Pat:

Well, I was wrong on the date and the gender. The quote I recalled was
by Melvin Kranzberg, Professor of History of Technology, Georgia
Institute of Technology (Atlanta, Georgia, USA). Here's his whole statement:

28  "Some people might deny that I am a scientist, for my doctoral
degree was in history. But when I began teaching, I discovered that my
historical training had slighted the development of science and
technology. World War II unwittingly provided me with a
science/technology background. Stating that my Harvard Ph.D. proved that
I was 'educatable,' the Signal Corps sent me through an accelerated
electrical engineering course.
    "My venture into science and engineering enlarged my historical
perspective. That resulted in my founding a new scholarly field (the
history of technology) and involved me in service to NSF, NRC, AAAS,
NASA, and, of course, Sigma Xi.
    "Those who distinguish between the 'hard' and 'soft' sciences claim
that social science is not truly scientific. My research, however,
indicates that the real distinction is between the 'hard' sciences
(physics, chemistry, et al.) and the 'difficult' sciences, represented
by the social sciences, including my own history of technology!"

Kranzberg, Melvin
1988   [Statement 28, pp. 454-455.] Seventy-five Reasons to Become a
Scientist. _American Scientist_ 76(5):450-463.

[There is a sort of subtitle in the table of contents: "American
Scientist celebrates its seventy-fifth anniversary." American Scientist
is published by Sigma Xi, The Scientific Research Society.]

Maybe he discusses this topic more fully elsewhere?

Gwyn Alcock


Pat Reynolds wrote:

>Dear All,
>
>I've just read: 'It has been pointed out by others that archaeology
>falls not among the hard sciences but instead among the difficult
>sciences' (Drennan _Statistics for Archaeologists_ 1996, 93).  Does
>anyone know who the 'others' are?
>
>Best wishes to all,
>
>Pat
>(who is currently defining the areas of doubt and uncertainty a little
>more rigidly)
>--
>Pat Reynolds
>[log in to unmask]
>   "It might look a bit messy now, but just you come back in 500 years time"
>   (T. Pratchett)
>
>
>