[5] The History of Science Society was founded in 1924[1] by George Sarton,[3] David Eugene Smith,[6] and Lawrence Joseph Henderson,[7] primarily to support the publication of Isis, a journal of the history of science Sarton had started in 1912[8] in Belgium.

[10][11] Subsequent editors of Isis include Harry Woolf, 1959–1963; Robert P. Multhauf, 1964–1978; Arnold Thackray (1979–1985); Charles E. Rosenberg, 1986–1988; Ronald Numbers, 1989–1993; Margaret W. Rossiter, 1994–2003; Bernard Lightman, 2004–2014; H. Floris Cohen, 2014–2019;[12] co-editors Alexandra Hui and Matthew Lavine, 2019–2024;[13] and Projit Bihari Mukharji and Elise K. Burton 2024–present.

[14] Thackray also served as editor of Osiris from 1984 to 1994[15] and was responsible to returning it to activity.

[16] During its early years in America, the journal was published by the Harvard Printing Office.

[18][19] As of June 16, 2022, the University of Pennsylvania and the Science History Institute in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, announced that they would become co-hosts of the History of Science Society, which had been located at Notre Dame University since 2010.