The Linda Hall Library, located in the heart of Kansas City, Missouri, is the largest privately funded library of science, engineering, and technology in the world open to the public. The Library is dedicated to providing the most comprehensive physical, life science, engineering, and technology collections, reliable library services, a host of educational and other programs, and an ongoing series of public lectures, events and exhibitions. From its opening in 1946, the Linda Hall Library has included resources for study in the history of science and technology. In 1947, the purchase of the entire library of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences provided the foundation of a rare book and reference collection to support research in the history of science and technology. Smaller collections, such as portions of the Herbert Hoover collection of rare books in mining and metallurgy, the Robert B. Honeyman collection of scientific books, and the George White collection in early geology were acquired in the 1980s. In 1995, the entire collection of the Engineering Societies Library was transferred to the Linda Hall Library, including the Ball Gemmology Collection and hundreds of early books on engineering, mathematics, physics, geology, and other related sciences.
