The Cambridge Atmospheric Humanities Reading Group is pleased to invite papers for its inaugural workshop, generously funded by the BSHS and hosted by HPS, Cambridge. This one-day event will explore perception, receptions, and representations of ‘atmosphere/s’ in multiple contexts, and we welcome contributions from a variety of disciplines, including but not limited to: history, HPS, geography, literary studies, ecocriticism, earth and atmospheric sciences, and philosophy, as well as interdisciplinary approaches. Papers might engage with any ‘atmospheric’ issues, but may relate in particular ..read more

Hello to all digital subscribers, my name is Joe and this is my first issue as editor of Viewpoint. I am overjoyed to have been appointed to this position, and I am excited to continue the excellent standards set by Jen and everyone else at the BSHS. You can find out a bit more about me and my background in the interview on page 15, and I am keen to play my part in the history of science knowledge dissemination by spotlighting excellent original research from ECRs and independent scholars. This issue ‘orbits’ astrophysics and photography, as the various authors explore different historical c ..read more

Nominations are now open for the BSHS Pickstone Prize, awarded every two years to the best scholarly book in the history of science (broadly construed) in English. The Prize aims to recognize pioneering works that advance the scholarly understanding and interpretation of the scientific past. In focusing on academic books, it complements the Society’s Hughes Prize, which rewards engagement with broader audiences. Established in 2014, the prize honours the memory of our colleague Professor John Pickstone (1944-2014), whose research and teaching so keenly exemplified the scholarly virtues that ..read more

Dyddiad Cau yr 23ain o Chwefror, 2024 Galwad am Bapurau Mi fydd cynhadledd blynyddol y Gymdeithas Prydeinig dros Hanes Gwyddoniaeth yn cymryd lle o ddydd Mercher y 10fed i dydd Sadwrn y 13eg o Orffennaf ym Mhrifysgol Aberystwyth yng Nghymru. Y Pwyllgor Cynadleddau Mae’r Gymdeithas Prydeinig dros Hanes Gwyddoniaeth nawr yn gwahodd cynigion ar gyfer papurau unigol a sesiynau o haneswyr gwyddoniaeth, technoleg, a meddygaeth, ac o’u cydweithwyr o fewn y gymuned ysgolheigaidd ehangach, ar unrhyw thema, pwnc, neu gyfnod ar gyfer ei Gyfarfod Blynyddol yn Haf 2024. Mae cynigion gan ymchwilwyr o bob c ..read more

In July 2023 Dr Jenny Bulstrode published an article entitled ‘Black metallurgists and the making of the Industrial Revolution’ in the refereed journal History and Technology. Since then the author has been subject to sustained abuse in newspapers and on social media, sparking a campaign of personal vilification. The detailed and wide-ranging evidence the article accumulates concerning Black metallurgists’ material cultures in relation to key innovations has been curtly dismissed by critics. These attacks by a small group of people have neglected both common courtesy and established academic ..read more

Dear BSHS member, This has been an exceptionally busy few months for BSHS. In July we held a major global digital festival on the theme of ‘Intersections’, and in September we co-sponsored another digital event on future trends in collaboration with the Division of History of Science and Technology of the Union for the History and Philosophy of Science and Technology. Together the two meetings provide a remarkable snapshot of the current state of the discipline from around the world. Thanks to the outstanding work of Alexander Stöger, talks from both meetings are available online at the BSHS ..read more

CfP for the BSHS Postgraduate Conference 2024 The call for papers for the 2024 British Society for the History of Science Postgraduate Conference is now open. This year’s conference theme is the Global History of Science, Technology and Medicine. The event will be held in person at the University of Warwickin collaboration with Warwick’s Global History and Culture Center (GHCC) and will take place on Friday 19 April and Saturday 20 April. We welcome papers from postgraduate students working in any area of the history of science, technology and medicine, in any period of history. We are commit ..read more

The British Society for the History of Science is looking to award grants of up to £500 each to conferences and workshops to be held in person this year (funds to be spent by 23rd October 2024). Awards may be used for any reasonable purpose to support running a conference, which might include catering, venue, or accessibility costs. Please note that the society is committed to lowering its climate impact and therefore will not fund air travel. Applications should consist of: Details of the conference including title, location, and dates of the event. A short abstract detailing the intellectu ..read more

Overview A celebration of the work of Dutch microscopist Antoni van Leeuwenhoek (1632 – 1723) and the development of microscopy to the present day. Three hundred years ago the Dutch microscopist Antoni van Leeuwenhoek died. He had been corresponding with the Royal Society for fifty years. Leeuwenhoek, born in Delft in the Netherlands in 1632, developed himself into one of the most prolific early microscopists. He made his own lenses and small hand-held microscopes which were more versatile than most other devices at the time. With these instruments and his outstanding preparation and obser ..read more

From carboys to COVID vaccination, herbs to herbals, materia medica to medicines, explore the objects and organisations that tell pharmacy histories today. This course presented by the Faculty of the History & Philosophy of Medicine & Pharmacy and the British Society for the History of Pharmacy will take you behind the scenes of key pharmaceutical collections with curator-led tours, object-based sessions and insightful talks that provide background stories and reflect on the challenges of curating and collecting pharmacy history to present to visitors in the 21st century. Collecting ..read more