

Gray, Asa

Hooker, Frances Harriet

Lubbock, John William

Forbes, Edward

Bentham, George

Darwin, Leonard

Owen, William Mostyn, Sr

Parker, Marianne

Darwin, William Erasmus

Williams, Sarah Harriet

Langton, Charlotte

Candolle, Alphonse de

Agassiz, Jean Louis Rodolphe

Murray, John

Biddulph, Fanny Myddelton

Oliver, Daniel

Wedgwood, Josiah, II

Wedgwood, Sarah Elizabeth (a) ou (b)

Candolle, Augustin Pyramus de

Darwin, Horace

Hooker, William Jackson

Darwin, George Howard

Bates, Henry Walter

Eyton, Thomas Campbell

Fox, William Darwin

Carpenter, William Benjamin

Wedgwood, Emma

Langton, Charles

Wallace, Alfred Russel

Biddulph, Robert Myddelton

Darwin, Francis Darwin

Henslow, Harriet

Jenyns, Leonard

Owen, Francis Mostyn

Ramsay, Andrew Crombie

Wedgwood, Hensleigh and Fanny

Nancy

Sedgwick, Adam

Owen, Fanny Mostyn

Wedgwood, Hensleigh

King, Phillip Parker

Lindley, John

Wilberforce, Samuel

Parker, Robert

Wedgwood, S. E.

Wedgwood, Caroline Sarah

Langton, Charlotte and Charles

Scott, John

Brown, Robert

Parker, Henry Owen, Caroline Mostyn

Humboldt, Friedrich Wilhelm Heinrich Alexander von

Lamarck, Jean Baptiste Pierre Antoine de Monet de

Murchison, Roderick ImpeyWatson, Hewett Cottrell

Wedgwood, Josiah, III

Owen, Harriet Elizabeth MostynWedgwood, Henry Allen

Kölreuter, Joseph Gottlieb

Gärtner, Karl Friedrich von

Owen, Arthur Mostyn

Prestwich, Joseph

Tyndall, John

Wickham, John Clements

Busk, George

Beaufort, Francis

Sulivan, Bartholomew James

Holland, Henry

Hooker, Charles Paget

Hooker, William Henslow

Balfour, John Hutton

McNab, James

Harvey, William Henry

Dana, James Dwight

Lubbock, Ellen Frances

Bell, Thomas

Wedgwood, Henry Allen and Jessie

Naudin, Charles VictorThomson, Thomas Boott, Francis

Chambers, Robert

Darwin, Anne Elizabeth

Darwin, Erasmus Alvey

Biddulph, Charlotte Myddelton

OBrien, Mary Henrietta

Fox, Harriet

Hooker, Reginald Hawthorn

Wollaston, Thomas Vernon

Horner, Leonard

Spencer, Herbert

Hopkins, William

Smith, John

Wedgwood, Frances Emma Elizabeth

Wedgwood, Jessie

Wyman, Jeffries

Biddulph, Fanny and Robert Myddelton

Gully, James ManbyWedgwood, Robert

Wedgwood, Francis

Fox, Samuel

Fox, Ann

Haast, John Francis Julius von

Herschel, John Frederick William

Sabine, Edward

Waterhouse, George Robert

Leighton, ClareOwen, Emma Mostyn

Atherley, George

Peacock, George

Gray, John EdwardHeer, Oswald

Herbert, John Maurice

Hooker, Brian Harvey Hodgson

Tylor, Edward Burnett

Gray, Jane Loring

Hooker, Maria

Huxley, Henrietta Anne

Jukes, Joseph Beete

Martineau, Harriet

Cuvier, Jean Léopold Nicolas Frédéric

Williams, Edward Hosier

Anderson, Thomas

Whewell, William

Buckland, William

Pictet de la Rive, François Jules

Baer, Karl Ernst von

Berthelot, Sabin

Webb, Philip Barker

Bronn, Heinrich Georg

Busk, Ellen

Butler, Samuel

Campbell, George Douglas

Corfield, Richard Henry

Edward

Hope, Frederick William

Covington, Syms

Murray, Andrew

Phillips, John

Horner, Anne Susan

Ehrenberg, Christian Gottfried

Lane, Edward Wickstead

Westwood, John ObadiahParslow, Joseph

Co-citations network in Darwin (n>7)1821-1867

FAMILLE

SCIENTIFIQUES

Darwin, Robert Waring

Darwin, Susan ElizabethLyell, Charles

Huxley, Thomas Henry

Hooker, Joseph Dalton

Owen, RichardFalconer, Hugh

Darwin, Emma

Darwin, Henrietta Emma

FitzRoy, Robert

Lyell, Mary Elizabeth

Henslow, John Stevens

Gray, Asa

Hooker, Frances Harriet

Réseau de co-citations dans Darwin (35 co-cit et plus)

Co-citation network (1821-31)(n>3)

Co-citation network (1832-36)(n>3)

Co-citation network (1837-47)(n>3)

Co-citation network (1848-58)(n>3)

Co-citation network (1859-67)(n>3)

Centrality 1821-29 1830-39 1840-49 1850-58 1859-671 Darwin, Robert Waring Darwin, Robert Waring Darwin, Emma Lyell, Charles Huxley, Thomas Henry2 Darwin, Susan Elizabeth Darwin, Susan Elizabeth Lyell, Charles Hooker, Joseph Dalton Lyell, Charles3 Owen, Fanny Mostyn FitzRoy, Robert Darwin, Robert Waring Darwin, Emma Hooker, Joseph Dalton4 Owen, William Mostyn, Sr Owen, William Mostyn, Sr Forbes, Edward Owen, Richard Gray, Asa5 Parker, Marianne Henslow, John Stevens Henslow, John Stevens Hooker, Frances Harriet Owen, Richard