Who wrote the first abstract in a scientific journal article?
I have often wondered how we came to the modern scientific article. One question that I had that I researched, but was unable to turn up anything on was who started the boldface and italics in the reference format for journal volume number and journal name (varies by discipline and by journal).
One question that I didn’t consider was when was the abstract first implemented, and by whom? That question was answered in the book Communicating Science: The Scientific Article from the 17th Century to the Present
In a 1920 editorial, …, G. C. Fulcher instructed prospective contributors to the Astrophysical Journal that “every article…however short, is to be preceded by an abstract prepared by the author and submitted…with the manuscript” (p. 255). In a subsequent article in Science (1921), he encouraged other scientific publications to follow suit, because abstracts “save much time for the scientist not only as a reader of current literature but also as an investigator” (p. 291). Today, because of Fulcher’s encouragement and the evolutionary fitness of heading abstracts in the scientific article, they are as ubiquitous as figures and tables.
Maybe we scientists should honor this man on his birthday or on the date of publication of the Science article? Without his suggestion, reading the literature would be that much more tedious than it already is.
