On Wednesday 12th February 2020, the BSHS held our first ever digital conference, using Twitter to share research from all over the world on the theme of ‘Global and International Histories of STEM’. We’ve gathered the ‘papers’ together here – click on a Tweet to go to Twitter and see the whole paper.
Lachlan Fleetwood: Making Mountains Global
1/12 Around 1810 the Himalaya were finally measured as the highest mountains (displacing the Andes). In this period, scientific phenomena increasingly needed to be mapped on a globe that was not only round, but also vertical. Welcome to #MakingMountainsGlobal! #BSHSGlobalHist pic.twitter.com/7UdhMPKW1U
— BSHS (@BSHSNews) February 12, 2020
Rebecca Le Get: The use and re-use of medicalised landscapes: the retention of former tuberculosis sanatoria sites in Australia, and their utilisation for health in the present
1/12 Tuberculosis (TB), is not presently being widely discussed in Australia. But it’s left indelible marks upon the continent’s landscape, that we can still see today, if you know where to look.
State Library of South Australia PRG 631/2/291-292 #BSHSGlobalHist pic.twitter.com/L6ULNmMIVd
— BSHS (@BSHSNews) February 12, 2020
State Library of South Australia PRG 631/2/291-292 Gianamar Giovannetti-Singh: Galenising the New World
1/12 This paper situates the #Jesuit Lafitau’s (1681-1746) “discovery” of Canadian #ginseng (1717) in its social, commercial, & religious contexts & shows how the missionary’s upbringing & education in France shaped how he perceived & Galenised New World nature. #BSHSGlobalHist pic.twitter.com/PdblX66hZk
— BSHS (@BSHSNews) February 12, 2020
Michaela Clark: The Afterlives of Clinical Photographs
This paper contains images of a sensitive nature. Subjects are clinical in content and may include conspicuous medical conditions & nudity. Photos are the property of the UCT Pathology Learning Centre & are for research-related use only. RT with discretion.
#BSHSGlobalHist
— BSHS (@BSHSNews) February 12, 2020
This paper contains images of a sensitive nature. Subjects are clinical in content and may include conspicuous medical conditions & nudity. Photos are the property of the UCT Pathology Learning Centre & are for research-related use only. RT with discretion.Louise Bell: The Prosthetics Industry in Britain During the First World War
1/12 Hi everyone, @LouBell here. Independent researcher (and library assistant). My work focuses on #ww1 and limbless men (and #histmed/#dishist more widely) This paper will look at the prosthetics industry in Britain during the First World War. #BSHSGlobalHist
— BSHS (@BSHSNews) February 12, 2020
Derya Gurses Tarbuck: scientists of STEM
1/6 @dgtarbuck: I will tweet about Turkish STEM scientists at a time with the aim of proving the point of International engagement in STEM education and research brought about the transition from Local to Global for these scientists. #BSHSGlobalHist
— BSHS (@BSHSNews) February 12, 2020
Paul Scott: The Great Panjandrum?
1/10 Sir Joseph Banks described by David #Attenborough as “The Great Panjandrum of Georgian Science”, was President of the @RoyalSociety for 41 years – a time described by Richard Holmes as “The Age of Wonder”. What was Joseph Banks’ contribution to science? #BSHSGlobalHist pic.twitter.com/U8L7hgiR6t
— BSHS (@BSHSNews) February 12, 2020
Francesca Elliott: Thomas Bangbala and the Global Workforce of 20th Century Manchester
1/12 Thomas ‘Tommy’ Bangbala moved from Lagos to Manchester in 1928, via Liverpool. He qualified as an electrical engineer and had a long career in the electrical industry, also becoming a force for change in the Electrical Trades Union. #BSHSGlobalHist pic.twitter.com/PC2c4cXcAj
— BSHS (@BSHSNews) February 12, 2020
Rachael Jones: The Place of Useful Learning: 5 ways in which University of Strathclyde has maintained international STEM significance through the centuries
1/12 @UniStrathclyde, founded 1796 as a ‘place of useful learning’, focused on the practical application of scientific instruction. It has nurtured many internationally influential #STEM alumni. Here are 5 whose stories are told in @StrathArchives #StrathclydeSTEM #BSHSGlobalHist pic.twitter.com/6WmQoInIqZ
— BSHS (@BSHSNews) February 12, 2020
Catherine Helen Gibson: Numbers are boring!: Debating data visualization at the 1872 International Statistical Congress in St. Petersburg
1/12 Hello everyone! My paper on the 1872 International Statistical Congress (ISC) asks questions & re-examines #19C debates about #dataviz, internationalism & science communication. #BSHSGlobalHist
— BSHS (@BSHSNews) February 12, 2020
Michael Barany: ![🌎]()
Making a Global Theory in Mid-20th Century Mathematics![🌏]()
Making a Global Theory in Mid-20th Century Mathematics
1/12 Between 1945 and 1960, the theory of distributions in mathematics traveled from France to six continents. The theory’s story tracks a discipline’s radical change of scale after World War 2. #BSHSGlobalHist pic.twitter.com/qESjZQGalD
— BSHS (@BSHSNews) February 12, 2020
Chaokang Tai: Anton Pannekoek and the Global Distribution of Labour in Astrophotography
1/12 Astrophotography had a decisive impact in the early 20c, altering both astronomical practice itself and how astronomers cooperated. This is exemplified by the photographic research of renowned Marxist and astronomer without observatory, Anton Pannekoek. #BSHSGlobalHist pic.twitter.com/dhb3dg84WG
— BSHS (@BSHSNews) February 12, 2020
Helen-Frances Dessain: Jane Marcet’s Conversation in Chemistry in Geneva
1/10 Jane Marcet’s Conversations on Chemistry (1806) was a very popular introductory text and had sold 19,000 copies in Britain by 1853. It was also reviewed in the Genevan periodical Bibliothèque britannique in 1806. #BSHSGlobalHist
— BSHS (@BSHSNews) February 12, 2020
Helen Parish: religion and ecology in early modern natural science
1/12 #climatechange & #ecology are dominant questions of our time but also historical & cultural problems. This paper uses #earlymodern intersections of human & natural histories to connect history culture & religion with current debates. Biophysical & geophysical #BSHSGlobalHist
— BSHS (@BSHSNews) February 12, 2020
Xavier Roqué Rodríguez: Small science
1/12 Research by small autonomous teams seems out of place in the world of Big Science, yet I would argue that it has remained an important element of contemporary scientific practice. Is it a distinct type of research, worth revisiting, relabelling, reclaiming? #BSHSGlobalHist
— BSHS (@BSHSNews) February 12, 2020
Emmeline Ledgerwood: Privatisation of government science: scientists and the effects of organisational change on their working lives
@EmmeLedgerwood‘s tweets include audio, so please click the videos to listen. Full transcripts for each of the clips can be found here: https://t.co/B3ZtKptIrX
— BSHS (@BSHSNews) February 12, 2020
Jörg Matthias Determann: The Extraterrestrial Life Debate and the Muslim World
1/12 @JMDetermann: I am pleased to tweet about “The Extraterrestrial Life Debate and the Muslim World.” I am writing a book about this topic with the working title “Islam, Science Fiction and Extraterrestrial Life: The Culture of Astrobiology in the Muslim World.” #BSHSGlobalHist
— BSHS (@BSHSNews) February 12, 2020
David Freis: Televising the Future: The 1970 Houston-Davos Broadcast and the Future of Medicine in the Space Age
1/12 1970, a transatlantic broadcast became a symbol for the medicine of tomorrow. As I will show, there was a long history of audio-visuals and visions of medical futures – diagnosis, therapy, and med communication. In 1970 several developments concurred. #BSHSGlobalHist pic.twitter.com/8IVwLQIexD
— BSHS (@BSHSNews) February 12, 2020
Osnat Katz: “I don’t see any borders, do you?” – National histories of space science in an international world
1/12 Writing national histories of space science is challenging. It’s important to balance highlighting specific contributions with avoiding chauvinism. This “paper” is a series of short reflections on how we might write national histories mindfully. #BSHSGlobalHist
— BSHS (@BSHSNews) February 12, 2020
E. L. Meszaros: Chaldean Astronomy in Latin Authors
1/12 Babylonian knowledge influenced astronomy in ancient Rome. But Latin references to such “Chaldean” knowledge & the appeal to foreign/expert sources say more about Rome than Babylonia. With @IAStranger, let’s look at how some Latin authors reference Chaldeans! #BSHSGlobalHist pic.twitter.com/fmithvlisM
— BSHS OEC (@BSHSOutreach) February 12, 2020
Mirjam Brusius: “What to do with ’the field’? Reconsidering the History of scientific Exploration, Collecting and Museums in Light of the ‘Repatriation Debate’
1/12 My first example is the Victorian explorer A.H. Layard a canonical figure in the @britishmuseum narrative. His excavations c.1850 generated the “cradle of all races” myth of Mesopotamia that Europeans identified as their own origin while differentiating them- #BSHSGlobalHist pic.twitter.com/XBgma78CoE
— BSHS OEC (@BSHSOutreach) February 12, 2020
Lea Beiermann: “Everything new in the microscopical line”: Publishing microscope manufacturers in C19 Europe and America
1/9 In the 2nd half of C19,
production became more competitive: US
makers began to compete w/ Europeans & Abbe’s theory of microsc. vision (1873) facilitated mass production @zeiss_micro. To promote their instruments,
makers became authors, editors, publishers #BSHSGlobalHist
— BSHS OEC (@BSHSOutreach) February 12, 2020
production became more competitive: US Manuel Xavier: Claiming authority with instrumental precision: Gago Coutinho’s Salmoiraghi theodolites
1/12 Hello! My paper is about an unsuccessful surveying instrument and the way its poor results triggered a clash for authority between user and maker. This case intertwines #materialculture, instrument trade, and fieldwork
#BSHSGlobalHist pic.twitter.com/bVelCUjSPJ
— BSHS OEC (@BSHSOutreach) February 12, 2020
Josepha Richard: Uncovering the essential contributions of Chinese go-betweens in the making of 18-19th century British knowledge of Chinese flora & traditional medicine
1/12 Historians of 18-19th c. British gathering of global botanical knowledge inc. in colonies such as India, have started to explore the previously ignored intellectual contribution of local go-betweens: the latter are often anonymous & hard to track #BSHSGlobalHist
— BSHS OEC (@BSHSOutreach) February 12, 2020
Sarah A. Qidwai: Complexities Around Translating Scientific Knowledge in 19th Century British India
1/12 While Sir Sayyid Ahmad Khan (1817-1898), founder of @AligarhMuslimUn, is a well-known figure in South Asia, his contributions to science education and popularization are relatively unexamined. Today, I am going to introduce us to some examples #histSTM #BSHSGlobalHist pic.twitter.com/97BxFnWosV
— BSHS OEC (@BSHSOutreach) February 12, 2020
Mats Fridlund: What is Global Nuclear Culture? Understanding Nuclear Energy
1/12 It is time to take Jeff Hughes’ 2012 question ‘What is British #nuclearculture?’ from the national to the #transnational sphere in a study of the #Anglo-American conception & global reception of Henry Moore’s #ColdWar sculpture “Nuclear Energy”. #BSHSGlobalHist pic.twitter.com/5vOxttpEXU
— BSHS OEC (@BSHSOutreach) February 12, 2020
Jim Fleming: HistoryBig History Meets the History of Science
1/12 Big History, as promoted by David Christian and Bill Gates, seeks to “cover” cosmic history from the big bang to the present, but in doing so, propagates a number of fundamental categorical errors. #BSHSGlobalHist pic.twitter.com/dlsxG3Tl1A
— BSHS OEC (@BSHSOutreach) February 12, 2020
Ross Brooks: No Lustmord Please, We’re British! The Whitechapel Murders and the Initial Reception of Richard von Krafft-Ebing’s Psychopathia sexualis (1886) in Britain
1/12
The dissemination of sexological texts and ideas in late-Victorian Britain was a complex enterprise. The initial reception of Psychopathia sexualis (1886) by the leading Viennese forensic psychiatrist Richard von Krafft-Ebing is a case in point #BSHSGlobalHist pic.twitter.com/evrHVrfVMD
— BSHS OEC (@BSHSOutreach) February 12, 2020
The dissemination of sexological texts and ideas in late-Victorian Britain was a complex enterprise. The initial reception of Psychopathia sexualis (1886) by the leading Viennese forensic psychiatrist Richard von Krafft-Ebing is a case in point Linnea Kuglitsch: “Their Clothing and Keeping:” Insanity, dress, and institutional life in the United States
1/12 Welcome to another paper from the #BSHSGlobalHist conference! I’m delving into #archaeology and #histpsych to discuss dress at a 19th century icon—the lunatic asylum. Turning to the material record of one institution offers insight into dress and its role in daily life.
— BSHS OEC (@BSHSOutreach) February 12, 2020
Catarina Madruga: Nature in Boxes
1/11 Most 19thC #NatHistMuseums in Europe corresponded with &bought from naturalists, explorers, & traders of NatHist to enlarge their collections. In this
I contrast dif
sources to
reflect how Nature
was put into
&transformed in #MuseumSpecimens #BSHSGlobalHist
— BSHS OEC (@BSHSOutreach) February 12, 2020
I contrast dif
sources to
reflect how Nature
was put into
&transformed in Kate Bowell: Evolutions of Exhibition Text: Science and Technology Labels at National Museums Scotland
1/12 Museum exhibit labels prioritize information and communicate value to visitors. Drawing from the 20,000+ historical science and technology labels at @NtlMuseumsScot, I will explore some of that history of engagement. #BSHSGlobalHist pic.twitter.com/Dp23Zq9Bxg
— BSHS OEC (@BSHSOutreach) February 12, 2020
Anna Toledano: Resurrecting Lost Objects in the Natural History Museum
1/11 #Museums aren’t forever. Might seem counterintuitive at 1st, but decay, loss, destruction are the norm for objects, not the exception. A challenge for #twitterstorians is to tell stories of lost things from other sources and via new methods #publichistory #BSHSGlobalHist
— BSHS OEC (@BSHSOutreach) February 12, 2020
Conor Heffernan: Building the Perfect Man? Scientific Progress, Physical Culture and Personal Health in the Early Twentieth Century
1/12 ‘The Science of a New Life!’ – So declared Professor Sixsmith’s system of physical culture. Published in 1911, Sixsmith promised vitality, sexual vigor, strength and muscle through scientific principles of exercise #BSHSGlobalHist pic.twitter.com/XT4Od5CODx
— BSHS OEC (@BSHSOutreach) February 12, 2020