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Argument: This paper examines self-inscription, a mode of census enumeration that emerged during the nineteenth century. Starting in the 1840s, a number of European states introduced self-inscription as an auxiliary means to facilitate the work of enumerators. However, a decisive shift occurred when Prussian census statisticians implemented self-inscription via individual "Zählkarten"—or "counting cards"—in 1871. The paper argues that scientific ideals of accuracy and precision prevalent in the sciences at the time motivated Prussian census officials to initiate self-inscription as an at-home scenario unmediated by enumerators, in which the census form alone was to yield truthful information from the respondents. By illuminating the bureaucratic means for implementing scientific ideals and practices in gathering personal census data, the paper offers an in-depth analysis of the media, technologies, and manpower that census takers deployed to reveal the epistemic—as well as social and political—impact of being "true to form." [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Information about the 2020 annual meeting of the History of Science Society (HSS) is presented, which was scheduled to be held in New Orleans, Louisiana, but was held virtually instead in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The article also announces winner of the HSS Derek Price/Rod Webster Prize to Michael D. Gordin for his article “Lysenko Unemployed: Soviet Genetics after the Aftermath,” which appeared in the March 2018 issue of "Isis." Ph.D. Candidate Megan Eardley was awarded the HSS/NASA Fellowship in Aerospace History for her dissertation “Ultra/Deep Space: Planetary Planning from South Africa’s Mines to NASA’s Skylab."

Reports from the program chairs for the July 2019 annual meeting of the History of Science Society held in in Utrecht, the Netherlands are presented. An overview of the conference is provided. The winners of 2019 awards such as Claire Isabel Webb winning the HSS/NASA Fellowship in Aerospace History for her dissertation“Technologies of Perception: The Search for Life and Intelligence beyond Earth,” Brad Bolman won the Nathan Reingold Prize for best essay by a graduate student for "Pig Mentations: Race and Face in Radiobiology and Beyond,” and the Sarton Medal which honors a historian for a lifetime of scholarship was given to M. Norton Wise.