Dorothy Stimson

Dorothy Stimson was an American academic and historian of science, born on October 10, 1890, and died on September 19, 1988. She studied at Vassar College and later earned graduate degrees from Columbia University, building a career around the history of scientific thought.

She is especially remembered for her work on the reception of the Copernican theory and for books including The Gradual Acceptance of the Copernican Theory of the Universe and Scientists and Amateurs: A History of the Royal Society. Her writing helped make the development of science feel like a human story of debate, resistance, and discovery.

Stimson also spent decades at Goucher College, serving as dean from 1921 to 1947, acting president for part of 1930, and later as a professor of history until 1955. Beyond campus, she became a respected figure in her field and served as president of the History of Science Society from 1953 to 1957.