# Burndy Library > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Burndy_Library > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Burndy_Library.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burndy_Library > Source revision: 1344035748 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{Use American English|date=September 2025}} {{Use mdy dates|date=December 2018}} {{Infobox library | name = Burndy Library | image = | caption = | country = United States | type = | established = 1941 | dissolved = 2006 | location = | coordinates = | website = }} The '''Burndy Library''' was one of the world's largest collections of books on the history of science and technology.{{cite web |url=http://calteches.library.caltech.edu/4295/1/Beautiful.pdf |title=Beautiful Ideas; Beautiful Books |last=Lewis |first=Daniel |date=2008 |access-date=August 13, 2022}} It was disestablished in 2006 and its collections transferred to the [Huntington Library](/source/Huntington_Library). ==History== Founded in 1941 in [Norwalk, Connecticut](/source/Norwalk%2C_Connecticut) by the electrical engineer, industrialist, and historian [Bern Dibner](/source/Bern_Dibner),{{cite web |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1988/01/08/obituaries/bern-dibner-dies-at-90-historian-and-engineer.html |title=Bern Dibner Dies at 90; Historian and Engineer |date=January 8, 1988 |website=The New York Times |access-date=August 13, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180130105503/https://www.nytimes.com/1988/01/08/obituaries/bern-dibner-dies-at-90-historian-and-engineer.html |archive-date=January 30, 2018}} the library holdings include important scientific literature from antiquity to the 20th century. Highlights of the collection include one of the world's most complete sets of the works of [Isaac Newton](/source/Isaac_Newton), including books owned and annotated by Newton, as well as some sixty manuscripts by Newton, multiple books about [Leonardo da Vinci](/source/Leonardo_da_Vinci), all of Darwin's works, and important manuscript and print materials by [Louis Pasteur](/source/Louis_Pasteur), a 1544 edition of [Archimedes'](/source/Archimedes) mathematical text ''Philosophi ac Geometrae'' and many important original works from the 18th and 19th centuries. Generally, the collection's strengths are in the early modern period, and include strong holdings in the [history of mathematics](/source/history_of_mathematics), [astronomy](/source/astronomy), and [color theory](/source/color_theory). The "Burndy" appellation was invented by Dibner and represents a [portmanteau](/source/portmanteau) or blend of his first and last names.{{cite journal |url=https://www.inventionandtech.com/content/inside-burndy-library-1 |title=Inside The Burndy Library |last=Cohen |first=I Bernard |journal=American Heritage's Invention & Technology |volume=1 |issue=2 |date=1985 |access-date=October 22, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150921025303/https://www.inventionandtech.com/content/inside-burndy-library-1 |archive-date=September 21, 2015}}{{Cite news|agency=Reuters|date=1988-12-06|title=COMPANY NEWS; Burndy Takes Bid From Framatome|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1988/12/06/business/company-news-burndy-takes-bid-from-framatome.html|access-date=2022-02-01|issn=0362-4331}} The library was originally located at the [Burndy Engineering Company](/source/BURNDY) in [Norwalk](/source/Norwalk%2C_Connecticut), Connecticut. In 1974 Dibner donated one-quarter of the library holdings to the [Smithsonian Institution](/source/Smithsonian_Institution) to form the nucleus of its research library in the history of science and technology. In 1976, the Dibner Library of the History of Science and Technology opened at the [Smithsonian Institution](/source/Smithsonian_Institution), and it remains part of the [Smithsonian Institution Libraries](/source/Smithsonian_Institution_Libraries) housed at the [National Museum of American History](/source/National_Museum_of_American_History), Behring Center in Washington, DC.{{cite web |url=https://library.si.edu/libraries/dibner |title=Dibner Library of the History of Science and Technology |website=Smithsonian Libraries |access-date=October 22, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220203023707/https://library.si.edu/libraries/dibner |archive-date=February 3, 2022}} The remainder of the Burndy Library collection remained in Norwalk until after Bern Dibner's death in 1988. It was moved to the campus of the [Massachusetts Institute of Technology](/source/Massachusetts_Institute_of_Technology) (MIT) in 1992 with the establishment of the [Dibner Institute for the History of Science and Technology](/source/Dibner_Institute_for_the_History_of_Science_and_Technology).{{cite web |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1991/09/15/nyregion/a-collection-of-scientific-treasures-is-leaving-norwalk.html |title=A Collection of Scientific Treasures Is Leaving Norwalk |last=Lerner |first=Jane |date=September 15, 1991 |website=The New York Times |access-date=August 13, 2022}}{{cite web |url=https://historynewsnetwork.org/article/9593 |title=Burndy Library/Dibner Institute Of MIT May Move To Pittsburgh |last=Schackner |first=Bill |date=January 9, 2005 |website=History News Network |access-date=October 22, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221023010455/https://historynewsnetwork.org/article/9593 |archive-date=October 23, 2022}} After residing there for more than a decade, the collection needed to be moved due to the pending demolition of the building which housed it.{{cite web |url=https://www.mit.edu/newsoffice/2006/dibner-trees-1220.html |title=New home for Dibner trees |website=[MIT Tech Talk](/source/MIT_Tech_Talk) |date=December 20, 2006 |access-date=August 13, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220203150824/https://news.mit.edu/2006/dibner-trees-1220 |archive-date=February 3, 2022}} In November 2006, 67,000 volumes of the Burndy Library (47,000 rare books and 20,000 reference books), along with several hundred small manuscript collections and a collection of artwork and objects, were transferred to the [Huntington Library](/source/Huntington_Library) in [San Marino](/source/San_Marino%2C_California), California as a gift of the Dibner family and the Dibner Fund.{{cite web|url=http://catalog.huntington.org/screens/libinfo_03.html|title=PAGING BURNDY LIBRARY BOOKS|publisher=[The Huntington Library](/source/The_Huntington_Library)|accessdate=June 13, 2009}} The library offers a number of history of science fellowships, a lecture series and an annual conference.[https://web.archive.org/web/20091005181654/http://www.huntington.org/uploadedFiles/Files/PDFs/pr_dibner_program.pdf Dibner History of Science Program]. It is one of the Huntington's most heavily used collections, and continues to grow and expand through the Huntington's multi-faceted approach to collection use, conservation and management. ==References== {{reflist}} ==External links== * [https://web.archive.org/web/20060813100704/http://burndy.mit.edu/ The Burndy Library at MIT] {{authority control}} Category:1941 establishments in Connecticut Category:2006 disestablishments in Massachusetts Category:Culture of Norwalk, Connecticut Category:Huntington Library Category:Libraries established in 1941 Category:Libraries in Fairfield County, Connecticut Category:Libraries in Middlesex County, Massachusetts Category:Massachusetts Institute of Technology buildings and structures Category:University and college academic libraries in the United States --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Burndy Library](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burndy_Library) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burndy_Library?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.