The common name "Crab Nebula" comes from a 1844 drawing made by Irish astronomer Lord Rosse based on observations made with his 36 inch telescope at Birr Castle.

#IrishSTEM #HistSTEM

www.messier.seds.org/more/m001_ro...

At the #ETH Zurich! #histsci #histSTEM

A page from an over 375 year old book with an illustration of a mathematical device with curves arching over its segments, and Latin text below. #booksky #mathshistory

An illustration of a
mesolabe compass that René Descartes used to construct mean proportionals.

Page from my original, 1649 first Latin translation by Dutch mathematician Frans van Schooten of Descartes’ La Géométrie, the book that founded analytic geometry.
#histSTEM 📚💙 🧮

French court halts sale of ‘earliest calculator’ at Christie's A court has suspended the export license of the 17th-century arithmetic device designed by Blaise Pascal, the last such example in private hands

"This [Pascaline] is unique because it the only remaining version specifically developed for land surveying, rather than accountancy or equations" #HistSTEM #HistSci

www.theartnewspaper.com/2025/11/20/f...

Our CFP is still open! 😀

Visit www.sahms.wildapricot.org for more information.

#histmed #histsci #histSTEM #histmaths #medhums

Historians of medicine & science, take note! #histSTEM #histmed

Optimizing the immeasurable: a critical examination of neuro-meditation commodification - AI & SOCIETY Meditation has been a cornerstone of Buddhism for millennia, yet its adoption in Western culture increasingly intertwines spirituality with digital technologies. Neuro-meditation devices, which employ neurofeedback and brain stimulation to enhance meditative states, are now promoted as tools that democratize meditation by flattening its learning curve and enabling real‐time progress tracking. However, these innovations raise profound epistemic and ethical concerns about redefining meditation’s purpose and meaning. This paper employs Critical Technocultural Discourse Analysis to examine neuro-meditation technologies as computational artifacts embedded within complex social, political, and economic contexts. By analyzing the interplay among products, developers, and users, the study situates these devices within the broader trend of digital self-representation, particularly the emergence of human digital twins that mediate real-time biometric data. The analysis interrogates how framing meditation as an optimized, quantifiable process aligns more with Lean Startup logic that prioritizes efficiency and scalability than with Buddhist teachings. In contrast to traditional contemplative practices rooted in introspection and transformative insight, such commodification risks reducing meditation to an exercise in brainwave regulation. Drawing on critiques of Technological Solutionism, McMindfulness, the Quantified-self, and the Neuronal-Self, this paper critically evaluates the implications of this shift, arguing that while neuro-meditation devices may offer immediate gratification and accessibility, they may also undermine the profound, immeasurable dimensions of spiritual experiences. Ultimately, the study calls for a more nuanced integration of technology and spirituality—one that preserves meditation's transformative essence while engaging thoughtfully with digital innovations.

As neuro-meditation technologies merge spirituality with digital optimization, new ethical and philosophical questions arise. Can meditation remain transformative when it becomes measurable? Read more in AI & Society: bit.ly/47VtTuv. @omerchomski.bsky.social #sts #histSTEM #philsci

‘Conversion Therapy’ and the University of Birmingham c.1966-1983 - University of Birmingham Between c.1966 and 1983, the University of Birmingham employed researchers who orchestrated so-called 'conversion therapy' for same-sex love

Long tails and important outcomes. Finally, it's live - the website for the report, "Conversion Therapy' and the University of Birmingham c.1966-1983'!

There's material about the history, the project, its organisation, and there are resources there too.

#HistPsych #HistSTEM #QueerHist #HistSex

נובמבר 2025 כנס האגודה השנתי | ISHPS The 24th Annual Conference of the Israeli Society for the History, Philosophy, and sociology of Science

Heading out to the The 24th Annual Conference of the Israeli Society for the History, Philosophy, and Sociology of Science. As president of the society I am grateful to the Herculean work of the program committee. A rich day ahead of us! #hps #sts #histSTEM #philsci www.ishps.org.il/november-202...

And UCI has a very robust STS community outside of the history department; you can find them in tons of departments #histSTEM

Huge thank you to AIP (@aip.bsky.social) History and Rebecca Charbonneau (@rebeccacharbon.bsky.social) for spotlighting my latest article! 🤩 #ligo #physics #history #histstem

University of Chicago Press Journals: Cookie absent

Finding sites for precision instruments, especially in LIGO's case, is no easy task. My article on LIGO's consideration of placing part of their broadband gravitational wave detector in the Blueberry Barrens of Maine is now available in @isisjournal.bsky.social! #histstem #hps #gravitationalwaves

Call for Proposals: Elkana Forum Workshops: Rethinking Scientific Problems Through Dialogue with Historical & Philosophical Perspectives #hps #philsci #histSTEM
(@odedrechavi.bsky.social @eranto.bsky.social @liadmudrik.bsky.social maybe of interest to you)

"Vanished: An Unnatural History of Extinction" by Sadiah Qureshi Join us for a fantastic lecture by Prof Sadiah Qureshi with an introduction by Helen MacDonald at the Babbage Lecture Theatre in Cambridge!

TOMORROW in Cambridge!
Don’t miss Sadiah Qureshi live, sharing insight on memory, knowledge & empire from her new book "Vanished".

With an introduction by Helen Macdonald

📍 David Attenborough Building | 6–10pm
🎟 Free: www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/1395979053...

#PublicLecture #histSTEM #BSHS2025

"Vanished: An Unnatural History of Extinction" by Sadiah Qureshi Join us for a fantastic lecture by Prof Sadiah Qureshi with an introduction by Helen MacDonald at the Babbage Lecture Theatre in Cambridge!

Just one week to go!
Join us in Cambridge for Sadiah Qureshi’s public lecture "Vanished" — on extinction, race & the politics of memory.

📅 Wed 9 July, 6–10pm
📍 David Attenborough Building
🎟 Free tickets: www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/1395979053...
With Helen Macdonald & Sarah Qidwai!
#BSHS2025 #histSTEM

"Vanished: An Unnatural History of Extinction" by Sadiah Qureshi Join us for a fantastic lecture by Prof Sadiah Qureshi with an introduction by Helen MacDonald at the Babbage Lecture Theatre in Cambridge!

Join us in Cambridge for Sadiah Qureshi’s public lecture "Vanished" — on extinction, race & the politics of memory.

📅 Wed 9 July, 6–10pm
📍 David Attenborough Building, Cambridge
🎟 Free tickets: www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/1395979053...
With an introduction by Helen Macdonald!
#BSHS2025 #histSTEM

Including a CFP of interest for #earlymodern #architecture #histsci #histSTEM

"Building Science: The City as a Site and Object of Knowledge-Making in the Early Modern Period"

With Yelda Nasifoglu speaking on "Euclid for Architects" on Thursday afternoon! #earlymodern #histSTEM #architecture

Submissions open for 2025 Hughes Prize – Deadline 11 April! Visit the post for more.

⏳ Last chance!

For over 25 years, the BSHS has recognised books that bring the fascinating, weird, and important stories of #HistSTEM to a broader audience. Help us find the next milestone!
📅 Deadline: TOMORROW!
🔗 Apply now: www.bshs.org.uk/submissions-...

#BookAwards #ScienceWriting

Tell me about PhDs in the History of Science. Are they worth it? Rewarding? I've been contemplating one for years. (It would have to be a funded program.)
#historiansky #histsci #histstem

Submissions open for 2025 Hughes Prize – Deadline 11 April! Visit the post for more.

Did you know? 🤓📚 Since 1997, the BSHS has celebrated books that make the brilliant, nerdy, and essential stories of #HistSTEM accessible to the wider world.

And now, it’s time for the next chapter! Submissions for the 2025 Hughes Prize are open.

📅 11 April 2025

Submissions open for 2025 Hughes Prize – Deadline 11 April! Visit the post for more.

📢 BSHS Hughes Prize 2025 – Submissions Open! Help us find the best accessible #HistSTEM 📚 out there!

🏆 Award for the best accessible book in #HistSTEM
📚 Published in 2023 or 2024? You’re eligible!
📅 Deadline: 11 April 2025
💰 Prize: £300 + Public Lecture

Writings from children are central to this book - children were some of the earliest critics of ideas of giftedness, and fervently challenged biases in IQ testing, and assumptions that intelligence even mattered.

@histchildoxford.bsky.social #HistEd #HistSTEM #skystorians @shcy.bsky.social

Karen Flynn, from the University of Illinois, presents her keynote speech on Caregiving during a pandemic: Black Nurses' praxis of Black Feminist Ethic of care.
#sahms2025 #histmed #histsci #histSTEM #medhums #nursing

More info: gws.illinois.edu/directory/pr...

SAHMS' 2025 has officially begun!

Happy conference to all our attendees!

#sahms2025 #histmed #histsci #histpsych #histSTS #histSTEM

Celebrate Women scientists, intellectuals, medics, healers, engineers, and all the other incredible pioneers who often overcame not only the challenges of research but also the challenges posed by societies and cultures. #InternationalWomensDay #WomenInHistSci #HistSci #HistSTEM

40 Nonfiction Book Recommendations for International Day of Women & Girls in Science The best books on women in science, from history and biography to group portraits and memoir

I recreated this list on my newsletter, with a few additions, to make it more easily accessible.

If you have a nonfiction book you love about women in science, let me know and I will add it

open.substack.com/pub/oliviaca...
#womeninSTEM #nonfiction #booksky #histstem #history #authors

Some of the early female students at Cambridge University who were studying geology. Pictured from top left - Elizabeth Dale, Gertrude Elles, Louise Hugon, Agnes Robertson, Louisa Jebb, Helen Drew, Ida Slater, Margaret MacPhee, Kathleen Haddon, Phylis Jewson, Alice Dale, and Alice Buxton Taylor.

Happy International Day of Women and Girls in Science! ⚗️🔭🧪🔬👩‍🔬#IDWGS #IDWGD2025 #WomeninSTEM #HisSci #HistSTEM #Trailblazers #Trowelblazers #ExploreYourArchive

An Illustration stating "Small Conference & Workshop Grants | submission open until 28 February, 2025! | BSHS"

🚨 Our next round for small grants up to £500 to support conferences & workshops held in person is open again! 🌍💡 Apply by 28th Feb! www.bshs.org.uk/cfa-bshs-sma... #ConferenceFunding #HistSTEM

Check out the CfP for our colloquium on ´childhood development and the human sciences’ #HistEd #HistSTEM #skystorians