To =
properly=20
review the work of a highly productive scientist like Manfred Bonitz =
would=20
require a doctoral dissertation. If only I could afford the luxury of =
devoting=20
the time and energy to such an endeavor. These introductory remarks =
can only=20
touch very lightly on his career. And fortunately others more =
qualified than I=20
will soon address you in greater detail about his=20
accomplishments.=20
I do not =
recall the exact=20
circumstances and events which led Manfred to enter the field of =
information=20
science about 1970. Until that time he had a highly productive career =
as a=20
nuclear physicist. In the United States during the 1950=EF=BF=BDs and =
1960=EF=BF=BDs many=20
nuclear physicists entered the fields of information science and =
science=20
policy. Among the many who migrated from physics to information =
science were=20
Don Swanson, Derek Price, Larry Halperin, William Goffman, among =
others. Their=20
mathematical skills and training helped illuminate the laws of =
information=20
science and scientometrics. They stressed the need to maintain a high =
level of=20
discipline necessary to produce high quality science-based information =
and=20
bibliometric research. In the East a similar migration from physical =
science=20
to information science often occurred and calls to mind such =
outstanding=20
scholars as Avril Avramescu, Vassily Nalimov, and Gennadi Dubrov, and =
our=20
friends at VINITI A.I. Mikhailov, R. Gilyarevski, and A.=20
Chernyi.=20
Thanks to =
Manfred Bonitz,=20
my work became much better known amongst East and West German readers =
due=20
especially to the series of book reviews of my Essays of an =
Information=20
Science volumes which he published over a seventeen-year period. =
Further,=20
he was an important constructive critic of ISI products, beginning =
with a=20
review of the ISI Journal Citation Reports=C2=AE in=20
1983.=20
In his work, =
Manfred has=20
expressed the belief that only truth and scientific relevance should =
be the=20
criteria for a scientific work to be accepted, that science is =
universal, and=20
the world-wide scientific community =EF=BF=BD despite all "social =
perturbations" -- is=20
a kind of ideal society: democratic, objective, just. If you are =
active in=20
science then you have to compare yourself with the rest of the world. =
It took=20
great courage for him to write about GDR-Science in the mirror of=20
international journals, an article which I imagine caused him some =
trouble at=20
the time. He expressed the view that the Science Citation=20
Index=C2=AE is an unique mirror of the world-society of =
science,=20
that it is interdisciplinary and it is =EF=BF=BD at least =EF=BF=BD =
created by scientists=20
themselves. This aspect of the SCI,=C2=AE I guess, =
attracted him=20
from the beginning. It made him one of the decisive defenders (even =
though not=20
without criticism) of the SCI.=20
In this =
respect, I cannot=20
fail to mention another unusual scientist from Vladivostok, Victor =
Vaskovsky=20
who also saw in the SCI these qualities and, like Manfred, =
became my=20
long-time personal friend and the first Russian member of the =
editorial board=20
of the SCI.=20
Manfred=EF=BF=BDs work on "human=20
behavior in scientific communication" was published both in German and =
English. And he has made numerous contributions, both as an author and =
editor,=20
to the journal Scientometrics over the last decade. Manfred has =
always=20
been extremely generous in publishing tributes to information pioneers =
as in=20
the case of Nalimov, Price, and others. His investigations of the work =
of=20
Wilhelm Ostwald is also noteworthy.=20
In the early =
90s, Manfred=20
began his work on co-structure cluster maps, leading in more recent =
times to=20
the magnum opus the Atlas of the Matthew Core Journals. =
This=20
was created with the help of his long-time collaborator Andrea=20
Scharnhorst. This work followed from his encounter with Robert =
Merton=EF=BF=BDs 1968=20
classic paper on the "Matthew Effect" and its follow on in =
1988. These=20
papers ultimately brought him in direct in person contact with =
Professor=20
Merton. I can personally attest that Merton has marveled at the way in =
which=20
Manfred and his colleagues have developed this theme. As Dr. Merton =
also=20
points out "Bonitz inaugurated an altogether new phase in the =
systematic=20
investigation of the phenomena caught up in the concept of the Matthew =
Effect." The Atlas is a completely unexpected outcome of =
Merton=EF=BF=BDs=20
original sociological observation of individual behavior which has now =
been=20
given a global perspective. As Merton observed: "By ingenious and =
original use=20
of the Science Citation Index, you have gone on to discover the =
Matthew=20
Effect for countries."=20
So I will =
close this short=20
introduction with a toast to Manfred on his 70th birthday =
which I=20
am sure we will repeat many times during our social encounters here. I =
also=20
want to thank you all for coming, and also wish to thank Andrea =
Scharnhorst,=20
Professor Walther Umst=C3=A4tter, and Dr. Heinrich Parthey for =
inviting me to begin=20
this happy occasion.