The first issue of Annals of Science appeared in 1936. Professor Harcourt Brown, one of the group of founding editors of the journal, recorded his recollections in the preface to the first cumulative index, for the years 1936 to 1969. Much of what he wrote remains accurate today. Annals of Science continues to enjoy editorial freedom and the support of its publisher, Taylor & Francis, while ‘the concept of a journal international in scope, historical in outlook, seeking and accepting contributions from all the world’ has remained. In its early years, Annals embraced the history of science and technology since the Renaissance. The second cumulative index, for the years 1970 to 1986, reflected the expanded reach of a journal that now covered science and technology since the thirteenth century. Today, with the publication of the third cumulative index and the approaching 75th anniversary of Annals, our scope extends back to classical antiquity. As the range of the journal has increased, the need for an appropriately detailed index has been clear; the initiative for this came from the publisher.
Compiling an index of proper names is relatively straightforward, even though care must be taken with variant spellings, prefixes, hyphenated and dynastic names, and characters not used in modern English. Subject indexes are obviously far more of a challenge, and the compiler has risen to it with clarity and common sense. In consultation with the board they have produced a valuable and eminently serviceable tool for historians and for historically minded scientists. From the beginning, the editors of Annals of Science have aimed to publish papers that would not only be of current interest, but would be worth reading for many decades. This index will make it easier to find, use and enjoy the past twenty volumes.
I thank the publisher and the compiler most warmly.